Page 66 of A Secret Escape

“Comfortable is for when you’re ninety.” Nicole studied the dress. “Does this make you feel good?”

“Not particularly. Clothes never make me feel good.”

Nicole added the dress to the growing pile of rejects. “You’re going on a date. It’s important that you feel good.”

“It’s not a date. It’s just dinner.” Milly was growing more uneasy by the minute. She chewed the edge of her fingernail. “Do you really think it’s a date? Do you thinkhethinks it’s a date? You’re worrying me.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow. “Well, what did you think it was?”

“I don’t know. Dinner with a friend.”

“Right. That’s what it is, then. And stop biting your nails. You’re not twelve. I’m going to give you a manicure in a minute, so I’m going to need something to paint.” Nicole went back to the wardrobe. She emerged moments later with a summer dress in shades of blue and green. “This is pretty.”

She’d worn it on a trip to Greece with Richard, early in their relationship. “It won’t fit.”

But looking at it reminded her that she hadn’t always chosen to wear safe black or navy. Who had she been back then? Who was the woman who had chosen that happy swirl of blue and green?

Nicole removed it from the hanger. “Try it.”

“I will look like a sack of potatoes in that.” And whoever she’d been back then, she wasn’t that person now.

Nicole thrust it toward her, and Milly took it with a sigh.

She knew Nicole well enough to know that there was only one way to deal with this situation.

“Fine, I’ll put it on. And I’ll look completely crappy, and then maybe you’ll shut up and let me wear my linen trousers.” Deciding that the sooner she proved her point, the sooner they could get this whole clothing issue out of the way, Milly stripped off and pulled on the dress. She was astonished to discover it slid easily over her hips.

“Wow.” Nicole grinned. “Yes, you’re right, you look awful. Let’s hope they have a power outage in the restaurant so no one can see you.”

Milly walked toward the mirror. She stared at herself and then turned sideways. “I can’t believe it fits.” She pressed a hand to her now-flat stomach. “I must have lost weight.”

“A side benefit of all that running. And not pouring an entire hive of honey over your yogurt. You look gorgeous. Right. That’s what you’re wearing tonight.”

Milly tugged slightly at the hem.

“You don’t think it’s too short? If it’s breezy, the skirt part blows up. I don’t want my fat thighs on show.”

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer.” Nicole went back to the wardrobe and pulled out a cashmere cardigan in the same shade of blue. “This is pretty. You can take it as an extra layer in case you’re cold. Now we need to think about jewelry, and then hair and makeup.”

By the time they’d finished, Milly almost didn’t recognize herself.

She felt a twinge of nostalgia. “This reminds me of when we were teenagers getting ready to go to a party. You always chose what we wore.”

“Only because left to your own devices you would have worn jeans everywhere.” Nicole hung the cardigan on the door alongside the dress. “Do you have a bag that would look good with this? Let’s put all your bags on the bed, and then we can choose one.”

“We don’t need to put them on the bed,” Milly said. “I only own two bags. I’ll just take the one I use every day.”

“That massive, battered tote bag you haul around everywhere? You are not using that.”

“My everyday bag is brilliant. Very roomy. Holds everything. I actually have a clean T-shirt in there in case of accidents and a couple of spare light bulbs for the cabins.”

“Will you listen to yourself?” Nicole rolled her eyes. “You are not going to an expensive restaurant with a hot guy carrying spare light bulbs in your purse.”

“How do you know he’s hot?”

Nicole pulled out Milly’s drawers one by one, checking the contents. “I know him. I met him a couple of times on set. I was in one of his movies.”

“What?” It took Milly a moment to absorb the full implications of that. It hadn’t occurred to her, even for a moment, that Nicole and Brendan might know each other. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

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