Page 56 of Shadows of the Soul

I saluted her. “You got it.”

Harry breathed out, his shoulders relaxing. He’d been worried that the only person who could see him had lost that ability. Aunt Anita walked with Mike out of the house.

Hudson smiled. “Thank god you got your sight back in time.”

“For what?” I wondered.

“For the ball,” he declared. “I need a date, and Dave makes for a grouchy companion.”

I groaned and flopped my head back down on the sofa. Wonderful. I’d gained my sight and lost my night to formal dancing and weird canapés.

Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Cursed legacies and secret plans.

“Ican’t choose,” I stated, waving a hand at the four beautiful dresses hanging on the curtain rail in Rebecca’s room. I lounged on Rebecca’s bed, having been waxed and preened to within an inch of my life.

Aunt Dayna fluttered a hand down the white gown. It was more bridal than ball. “Not this one,” she muttered. “We can save white for your big day.”

I rolled my eyes as Rebecca nodded in agreement. “The red is too bold. She’s off the market now.”

“Which leaves us with the green or the black,” Maggie said with her hands on her hips.

“Green,” I decided.

“You always do green,” Maggie countered. The White Furry Menace meowed from her position on the end of the bed. She was doing an excellent impression of a loaf of bread.

“Fine, black.”

“Excellent choice,” Rebecca said, like I’d had a say in the matter. “It’s sultry, sexy, and feminine.”

I poured myself into the fitted black lace floor-length gown. Its modest neckline scooped over my shoulders and then left the length of my spine bare. I felt sexy, and a little buzz of excitement that I’d not known for a very long time buzzed beneath my skin. I wanted to knock Hudson’s socks off.

“Hair up or down?” Aunt Dayna asked, picking up my copper waves and playing with them.

“How about down, but pinned to the side to show off her back?” Rebecca suggested. I stood like a mannequin and let them complete their finishing touches.

I glanced at the clock. He was late. Only by ten minutes—but my inside voice whispered it was because he’d lost interest. Damn my grandmother.

Harry burst through the wall and floated to a stop. “Bravo, Miss Roberts, he won’t know what hit him.”

My lips twitched as my confidence boosted. “Why are you smiling?” Maggie asked.

“I can’t smile now?”

“You hate getting dressed up,” Rebecca stated.

I smoothed my hands down my hips. “Not so much when I have someone waiting who will appreciate it.”

“Speaking of waiting, Mr. Abbot has arrived,” Harry declared.

A nervous butterfly took flight in my stomach. “He’s here,” I declared, as Rebecca slipped some earrings into my ears. She gripped my arms and spun me toward the mirror. I stepped closer.

“You’ve outdone yourselves, ladies. I feel beautiful.”

“You’re always beautiful,” Aunt Dayna said with a smirk. “We just artfully arranged you to complement your natural beauty.”

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