Page 67 of Stone Promises

“Hello, dear. Chad told me the other day how bad he felt knowing you’d be alone most of the day today.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I took a swim. He won’t be gone that long,” I tell her.

“Well, as luck would have it, my afternoon surgery got canceled. I thought I’d swing by and take you shopping. Maybe buy you a dress for Ana’s party on Friday?”

It would be nice to have a new dress. After all, I’ll be mingling with movie stars. “That would be wonderful,” I say. “But you’re not buying my dress, Jackie.”

“I’m already on my way,” she says, ignoring my statement. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

An hour later, I find myself in another world, being catered to by not one, but two sales ladies as we drink champagne while they present me with dress options. I gulp down a swallow. I shudder to even look at the prices. Actually, I don’t think the dresses evenhaveprice tags. Maybe they charge based on what they think you can afford. I wonder if it would be in poor taste to mention I’m just a school teacher.

Jackie really wants me to pick a dark green dress to match my eyes. They show me several and I end up trying on a skin-tight, cleavage-enhancing one and a flowy just-above-the-knee, conservative-yet-alluring one. I model both for Jackie as the sales ladies fawn over me. I break out into a sweat wondering if one of these dresses will breach the limit on my Visa card.

“You look stunning in both of them, Mallory,” Jackie says when I come out wearing the conservative one. “Chad will simply drop dead when he sees you.”

I smile, looking in the mirror thinking about his reaction. I have to admit; I look and feel great wearing it. I twirl around, watching the skirt show off a little more leg.

One of the ladies brings me a pair of black heels with matching green bows on the back that look amazing with the dress. Oh, screw it, I may have to work summer school to pay this off, but it will be worth it. I smile at Jackie. “This is the one,” I say.

She sighs with relief. “Oh, thank God,” she says, leaning back into the leather dressing room sofa. “I know you young girls like those tight dresses, but I still think you should leavesomethingto the imagination.”

I laugh. “I thought you liked the other one.”

“I thoughtyouliked the other one.” She giggles.

“Oh, no. I only tried it on because your eyes lit up when you saw it,” I tell her.

“Wishful thinking, dear. If only I could still fit into something like that. Actually, I’m not sure I ever could.”

“You are gorgeous, Jackie. And you have a lovely figure,” I say. “Chad’s father is very lucky.”

She pulls me in for a hug. “Thank you, dear. I think I’ll keep you.” Then she whispers in my ear so the ladies can’t hear her. “Courtney Benson has nothing on you.”

“You know her?” I ask, a little disappointed that he’s brought other girls to their home for dinner.

“Oh, no. Not really,” she says. “We met one time at his L.A. premiere. That dress you tried on? Hers was barely half of the material.” She shakes her head disapprovingly. “Not to mention she spreads false rumors about my son. She better pray she doesn’t use any of my friends for a nose job—which she needs, by the way—because I might just make sure they don’t have steady hands during her procedure.” She snorts at her own joke. “And just so you know, my son has never brought another woman home to meet us. You’re the one and only.”

I sigh with relief and then I smile. “He’smyone and only, Jackie. I think he always has been.”

“It’s as it should be, Mallory. My son loves you very much. I can tell by the way he talks about you. By the way he looks at you across the room. You are the real thing for him, you know. Trust in that. And don’t let all the hoopla distract you from it.” She holds my arms out by my sides and looks at the dress again. “I hope you know CPR, dear, because his heart will stop for sure. Now go get changed so I can get you home before he even knows you were gone.”

When I’m changing back into my clothes, Chad texts me, telling me he’s going to be about a half hour late but that he’ll make it up to me later, followed by a winky face. I smile as I exit the dressing room. One of the sales ladies puts the dress in a garment bag. The shoes go in their own bag that hangs along the side. “Let me give you my card,” I say.

She waves me off. “It’s been paid for, young lady. Have a good day.”

I shoot a glance to Jackie, who’s waiting for me by the front door with a big Cheshire cat smile. She shrugs. “Get used to it, dear. We Stones take care of our own.”

“Jackie, it’s too much.”

“Hush now,” she says. “You are worth every bit, Mallory Schaffer.”

I smile at her, biting back tears. “I never really got to go shopping with my mom,” I say. “I was always too busy to be bothered with it. But I imagine it would have been a lot like this. Minus the champagne.”

She puts her arm around me. “You were the apple of that woman’s eye, dear. She knew you loved her. You were a teenager. You weresupposedto be out gallivanting with your friends. She would have been so proud of the woman you’ve become. Trust me.”

“Thank you,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat. “And thank you for this.” I hold the bag up. “So, so much.”

“You’re very welcome. Come, let’s get you home.”

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