Penny glanced at the dress.“It’s lovely, but it’s three times my budget.”
“No, it isn’t,” Katie said excitedly.“It’s on sale.”She turned the phone around and grinned.“The new price is on the next screen.Youhaveto look at it now.”
Barbara smiled when she saw the indecision on her sister’s face.Penny and Wyatt had set a budget for their wedding, then halved it.The money they didn’t spend would be given to Pastor John for the programs he ran at the church.
Penny bit her bottom lip.“I don’t know.It’s still—”
“Say yes,” Katie begged.“Wyatt will be stunned if you wear a dress like this down the aisle.”
Penny looked at Barbara.“What do you think?”
“It’s only a little over your budget, and itisgorgeous.”
“And it doesn’t cost anything to try it on,” Diana said quickly.
Penny studied the picture of the dress, then sighed.“Okay.I’ll have a look at it.”
Katie hugged her sister.“I’m so excited.This one is much nicer than the one you ordered.”
“It’s still more than I wanted to spend—”
“It’s a bargain,” Diana said with a grin.“I can’t wait to see what it looks like.”
While everyone was admiring the dress, Penny found the store’s phone number.“Before we get too excited, we’d better make sure Emily hasn’t sold it.”
Everyone stopped talking and waited while she called the boutique.After a short conversation with Emily, she had good news.“The dress is still there.If we can travel to Bozeman in the next ten days, Emily will put it aside so no one else can buy it.”
Mabel smiled at her daughters.“It looks as though we’re going to Bozeman!”
And with a squeal of excitement, Katie rushed to Barbara’s laptop to see the other dresses Emily sold in her boutique.
THEO GLANCEDin his truck’s rearview mirror while he listened to what Tony had been doing over the last few days.His friend had driven to Stanhope to speak to the two remaining businesses.
“Hagan Contractors are a legitimate business,” Tony said through the phone.“From what I’ve heard, their chief executive wouldn’t change an invoice to suit his client.I can’t say the same about Blue Mountain Enterprises.”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“As far as I can tell, the company has never operated from Stanhope.When I called their phone number, it was answered by someone who works out of a Manhattan office.”
Theo rubbed his forehead.“Where does that leave us?”
“With more than eighty thousand dollars’ worth of home renovations that were charged to the former mayor’s real estate company.If I can get a copy of the original invoice, we can match it to work that was done on his home.Even an email between Steve and the company would be better than nothing.”
“Have you had any luck locating Anne?”With the defamation case getting closer, Theo needed to speak to her as soon as possible.
“I’m following up another lead.One of her cousins thinks she’s staying in a cabin not far from Watertown in Upstate New York.I’ll drive there next.”
“Thanks, Tony.I appreciate everything you’re doing.”
“Don’t worry about it.You’ve got me out of a few tricky situations before.How are your parents?”
“As far as I’m aware, they’re okay.”
“You haven’t spoken to them, have you?”
Theo couldn’t see any point in calling them.When everyone was destroying his career, he’d turned to his mom and dad for support.Instead of being there for him, they’d listened to their friends and ignored everything he’d said.
“Regardless of how they acted, they’re still your parents.”
