‘I salute your detective skills. Danny’s too.’
Holly smiled, thinking of her son’s brilliant insight into the horseshoe charm. ‘I probably wouldn’t have found the art gallery without him,’ she said, then gave a rueful smile. ‘He doesn’t get his technological savvy from me, that’s for sure.’
Carole pursed her lips. ‘Well, at least Nick contributed that much. Being a techie in today’s day and age isn’t a bad thing.’
Holly nodded her head in agreement. ‘There’s no denying Danny is his father’s child.’ She’d already told Carole about Nick’s sudden appearance that morning. Ranted, more like.
Carole held up a hand before Holly had the opportunity to take a walk down melancholy lane. ‘And he is also most definitely his mother’s son. He wouldn’t be the person he is today,’ she paused, and put a finger under Holly’s chin, raising her gaze to her own, ‘he wouldn’t have the opportunity to become the man that he will surely be, if it weren’t for you. Never forget that.’
Holly smiled and looked at her boss, mentor and friend. ‘Thanks Carole.’Carole moved to the other side of the counter, straightening a shirt on a hanger. ‘Anyway, changing the subject, do you have plans for New Year’s yet?’
This time it was Holly who snorted and rolled her eyes. ‘Carole, you know my opinion on all that. New Year’s Eve is pyjama time.’
‘Don’t let your life pass you by, Holly, you’re only young once.’
Holly was about to counter Carole’s advice when the front door of the store opened and along with a blast of cold in came a young woman. She was expertly coiffed with bright blonde hair and high black patent Christian Louboutins, and dressed head to toe black. Before she said a word, Holly knew exactly who she was.
‘Jessica?’
Holly had indeed pegged Margot Mead’s assistant to a tee from their telephone conversations.
‘Are you Holly? I brought the lists.’
‘Fantastic.’ She turned to Carole to give her a rundown on Jessica’s involvement in the search so far.
‘Sounds promising,’ her boss commented.
‘I hope so. But,’ she turned to Jessica, ‘first things first – didn’t we also talk about finding you something to wear for that New Year’s Eve work thing?’
Jessica smiled gratefully as Holly rushed forward to help her out of her coat, hanging it up on a store coat rack as gently as if it had been the Queen’s ermine cape. She flitted around the store, showing Jessica dress after dress, and giving her a keen account of who had owned what, what the garment had most likely experienced during its ‘other life’ and just how divine each piece would look when put on.
Her heart broke just a little when Jessica emerged from the dressing room in Anna Bowery’s amazing Givenchy. It was absolutely perfect on her. And as much as Holly loved the dress herself, at least Jessica would have somewhere to wear it.
‘It looks really good on you,’ chimed Carole as Jessica twirled the voluminous skirts and admired her reflection in the mirror.
She smiled and flipped her hair. ‘I suppose you have to splurge every now and then, and you know, you’re right, there’s something about this dress – a sense of magic or something,’ she said to Holly, who had wasted no time in giving her a rundown of the dress’s likely history. ‘You know, this store is just awesome. I can’t believe some of the great stuff you have.’
‘Thank you, and be sure you tell your boss that if she ever feels like getting rid of any of her clothes, we would be happy to take them and provide her a nice commission,’ Carole put in.
Jessica rolled her eyes. ‘Like she needs the money. I mean, she’s great, and smart, and she does a ton for charity, but really, I’ve never seen her wear the same thing twice.’
‘Must be nice,’ laughed Holly. ‘So which dress do you think you are going to get? The Givenchy or the red silk curve-hugger that makes you look like Marilyn?’ she asked, indicating a very sexy and tight cocktail dress that very definitely channelled the late Ms. Monroe.
Jessica shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m really torn. I mean this dress is gorgeous, the tulle and the crystals and everything. But the other one is super sexy, and just a bit more modern. I’m trying to figure out which one I would get the most wear out of. Admittedly, both would be great for the benefit … The Givenchy, well, I could wear this forever too; it will never go out of style. Whereas the red one, well, you can’t wear stuff like that after you turn thirty.’
Holly couldn’t help but laugh. Jessica couldn’t be more than twenty-two, twenty-three tops. Thirty probably seemed like a long time away. Holly wondered if she could convince her that turning thirty didn’t mean you had to start wearing burlap sacks.
‘Well, while you decide, I’ll take a look at those lists you brought me – see if anything jumps out.’
‘Oh of course, here you go.’ Jessica dug into her handbag and brought out a scarily thick sheaf of papers.
Holly gulped, looking down at the lists of names from the charity events. Right off the bat she had realised that there were several duplicates, meaning that some of the people on these lists had attended all three events. Where was she supposed to start? There were literally hundreds of people to sort through.
‘So you just found the bracelet in the pocket of a jacket? Wow, I’m guessing the owner must be frantic. You do know that egg charm cost over two thousand dollars?’ Jessica said airily.
Holly’s mouth went dry and she reached under the counter for her handbag, in order to take another look at the bracelet. ‘Two thousand, seriously?’
She laid the bracelet on the countertop, and Jessica moved closer for a better look. ‘Yep I definitely remember coming across this one,’ she said, pointing out the egg. ‘Or something very similar in any case.’ She began studying the others.
