The shrill whistle of the tea kettle blares, and it startles me so much that my heart beats painfully against my chest. Trevor pulls the kettle from the hot burner to stop its high-pitched scream.
“What dress? What are you talking about?” he asks.
He gently pulls me down to sit at the table with him, and I explain everything that I had been too distracted to tell him about before. I tell him about trying on all the dresses and finding the perfect one that I wanted. I tell him how I put a small deposit down and the saleslady agreed to hold the dress for me while I figured out a way to pay for the rest of it. I tell him about leaving the store and not thinking anything else about it until the moment the dress showed up this morning.
“I was going to tell you about it sooner, but there was the bunny and the bathtub,” I ramble on nervously.
“It’s okay,” he says. “I understand. Why didn’t you tell me that you had found a dress that you liked the other day when you went?”
“It was way too expensive,” I say. “I didn’t see the point in bringing it up yet until we were closer to being able to afford it. I wasn’t worried about it because the saleslady said that she would hold it for me. But then, when the very same dress showed up at the door, I just figured that somehow you had figured out it was the dress I wanted and somehow you had gotten it.”
I shake my head, disappointed in how naïve and ridiculous I’ve been.
“I should have known it was Max,” I say. I feel somehow violated and it’s just over a stupid dress.
“I’m sorry,” Trevor says. “I had no idea that there was a certain dress you found and wanted. I want you to always feel like you can tell me anything and everything, even if you think it’s pointless, okay?”
I nod. I realize now that I should have just told him about it right away anyways.
“But that being said, I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. I mean, did you see Max anywhere around the dress shop?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “But you and I both know how sneaky he is. Just because I didn’t see him, doesn’t mean that he didn’t seeme. Who else would have that amount of money to buy a dress?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean it’s Max.”
“Literallyeverythinglately has been Max,” I remind him.
“I know that,” he says. “But what would Max have to gain by buying you the wedding dress of your dreams to wear while you’re walking down the aisle toward me. If anything, I would think that Max would try to crash the wedding and stop it, not fit the bride. What good could that possibly do him?”
“I don’t know, but what if he was there watching me? What if he was here? What if he watched us in the tub and our every move is being watched?”
The panic was starting to overwhelm me now.
“It’s highly unlikely that Max sent the dress,” Trevor says as he continues to try and calm me down. “Maybe the saleslady or the store owner sent it as a gift. Maybe she saw how much you loved it and was paying forward a kindness.”
“Trevor, random acts of kindness involve buying the person behind you in line a latte, not purchasing and delivering a three-thousand-dollar dress,” I say.
“Wow, it wasthatmuch money for a dress?” he says, astounded.
“Yes,” I answer. “Can you think of anyonebesidesMax that would have enough disposable money to send me a dress like that?”
“Honestly, no.” he says.
Neither of us really have any idea of what’s going on. I show Trevor the dress, which he agrees is absolutely stunning, and we decide that instead of getting worked up needlessly over something that we don’t know the answer to, that we will just stick extra close together. We skip the tea and head straight up to bed. I don’t close my eyes until I can feel Trevor’s body curled up protectively around mine. Then, I finally close my eyes.
6
Trevor
When we wake up, I suggest that Ava and I go back to the wedding dress shop in town to talk to the saleslady that had been holding the dress for her. Fortunately, the woman remembers Ava. And that isn’t all that she remembers.
“Yes, I remember the man that came in for your dress,” the woman says. “I figured he was the lucky fiancé.”
“No,” Ava says abruptly as she motions toward me at her side. “This is my fiancé, Trevor.”
“Oh,” the woman says, looking confused. “So then who was the man who bought the dress? You did receive it, yes?”
“Yes, it’s been delivered to my house,” I answer. “But can you describe the man who bought it from you? I thought you had said you were holding the dress for me. I gave you a deposit.”
