Page 51 of Reclaiming My Wife

“Weren’t they in the other store that we were in? Are they following us?” Danielle said as she looked over her shoulder.

“There aren’t a lot of dress stores here, and they’re probably going to the festival too.” I took the dress out of her hands and inspected it. It was simple with a halter-style top, three different shades of purple sweeping across the bodice with a cinched waist and flowy skirt that looked like it would stop just above the knee. “This looks fine. I’ll try it on.”

The store employer gave me a curious look as she unlocked the dressing room for us. I had a feeling new faces were unusual in her shop. Danielle followed me in and sat on the bench while she waited for me to change. “Do you remember when we were shopping for your wedding dress?”

“At the consignment shop?” I laughed as I pulled the shirt over my head. “All you did was complain that you couldn’t throw me the wedding of my dreams. All I wanted to do was get married.”

“I just wanted to be your maid of honor and wear a pretty dress.”

“You were my maid of honor, and you did wear a pretty dress.” I slipped the dress in my hands over my head. After shimmying out of my pants, I tried to zip it back up, but it snagged. “Help,” I said as I backed up.

“I was the only one there, and the officiate treated me more like a witness than a bridesmaid,” Danielle complained. “Hang on, I think it’s caught on the fabric.”

“That’s because it was the justice of the peace, and we were his last wedding of the day.” I craned my head over my shoulder and watched as she finally freed the zipper and pulled it up. Tugging on the fabric, I stepped in front of the mirror.

There was nothing remarkable about the dress. It was cut a little low, but it had a built-in bra, so I didn’t have to wear anything underneath it. “It could use a necklace.”

“No.” Danielle shook her head. “It’s perfect just the way it is.”

Maybe it was because it had been a long time since I’d dressed up to be pretty, but it was hard for me to even see myself as pretty in the mirror. The one time I’d dressed up for Don, I’d felt more like an object than a woman. “I guess it’ll do.”

She held up Brendan’s credit card. “Your husband said that we can get anything we want, so we’re going to go shoe and lingerie shopping,” she said with glee. “Here, let me unzip you.”

“I don’t need lingerie,” I said quickly. “Or shoes.”

“Girl, this is a hoedown. You need some boots.” She tugged the zipper down and handed me my pants. “I want you to have fun tonight, Jillian. Promise me. Don’t think about the past. Don’t worry about the future. Just have fun with a man who makes your heart skip a beat, okay?”

I sighed and began to dress. “I don’t know. I think this whole thing is a bad idea.”

Before she could respond, my phone rang. Grabbing it from my purse, I frowned. It was Cindy. “I should take this. She tends to panic when she can’t reach me.”

“She’s going to really panic when she discovers that you’re holed up in the middle of nowhere,” Danielle said dryly. “I’ll go pay for the dress and meet you out front. And then shoes and lingerie.”

“Fine.” I waved my hand and laughed. At least it meant a little more time with the one person who I could talk to about all of this.

***

I was running late.

After Danielle left, I tried to get a little more work done on my dissertation and lost track of time. Now, Brendan would be here any minute, and all I’d managed to do was pull the damn dress over my head. My hair was still damp after my shower, and I was struggling to get the ridiculous cowboy boots that Danielle made me buy on.

Stepping in front of the mirror, I frowned. “I look like hell,” I grumbled as I raked my fingers through my hair. Even worse, I couldn’t get the damn dress zipped.

“I think you look beautiful.” From the reflection in the mirror, I saw Brendan step into my room, holding a bouquet of flowers.

What the hell?

“Thanks, I think,” I said slowly as I whirled around. “I know that I’m late, but I still need to put my hair up, and I’m hoping that I can get Kim to help me with my dress.”

“I think that you should leave your hair down,” he suggested as he set the flowers on the table. “And I can help you with your dress.”

After a moment of hesitation, I turned back to the mirror and nodded. His gaze never left mine as his knuckles brushed along the bare skin of my back. “Calla lilies. My favorite,” I said with a soft smile. “You remembered.”

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