Page 18 of Keeping Her Safe

“Yes, we do,” Paige said and then looked at Zephyr’s chest. “But nothing that will fit you.”

“Okay. I just don’t have a bra on right now,” Zephyr mumbled, hoping that would explain everything.

She could tell Paige was trying to find a solution. Then her face brightened, and she said, “Come with me.” She grabbed her hand and headed for the front door. She called to the other lady in the store, “I’m taking lunch.”

As she was being pulled from the store, she looked for Zachary, but he was nowhere to be seen. So, she just followed the woman down four storefronts and let herself be pulled into the fifth. When the door opened, it was full of bras, panties, and socks. Paige called out to one of the employees behind the counter, “Bridget, we have an emergency!”

The blonde woman behind the counter came rushing to them. “What?”

Paige explained, “Her gorgeous romantic husband has whisked her away for a romantic week up north, but he didn’t let her pack anything. Anything.”

“A week? How long have you been married?” Bridget asked.

“Not long.” Zephyr didn’t lie.

“So, you’re thinking seven panties and seven bras?” Bridget asked Paige.

“Yes, and something comfortable and pretty. He’s gorgeous.”

Both women turned to her, and Bridget asked, “What size are you?”

Paige looked at her and said, “She’s got a rack under there.”

“I don’t really know what size they are. I usually wear sports bras. Others just hurt most of the time,” Zephyr admitted to the two women.

“Not here. I will not sell you something that doesn’t work for you. Let’s go measure, and then we will find the right bra,” Bridget replied happily, pulling her back to the dressing rooms in the back of the store.

Once her measurements were taken, Bridget slipped out, leaving Zephyr half-naked in a strip mall in a town she had never heard of before. It felt weird, new weird. Bridget’s hand suddenly slipped back into the room, holding a lacy lavender bra. Grabbing it from her, Zephyr put it on. It fit perfectly. In her entire life, she had never had a bra that fit. This one did.

Leaving it on, she pulled the tag off and put her sweatshirt back on. Zephyr grabbed the T-shirt with her when she left the room, throwing it away when she found a garbage can. She said, “A few more of those, please.”

The two ladies cheered, then Paige said, “And matching panties for all. All colors.”

Once they were all in the bag, Zephyr pulled out her credit card. Let’s see if this works, she thought. When the transaction went through, she almost cheered as well. She had money! Once she had paid for her purchases and left a generous tip, she and Paige rushed back to the clothing store.

When they got there, she could see right away Zachary was mad at her. Stalking over to her as they rushed in, he pushed her into a corner. Lowering his head close to her ear, he whispered harshly, “Where were you?”

“Paige took me to another store,” she said, eyeing her new friend, who was looking at them, concerned.

“Do you know what could have happened to you?” he whispered, but he ran his fingers across her cheek as he said it.

“I am fine. See?” She pushed him away.

Walking away from him without looking back, Zephyr held her head high and sauntered into the dressing room to try on the outfits. Once she got the brown pants and off-white sweater on, she saw right away that the combination was amazing. It even made her hair seem less red. When she stepped out to show Paige, the only person she saw was Zachary. His eyes raked her body from head to toe. His expression was unreadable, but Paige squealed with delight at the outfit.

“Do you like it?” Page asked.

“Yes, it’s very comfortable, but it doesn’t look comfortable; it looks sophisticated. But the shirt is a bit itchy,” Zephyr said, tearing her eyes from Zachary to look at Paige.

“Easy fix. We’ll add a tank top for that one—less itchy that way,” Paige replied.

“I have another outfit in this one.” Paige pushed Zephyr into the next dressing room. “But if you like it, don’t come out. I don’t want brown eyes over there to see all your outfits. Leave a little surprise.”

“Brown eyes watches everything.” Zephyr giggled.

It took over an hour in the store with Paige to get all the outfits she needed for the week. Zephyr also needed some clothes she could write in, so Paige brought up some nice, soft stretchy pants that were not sweatpants, and a few nice comfy tops to go with them. A pair of brown boots were added to the pile since sandals were not good enough for this late in the fall. Taking the piles of clothes to the register, it took time to ring up the total.

Zephyr had decided to wear something new out of the store, choosing white pants and a soft gray sweater from the pile. She threw the sweatpants in the garbage but had them put the sweatshirt in the bag. Even though the color was wrong on her, Zachary had bought it for her. She noticed the entire pile was earth tones, so now she had a color pallet that worked for her.

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