“Areyou and my brother finally going to drop this fake dating thing andget together for real since you’reobviouslymeant for eachother?”
I let out abewildered laugh. “That’s not what I wanted to tell you, but…I dohope it’ll be the case.” I say the last bit in a rush before Ichicken out. When the time is right, I want to talk to Leland aboutbeing more than his fake girlfriend. I think we could be greattogether, and I need to know if he might feel the same. One thingat a time, though. “I wanted to tell you this in person, but Ican’t wait. I’d like to officially accept a full-time job atFandomTown.”
Felicity’s squealmakes me yank my phone away from my ear. I peek over at the salesassociate, who’s watching me with an amused look. I mouth ‘sorry’,but she grins and waves it away.
“That’sfantastic, Stella!” Felicity says. “We’re going to havesomuch fun workingtogether. Having you on board is going to help this store thrive, Ijust know it.”
“Iappreciate your confidence in me,” I say, hoping she doesn’t noticethe waver of emotion in my voice.
We talk for a fewmore minutes about job details before agreeing to meet tomorrow atthe store to sign the paperwork. As we talk, I find a beautifulpurple jumpsuit. I finger the shiny material, imagining how I wouldlook and feel in an outfit like this. How Leland might look at mein an outfit like this.
It’s been a longtime since I’ve dressed to impress. Clothes always used to be aform of expression for me, but as I told Leland recently, it feltlike I let the color drain from my life. I gave up the things thatmade me unique and brought me pleasure because Lars made me feellike it was a bad thing to stand out. I flip over the price tag;it’s not unreasonable, but I should prioritize my spending rightnow, considering I’ve been without a job for so long.
Riding the high ofaccepting a new job that’s completely perfect for me, I decidethere’s no time to waste in talking to Leland about how I feel. “Doyou know where your brother is?” I ask Felicity.
“Hedidn’t call you?”
“No…”
“Hisphone must have died. We got a lead on these really cool handmadegames we want to stock in the store, but the company is based inBarrie. The whole thing is pretty time sensitive, so Leland offeredto go, even though it’s a few hours away. He called me from the carto ask a few details and said his phone was dying and he forgot hischarger. He said he’d try to call you, but if he couldn’t, hewanted me to tell you he promised to be back before the reunion,and he’d be in touch as soon as possible.”
Well, damn. Thatexplains why I haven’t heard from him today. “Okay. Thanks forletting me know.”
There’s a pauseand then Felicity says, “He also said he wished he’d thought to askyou to go with him. He just hopped in his car and started driving,since that’s what he’s been used to all these years.”
My heart does afunny little somersault in my chest. I would have enjoyedaccompanying him, and I love that it occurred to him, even if itwas too late. I’ve become accustomed to not even being aconsideration for anyone other than my closest friends, so to knowLeland wished I was with him is both touching and oddlythrilling.
“Iwasn't kidding when I said you two are perfect for each other,”Felicity says. “Leland has seemed so much happier the last fewweeks, and it’s more than just the new job and being back inBellevue. A big part of it has been because of you.”
“I’mgoing to talk to him once the reunion is over with,” I say, myvoice shaking just from the thought of the impending conversation.“I…I’m ready for this to be more than a ruse.”
Felicity squealsagain, making me laugh until I have tears in my eyes. It’s not thesame as telling Leland himself, but my intentions are out therenow.
After we saygoodbye and I tuck my phone back into my pocket, the salesassociate approaches. She inclines her chin in the direction of thejumpsuit I’ve been eyeing. Or more than eyeing, I guess—withoutrealizing it, I’ve been caressing the sleeve.
“Thatwould look gorgeous on you,” she says. “Do you want to try iton?”
I takea deep breath. I’ve been taking baby steps toward a better life andtoday I took a few leaps. Why not one more? Iwouldlook amazing in this. And itwould be nice to do more than just imagine Leland’s reaction toseeing me in it. Besides, I’m ready to start living in Technicoloragain.
“I’dlove to. Thanks.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ten minutes beforeLeland is due to pick me up on Thursday night, I’m tempted to takea shot of the Drambuie Fergus brought Evie and me one night when hecame over with the guys.
I hadn’t realizedI was pacing around the living room until Evie steps in front ofme, plants her hands on my shoulders, and halts my progress. “Deepbreath,” she says, massaging my shoulders lightly. I do asdirected, holding it at the top when she instructs me to, and thenreleasing it slowly. “And again.”
Nervous laughterspills out of me on the exhale of the third deep breath. A grinflashes across Evie’s face as she squeezes my shoulders.
“Better?” she asks, releasing me.
“Yeah,thanks.” I check my watch. Five more minutes until Leland arrives.I got a text from him last night before bed, saying he was inBarrie and had found a spare charger he’d forgotten about in hisglove compartment. We arranged a time for him to pick me up for thereunion, and I told him I’d wait outside Evie’s building. “I shouldget going.”
Evie steps out ofthe way so I can move past her to put on my shoes. When Istraighten, she’s standing behind me, her hands clenched togetherin front of her. She reminds me of our moms on prom night; theywere practically buzzing with excited energy and pride. Afterhelping me get ready this afternoon, Evie snapped a dozen or sophotos of me, telling me over and over how radiant I looked. I halfexpect her to follow me outside now, phone in hand, ready to snappictures of Leland and me before we head off to thereunion.
I’m about to makea joke about that very thing when there’s a knock on the door.Expecting it to be Wesley, I open it without bothering to lookthrough the peephole.
Leland’s eyes gowide when they land on me. “Wow. I mean hi. But also wow. You lookbeautiful, Stella.”
