Page 6 of All Dressed Up

CHAPTER TWO

Rachel positioned one last pale pink rose stem into the clear, crystal vase and stood back, admiring her work. Ernie, the town’s beloved cop, had ordered a full bouquet for his mother’s birthday.

She’d known Ernie for years, and he was one of her most loyal customers. He’d always had a sweet spot for her dating back to when she’d turned sixteen and he’d caught her running a red light on Main Street. She’d just gotten her driver’s license and had a bit of a lead foot. He’d let her off with a warning.

“Thank you, Rachel.” Ernie picked up the vase, admiring the flowers. “Ma is going to love these.”

“You’re welcome. You tell her ‘happy birthday’ for me.”

“You bet.” He started for the entrance, greeting Bethany Wilson as she came in.

Rachel gave her best friend in Buttermilk Falls a wave. Right on time.

“You two girls stay out of trouble.” He winked over at Rachel. “I don’t want to have to haul you both into the station.”

“We will,” they both said in unison.

Rachel crossed her shop and flipped the lock, excited to close up. It’d been a busy Tuesday. Tonight, she’d made plans with Bethany for a much-needed catch-up over pizza and wine on Bethany’s dock.

A gab session that was long overdue.

She missed her gal pal. They’d been friends since middle school when Bethany moved to town and her parents opened the Christmas Corner. Back then, it’d been pretty cool to have a best friend whose parents celebrated Christmas all year round. The pair had spent countless hours playing in the store with all the glittery ornaments and holiday props, pretending they lived at the North Pole.

And they’d been inseparable into adulthood.

When Bethany and Adam got together last winter, some had wondered if it would cause a rift between the best friends, but Rachel knew better.

Nothing could ever come between them.

Besides, Rachel had realized after her breakup with Adam that he was never really the one for her. Sure, she loved him once upon a time, and they’d been comfortable together—but they’d lacked a spark.

She reached down for a stray rose petal on the floor, rubbing it between her fingers. With Adam, she never experienced the electric, heart-palpitating sensation invoked from a mere glance or soft touch by the right man.

There was only one guy who’d made her feel all of it and so much more.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the one for him.

And thanks to a meddling dead woman and her old, antique trunk, Rachel knew it.

She moved behind the counter to her cash register, popping it open. She wasn’t going to let any thoughts of not being with Will spoil her night. Let it surface some other time when she was all alone.

“So, how’s your neighbor on the other side of the road?” Bethany asked, nodding in that direction.

“Jason Levine?” Rachel asked innocently, pulling out a wad of cash. Jason worked directly across the street at theButtermilk Advocate. He ran the local newspaper and was freelancing for a popular national news blog. “I’m sure he’s very busy with Emma planning their wedding.”

“Not him.” Bethany shot over a smirk. “The other neighbor. The one that’s been all dressed up for the last six months.”

Rachel looked up from her count. Her friend meant Will. That was a given. Since taking over his mother’s bridal shop, he’d traded in his oil-stained overalls for a shirt and tie, a fact that had garnered him a lot of attention from the females in this town.

She focused, counting her bills. This female was trying her best to ignore how handsome he looked in said business attire or the fact that she’d like nothing more than the opportunity to rip off his shirt and tie and run her hands over his familiar toned chest as he pulled her in for a toe-curling kiss.

She shoved the cash into her deposit bag, trying to get that hot thought out of her head. “If you mean Will, I don’t know how he is.”

“Don’t you see him?”

“No,” Rachel said, not wanting to offer any more on that subject. Her best friend wasn’t completely in the dark. Bethany knew all about Rachel hooking up with Will over the holidays—she more or less caught them in the back ally one night in between Buttermilk Blooms and the Christmas Corner looking disheveled. Bethany had asked her friend point-blank that night what was going on.

And back then Rachel was fine with admitting the truth that she and Will were sleeping together. That was before her heart and emotions got in the way. “I haven’t talked to him in weeks.”

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