Page 52 of The Rookie

I spin and find Mom standing there, her feet crossed as she leans against the doorjamb her arms folded across her chest. Her blue eyes twinkle as she studies my face.

I frown and take the plastic off the dress. “When did this come?”

“Earlier today.”

“Who…who is it from?”

“It arrived by courier with only your name pinned to the plastic.” Her brows lift. “You didn’t order it?”

I rub the silky fabric between my fingers. “No.”

Mom pushes off the doorframe and walks to my window. “Maybe the guy down there has something to do with it.”

I follow her to the window and glance out to see Wes standing by his car, his phone pressed to his ear. What is going on with him?

“He and his friends asked me to join them in the city for dinner,” I explain.

“And he bought you a dress.” She turns and smiles at me. “How nice of him.”

Is it, though? Is it nice, or is he worried that I’ll wear coveralls to a fancy restaurant and embarrass him? As that worry burrows like a thirsty tick, I walk to my closet and flip through my clothes.

“You’re not going to wear it?”

I give a non-committal shrug. “I don’t know.”

“It’s very lovely, Charlotte.”

I glance back over my shoulder, my body tight. I have to be reading this situation all wrong. Wes isn’t trying to make me into something I’m not. This is just a nice gesture, and I can’t let what happened to Mom cloud my relationship with Wes. Right?

My brain settles, and I come to a fast conclusion. “I’m going to wear it.”

Mom nods. “It’s going to look gorgeous on you. I have just the pair of shoes to go with it.”

“Shoes, right. You mean I can’t wear my rubbers?” I tease with a grin, getting a little more excited to go to the city, to spend a romantic evening with Wes and his friends.

“You could, obviously, and no doubt rock them, but I think heels would go better.” Mom disappears, and I slip into the dress, and spin in front of the mirror. Once again, I feel like Cinderella, with all the birds chirping joyously around my head.

Mom gasps when she comes back. “You are simply gorgeous, Charlotte.”

I smile. “You have to say that, you’re my mother.”

She laughs. “If you don’t believe me, just wait until Wes sees you in this.”

I like the idea of impressing Wes, of him taking this dressoffme. “Mom…?”

“Yeah.”

She sets the shoes down and I slip into them. Back in front of the mirror, I turn left and right to examine the flare in the dress. I really do love the way it fits my body. “Do you like Wes?”

“Of course, I do. He’s a nice boy. He was always very sweet when he came to pick up the lobster shells, and his folks are lovely. They raised a good farm boy.”

“A farm boy,” I say under my breath. “He’s a big NHL player now, though.”

“Maybe, but you can take the boy out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the boy.”

I nod in agreement, having said something similar myself not so long ago. “That’s what happened to you, right? You went to the city, but at the heart of it all, you belonged here.”

“That’s right. I couldn’t get the ocean or the lobster trolling out of my soul. The sea isn’t in everyone’s soul, though,” she warns quietly.

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