Page 33 of Bride in Blue
“I’m almost afraid to find out.”
“Well you won’t know unless you ask.”
The sound of the door opening caused Cassie to look away for a moment.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, looking toward the door. It was Jacques from the theater.
“Think about what?” Jacques asked walking over to the display of jackets.
Cassie turned back to the notions cabinet. Mrs. Pennyworth was gone, but the three buttons remained on the top of the cabinet.
Max couldn’t believe what just happened.
When Cassie told him that Jacques was going to bring the entire theater troupe to the haberdashery that evening, and requested he keep the store open later, Max nearly scoffed.
Theater people were not known for spending money frivolously. They didn’t get paid much, and right now the profit the troupe did make was going to pay Cassie and her father to fix the costumes.
However, Max consented, and the shop was open after hours just for these special customers.
Cassie even went as far as to bring cookies over from the bakery and had Mrs. Honeycutt brew one of her special blend of teas and poured it in all Max’s available terracotta jugs.
The actors fawned over the jackets available. Jacques loved the pants with a little bit of silk in them and asked Max to order him at least half-a-dozen pairs. He would pick them up on the return trip from San Francisco.
By the time he was done pricing and wrapping up purchases, the store looked like a cyclone had hit it. Probably a natural look, given there were nearly twenty people shopping in the store at once.
Clothing items were strewn around on the tables, jackets had fallen off their hangers in the armoire, crumbs littered the floor where the customers gobbled up cookies. Max thought he was going to scream.
Cassie reassured him that they could put everything back the way it was. “But think of how much you sold this evening?”
Max conceded. In one evening, they sold nearly half of what he had done the year before. But money wasn’t everything. He wanted order. He wanted the shop cleaned up. He wanted the crumbs off the floor. He wanted Cassie.
He looked at his wife. He couldn’t believe what a whirlwind his life had become since she entered it. She ran right over rules and order and had managed to worm her way into his heart.
He thought he may have fallen in love with her after Reverend Bing’s sermon on the Song of Solomon. He had no doubt he was on his way by the time he offered to take her to the theater. He was madly in love with her when they became man and wife, and now he knew that the type of love he had was going to be long lasting.
Because where he would normally be agitated at the mess in front of him, Cassie kept him calm. Even though he hadn’t said the words, he hoped she felt them.
He pulled his wife in his arms and gave her a kiss with every ounce of passion he had. When he broke it, she looked at him with a soft expression. Her lips were swollen, and he resisted the urge to kiss her again. He cleared his throat, “How about we start with the notions cabinet?”
Cassie nodded and Max took her hand, moving to the wooden cabinets that held thread, wax and other sewing sundries. “Did you do this?” he asked, noting the three buttons on top of the cabinet.
Cassie shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” Max said.
Cassie picked up one of the buttons, rubbing it between her fingers. She related what Mrs. Pennyworth had told her and that the buttons reminded her of Mr. Pennyworth and that everything would be alright.
“And this is your guardian angel?” Max asked, taking the buttons and placing them back in the drawer. Cassie nodded.
“Do you think I am a lunatic?” she asked.
Max kissed her forehead. “Not at all. I am fully aware of who Mrs. Pennyworth is.”
“You are?”
Max nodded. “She appeared a few mornings before you arrived. She said I needed some excitement.”
“Did you get your excitement, Max.”
