a change of heart | e.k

Chapter Twenty Four

The four girls stood around the pure white gown. Not one of them said a word, rendered speechless by both the delicate lace and the gravity of this moment.

"It's beautiful," Dipper said at last.

It truly was.

They'd found the dress stashed away in Finch's new closet the day they'd arrived in Brooklyn. She was the second person to have seen it, after Finch had called her into his room with the dress held in front of him. She'd laughed, making some joke about what the occasion was. He'd rolled his eyes, explaining he'd found it in his closet. After a moment of pondering, she'd called for Hotshot, who'd told them the surprising origin of the dress.

"It was yer muddahs," said Hotshot softly, leaning against the wall. "Spot kept it he-ah. I guess yer faddah wanted ta sell in fa money, but she wouldn't have it. So she told Spot ta hide it."

Brigid and Finch had both stared at each other, bewildered, before their gazes went back down to the gown Finch was holding. This was Finch's mother's wedding dress?

Hotshot had left not long after, seeing that they had some things to talk about.

And they did. Such as what a waste it would be to not wear it to a certain upcoming wedding, and so here she was a year later, about to put it on. 

It almost felt too precious to put on. Brigid was still standing there, running her fingers over the fabric, when a sudden squeal from Dipper made her jump and whip around. Before she could open her mouth to demand what was going on, the door was opened, sending a gust of cold wind into her face. "Dipper!"

But Dipper was long gone, running out of the Manhattan lodge like a mad woman. Brigid hurried after her, freezing at the door not because of the cold, although there was that too, but because of the familiar girl she saw approaching them.

Evangeline.

Brigid couldn't do anything but stand there, watching in shock as Dipper threw herself at the girl, knocking them both down into the snow. They both laughed and then they were standing, grinning at each other after not having seen the other since the year before.

Brigid hadn't known she was coming.

She'd sent an invitation, of course, but Evangeline was only seventeen. It wasn't like she could come and go as she pleased. Plus, Brigid hadn't received anything back from the girl, which made it hard to know if she'd even read it.

Apparently, she had.

Dipper jogged over, still beaming. "We've been writin' letters ta each oth-ah. It was a surprise. Fa you."

"Well..." Brigid shook her head, baffled. "Colour me surprised, den."

Laughing, Dipper turned back to Evangeline. "Oh, I can't wait 'til you see Albert. He's gotten even more handsome."

Evangeline whistled low. "I'll be the first to admit — after you, of course — that that boy was already beau. I'm almost scared to see him now."

The boys were getting ready at the Brooklyn lodge. Dipper was a woman of tradition, and she'd be dead and buried before she let Finch see Brigid before the wedding, and vice versa. The Brooklyn boys were practically too happy to accommodate them all. She suspected threats were being made to scare Finch into being a good husband, but she had no such doubts.

Instinctively, stupidly, Brigid asked the first thing that came into her mind. "Is dere anyone else we should be expectin' at tha weddin'? Are ya seein' anyone?"

Evangeline's expression turned sad for a moment, and Brigid immediately regretted asking. "Afraid not. But it's really not that bad. I've been doing a lot of missionary work recently, and once I've spent long enough working in the religious order, I can become a nun or something of the like." She paused. "I... don't think I'll be meeting anyone at all in the near future."