And with that enticement keeping him close, he stayed in the store far longer than he should have.
CHAPTER15
With another three tiny homes leaving the factory on Friday afternoon, the weekend came around far too quickly. For the last two days, Joseph had hardly seen Shona. She’d spent most of her free time helping Paris and Richard with any last-minute wedding details.
Between taking Adele to school and making sure she didn’t miss the writing club at The Welcome Center, he hadn’t had much time to think about what they’d wear to the wedding. It turned out his daughter had been thinking about it a lot more than he had.
“I can’t wear that dress, Dad. It’s too short.”
He frowned at the red polka-dot dress. “It’s your favorite.”
“It used to be, but it isn’t anymore. You bought it for me last year for Granddad’s birthday. I’m a lot taller now.”
“Which one do you like now?”
Adele puffed out her cheeks as she looked through her closet. “I like my red one, but that doesn’t fit either. I don’t have anything I can wear.”
He scanned the rail. Most of the time, Adele wore jeans and T-shirts. It wasn’t often she needed a dress. In desperation, he pulled out a black pair of leggings and held them under the dress.
“What if you wear these? It doesn’t matter how short the dress is, then.”
Adele shook her head. “It looks weird.”
Joseph checked his watch. With less than two hours before the wedding, he needed to find something for her to wear. “We need to go into town. There’ll be a store that sells something you can wear.”
“Can Shona come with us? She knows what looks good.”
“I’ll call her, but she might be helping Paris.”
Adele waited patiently beside him while he called Shona. He breathed a sigh of relief when she said she’d meet them in town. “Okay, pumpkin. Get your shoes and socks on. Shona’s meeting us at Junior Things in ten minutes.”
“Yeah!” Adele grabbed a pair of socks off the floor and ran into the hallway.
It was just as well Shona was working in her store. If they’d had to wait until she’d driven into town, they really would’ve been pushing their luck.
“Come on, Dad,” Adele yelled from the entryway. “We’re gonna be late.”
With Adele desperate for a new dress, there wasn’t much hope of that. “I’m coming.”
With one last look in her closet, he realized she’d need more than one dress. He had a lot of skills, but shopping for clothes wasn’t one of them. Hopefully, Shona was happy to come to their rescue.
* * *
Shona helda pink dress against Adele and tilted her head to the side. “What do you think of this one?”
Adele’s eyes narrowed as she studied her reflection in the full-length mirror. “It’s cute. I like the little flowers on the skirt.”
“It’s the right length and the color looks lovely against your skin. Let’s try it on.” She walked across to Joseph and collected the other dresses they’d found. “Thanks for looking after the clothes for us.”
“That’s okay. I’m grateful you’re here.”
Shona grinned. After five minutes of hunting through the store, she’d realized shopping for clothes wasn’t something he enjoyed.
He was distracted by the people milling around the shelves and hated waiting while someone else looked through the clothes. When a fire engine roared past the building, he disappeared onto the sidewalk to see where it was going. In the end, he was happy to follow them around the store, holding the clothes they thought had potential. And they’d found some lovely options.
Pulling back the curtain in the changing room, Shona hung the dresses on the hooks. “I’ll be right outside. Let me know when you’re ready to show us what they look like.”
“Okay.” With an excited smile, Adele pulled the curtain closed.
