“Sloane, that color is so you. It looks fabulous with your green eyes and blonde hair. You have amazing taste.” said Bella.
“Can we get it dad? Can we? I love this dress so much.” she implored.
Jack looked at the price tag and his eyes bugged out of his head.How much?!
As a pilot and astronaut, Jack made good money, and he’d invested well but he wasn’t one to be flashy with cash. His only real splurge on himself had been the Porsche. He also had two daughters to put through college, although transferable Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits would help considerably, and the trust he'd quietly established from Susan's life insurance — making sure they'd always be taken care of, whatever happened. But seeing the look on Sloane’s face he knew he couldn’t refuse - it was her first homecoming; he knew that was a big thing.
“Yes, of course. Let’s pay for that and then how about we get a pretzel dog at the food court?”
Settling in at the food court with pretzel dogs and sodas, they sat down to eat, with Sloane telling them all about the theme of her Homecoming Dance, where it would be held, and more.
“Those are cool flip flops, Ms. Genovese. Are those the Dolce Havianas?” asked Sloane, changing the subject from the dance - Jack had that look in his eye like she was about to get the third degree about her date.
“If it’s okay with your dad you can call me Bella. And thank you, they are the Dolce. I love the tile print on them; it reminds me of Sicily.”
“Dolce?” asked Jack
“Dolce and Gabbana Dad, duh. Bella, can I try them on, please?”
Bella slipped the flip flop off her foot and slid it under the table to Sloane.
“It fits; we were the same size! How cool is that? Oh look, there’s Jenny and Kim, from school. Can I go say hi?”
“Sure but just stay where I can see you.” Sloane rolled her eyes, as she and Piper went over to say hi.
“This has been nice, thank you for including me today, I forgot how much I used to enjoy days like this with Angela and Madeline.”
“I’m glad you came; I wasn’t sure if you would after that night. Like I said on the phone, it’s been crazy busy, but I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”
“Same.” Bella replied with a slight blush.
“Dad, Dad!” Sloane came running back to the table, eyes shining with tears.
‘What’s wrong, what happened?” “Are you and your sister okay?”
“Dad, I just thought about something - I don’t have the right shoes to wear with that dress, I need shoes. Can we go look for shoes?”
“Sloane, it’s been an expensive month. I just paid the tuition for your tennis school, and Piper needs braces. Are you sure you don’t have something at home you can wear?”
The tears that had been threatening finally slid down her cheeks. “I guess so.”
“I have an idea, if I may?” said Bella as she pulled out her phone and opened an app.
Scrolling quickly through images, she landed on the ones she was thinking of.
“How about these, Sloane, do you think these would work? “Bella held up her phone, with a picture of a pair of block, low- heeled Christian Louboutin patent leather sandals, an exact match for the lavender of Sloane's dress.
“OMG, those are perfect!”
“What is that on your phone?” Jack asked.
“It’s an app that I created to keep track of my shoes.”
“You have an app for your shoes?!”
“Doesn’t everyone?” she laughed. “No, I made this to keep track so when I’m shopping I know what I’ve got in the closet and can match it if needed. It’s really handy. Sloane, I’d be happy to loan you these shoes if you like.”
“Wow, really Bella? Those are Louboutin’s, aren’t you worried I might mess them up?”
