I smoothed a hand over his head and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
She looked around. “So, where do you want to do this?”
“Anywhere is fine.” I walked to Elias’s swing and fastened him into it. “But you said you’d need something for me to stand on, so I figured in here might be good. We can use the coffee table. I can use that powder room to the put the dress on.”
Her lips stretched into an even wider smile. “Perfect.” She held out the garment bag. “Don’t worry about the buttons. I’ll do those once you get out.”
“Okay,” I said and took the garment bag. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” I crossed the room and slipped inside the powder room, hanging the bag on the door. As I unzipped it, the ivory silk caught the light. “It’s still just as beautiful as I remembered.”
“It’s a gorgeous dress,” Daisy called from the living room. “It looked perfect on you. We’re just making sure it’s perfect for your big day.”
The dress slipped over my head like a dream, the fabric cool against my skin. “How long have you been doing alterations?” I asked as I smoothed the skirt.
“About five years now. Started right out of high school.” When I stepped out, Daisy’s face lit up. “Still perfect.”
She moved toward me with practiced efficiency. “Let’s get you buttoned up.” Her fingers worked quickly up my back while we chatted about the wedding, the weather, anything that filled the comfortable silence. Once the last button was secure, she guided me to the center of the living room.
“Arms up,” she instructed, pulling her measuring tape from the blue bag. After she finished with my torso, she gestured to the coffee table. “Up you go.”
I stepped onto the makeshift platform, steadying myself as she knelt to check the hem.
“Has it been hard adjusting to being a mom?” she asked as she began pinning it.
“In some ways yes. In others, no. Mostly, I’m just sad my sister won’t get to see him grow up.”
She looked up at me. “Oh, that’s right. Maya was your sister. She worked at the bakery not far from the shop.”
“Yeah, I found that out when I went in there to taste flavors.” A pang in my chest made me press my hand to my heart. Maya was getting her life back together. It felt so unfair. That’s all I’d ever wanted for her. Happiness and health. “I was glad to know that Maya was happy.”
“I’m sure that helped some. Losing someone is always hard.” A chime came from her purse.
“It’s okay if you need to take that.”
She looked up at me, shaking her head. “I’ll deal with it when I’m done. I’ve already taken up enough of your time.”
We continued chatting as she slowly made her way around the dress. “Okay,” she said and stuck the last pin in. “That does it.” She used the table to help herself stand and held out a hand to me.
“Let me get it unbuttoned and then I can get it back in the garment bag.”
I let her help me down and a few minutes later, I was back in the powder room, getting dressed when Elias began fussing. “Hold on, little man, I’ll be right there.”
Finished, I stepped out of the room and froze.
The woman cradled Elias in her arms as she sat on the edge of the couch next to her bag. A shock of ice slowly spread through me. Danger. All that friendliness, the small talk about makeup and alterations. It had all been an act.
She cooed at him and tickled his neck before looking at me. “I need you to put the dress in the bag, Cora.”
“I thought…”
She slowly pulled a gun from a pocket on the bottom of her bag. “Quickly, please.”
“Daisy, what are you doing?”
She just smiled and brought the gun closer to Elias.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You don’t want to do this…”
“You’re right I don’t, but we all do what we have to for family, right?” Her gaze found mine. I thought those sinister smiles and dead eyes were movie magic or just talk. A raging fear gripped me.
