Have you gotten a dress yet?For the wedding?
I winced, bringing it up. Like it was a forbidden subject.
Not yet. I’ve been putting it off. Do you think you’d have time to help me?
Did I have time to help her? Yes. Should I help her with this if I wanted to keep that emotional barrier between us? Probably not.
When?
Chapter Twenty-One
Lea
Vail had very obviously pulled backafter the party and I wished I could ask her about it without it making things awkward before the wedding. The last thing I wanted was to have to go to that with weird energy between us. Right now it was like we’d made a mutual agreement to cool things off. To set up a perimeter that we both respected.
But I needed help with a dress. I’d gone several times to try and find something, but nothing was right. Sure, I could have grabbed James, or Delaney would have been a better choice, but Vail knew the expectations at this wedding. I didn’t want to walk in wearing something that people would sneer at. I was out of practice.
On Tuesday afternoon before the wedding, I met Vail at one of the most upscale stores in the city that might have something. It was located in a several hundred-year-old home that was built for a sea captain and was in the National Register of Historic places. I waited outside and looked up when I heard my name.
She walked toward me, and my heart started bouncing up and down in my chest like a kid at a trampoline park.
It was warm enough out that she wore ripped jeans and a long-sleeve shirt that had a star on it. Her hair was down, and it was as if the wind was under her control, blowing it back like she was performing a concert.
My god, she looked good. She always looked good, but I hadn’t seen her for a few days, and it was hitting me hard.
“Hi,” I gasped out, clenching my hands together so I didn’t throw them around her.
“Hey,” she said, giving me a tight smile. “Shall we?”
She motioned for me to walk up the steps before her, and this was the first time she’d let me get the door.
Oh. I shouldn’t be disappointed by that. She wasn’t my designated door opener.
A salesperson greeted us as we walked into the open space that had been transformed into a showroom, her heels clipping over the hardwood floors.
“Hello. I’m going to a wedding this weekend and I need something to wear.” The salesperson’s eyes lit up at the desperation in my voice. Maybe she smelled a good commission since I couldn’t walk away without something. There were only a few shops in the city that had what I needed. If I’d been smart, I would have ordered something online the moment she told me about the wedding. Now here I was, under the wire.
“Is there a dress code we need to be aware of?” she asked, leading me toward a rack of designer dresses.
“It’s black tie. Nautical. At the country club.” If possible, her eyes lit up even more.
“And the most important question: budget? Do you have a range?”
I was about to answer, but Vail spoke for me. “Nothing over 10k.”
Even though I’d grown up in a house where dropping many thousands of dollars on clothes was normal, ten thousand for a wedding guest dress still seemed like a lot to me.
The salesperson, whose nametag said Kindall, looked between me and Vail, as if she was trying to figure out the relationship between us. No doubt she assumed we were girlfriends, and I wasn’t going to say anything about it if Vail didn’t. Let her believe that. Go ahead.
“Perfect. Let’s start here.” She led me to a rack and started pulling dresses out and holding them up to me, her eyes bright as if she was thrilled to have a new doll to dress up.
I glanced over, hoping Vail would, I don’t know, help, but she stood there with her jaw clenched like she hated every second she was in this store. So why did she come with me? I didn’t hold her hostage. Was she taking out her feelings about the wedding on me?
What was going on in her head?
I went to the changing room and ended up just agreeing with Kindall about which dress to pick without even really looking at any of them. She happily packed it up for me, and Vail slid in front of me at the register so she could pay with her card. Kindall said the amount out loud and I almost choked, but Vail just paid and Kindall handed me the bag.
“You both have a wonderful day,” she said.
