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When Molly’s big brother, Luke, announced he was getting married to his Australian girlfriend, ten thousand miles away, Molly burst into floods of tears.
“That’s not fair!” she sobbed. “I want to be your bridesmaid.”
“You will be my bridesmaid,” Luke assured her.
“How?” Molly demanded.
Luke grinned. “Because you’ll be at my wedding,” he said.
“We’re ALL going to Australia!” cried Mum. “Even Gran!”
Luke ruffled his little sister’s red hair. “You don’t think I’d get married without you, do you?” he teased.
Molly had only seen photographs of Luke’s bride-to-be. Chloe was long-legged, with a cloud of dark hair, sparkling brown eyes, and the smile of a film star. When she next phoned Luke she asked to speak to Molly.
“Luke tells me you’ve agreed to be my bridesmaid,” said Chloe.
“Yes! Where will you get married?” Molly asked excitedly.
“On sunny Mango Beach, where Luke and I first met,” Chloe replied.
“You can’t get married on a BEACH!” giggled Molly.
“You can in Australia,” Chloe replied.
“WOWEE!” laughed Molly. “I’m going to be a SUNNY bridesmaid!”
Mum couldn’t believe that Chloe had told Molly she could wear anything she wanted.
“Does she really mean ANYTHING?” Mum asked Luke.
“The wedding’s on a beach, Mum. We’ll probably all finish up in our swimming costumes!” joked Luke.
“What about the other bridesmaids – Chloe’s twin sisters? What will they be wearing? asked Mum.
“How do I know?” said Luke.
“You are the groom,” Mum pointed out crossly.
Molly decided it was time to ask some questions of her own.
“How old are the twins?” she said.
“Sixteen,” Luke told her.
“They won’t be wearing the same style of dress as me,” Molly pointed out. “Big bridesmaids always wear something more grown up than little bridesmaids.”
“See! Molly knows,” said Luke with relief.
Molly knew exactly which dress she wanted to wear. She’d seen it in the Blushing Brides shop in town. A pink net dress, with a tight waist and billowing skirt. It had gold leaves at the top of the skirt and on the shoulders. The model in the shop window wore it with a gold tiara and gold embroidered satin shoes. It was gorgeous but very expensive.
“Don’t worry,” said Luke. “I’m only buying one bridesmaid’s dress and that’s Molly’s. She can have the pink dress if she wants.”
“Thank you, Luke,” cried Molly as she gave her brother a big hug.
Luke smiled and hugged her back but Molly could see that there was something on his mind. The truth was that Luke and Dad had just heard on the radio that their favourite football team, Tottenham Hotspurs, were playing Manchester United on the wedding day.
“I don’t believe you!” snapped Mum when she saw Luke with his head buried in the sports page of the daily paper. “It’s your wedding day and all you can think of is football!”
“That’s not true!” Luke protested. “I love Chloe and I can’t wait to marry her. It’s just that I’m disapppointed that Dad and I won’t be able to go to the game, like we’d planned to.”
“You’re not going to cancel the wedding just because of a silly game of football?” Molly asked in a panic.
“Of course not,” laughed Luke.
“We’ll probably be able to see the game on satellite television in Australia,” said Dad, hopefully.
A few days later Molly, Mum and Gran went to the Blushing Brides shop in town where Molly slipped into the dress of her dreams. As it settled in a billow of lacy folds around her Molly smiled at her reflection.
“It’s beautiful!” she cried as she spun around in front of the mirror in her bare feet.
The dream dress, the gold shoes with tiny pink pearls stitched around the toes, and the gold tiara were all laid in a shiny silver box and covered with layers of sliver tissue paper. Holding the box, Molly smiled all the way home. She was going to be a bridesmaid in twenty-three days and she was going to wear the most beautiful dress in the world!
On the day of their departure, the whole family were up at dawn. They were blearyeyed but very excited. Gran had repacked her suitcase five times and still hadn’t enough room for her knitting! Mum’s wedding hat was in a box that Dad sat on twice! Molly’s pink dress was in a suitcase on top of her other clothes and Dad had lost the key to it!
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