Chapter 14
Chapter 14
THE FIRST THING I did when I got home from my tennis match with Ryan was pull all my evening dresses out from my closet, lay them on my bed, and run a critical eye over them. I mean, it’s not like a girl got invited to a ball every day of the week, was it?
By the time I’d looked them all over, I’d determined they were either not dressy enough, not the right length, too conservative, or simply not “wow” enough for a Last First Date.
Because that’s what I had allowed myself to think this was.
And I was terrified and totally excited about it in equal measure.
No one had made me feel the way Ryan did for a long, long time. Not since Dan had butterflies twirled in my belly, such enjoyment from simply being with someone. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling whenever I thought of him, warmth spreading through me.
And the kissing? Well, I hadn’t had anything to match that, either.
Not that I’d kissed anyone else since Dan had passed away, so there was probably not a lot to compare it with. But still.
Since this was our first real date together, I wanted to look the best I could. So far, none of the dresses I had laid out on my bed came anywhere close.
Nevertheless, I tried a few of them on, hoping one of them might work. You know how sometimes a dress looks quite average on a hanger and amazing on? Didn’t happen. Not one fit the bill. They were all perfectly nice, and I’d been happy to wear each and every one of them in the past, but because this was my Last First Date, the dress I wore on this date needed to be extra special.
After all, one day I hoped to tell our grandchildren all about the magical first date I went on with their grandpop. Who knew? Maybe one day, one of our granddaughters would wear the dress I chose for the ball on her Last First Date?
But then again, maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself.
I stood with my arms crossed, tapping my chin with my index finger, trying to work out what to do. Should I buy a new dress? Should I pull out my sewing skills—which were poor at best—and make something?
And then it struck me.
I rushed out of my bedroom and down the hall. I pulled the door open to my small garage. There was a stack of boxes on one side, placed on top of an old leather travel trunk. I set to it unstacking the boxes. I wanted what I knew was in the trunk, something Nona had left me.
You see, Nona had been quite the debutante in her day, back in Italy. She’d left me several dresses she’d worn going to fabulous balls and parties back in the ’fifties, which she’d had wrapped in acid-free paper and stored in the old travel trunk.
Something told me I would be able to find what I was looking for in there.
Ten minutes, the boxes moved, and much ferreting through the old trunk later, I’d found the perfect dress. I knew it the moment I clapped eyes on it.
I unwrapped it carefully from its tissue paper and held it up against myself. It was the usual ’fifties cut with a nipped in waist and full skirt, complete with petticoats, falling mid-calf on me. The boned top was strapless with a heart-shaped neckline.
Right there in my garage, I ripped my tennis gear off and slipped the dress over my head. It had a back zipper, which was tricky to do up on my own of course, but it fit perfectly.
I rushed through the house to look at my reflection in the long lean-to mirror in my bedroom. I took in the cut of the dress, the way it showed off my curves in a thoroughly classy way, the nipped in waist accentuating my hour-glass figure. It was made of exquisite royal blue silk, and it rustled as I moved.
As I looked at my reflection, I knew this was the right dress for the ball.
I let out a contented sigh. The dress was perfect, the man was perfect. I knew the evening would be perfect, too.
I felt like a princess.
Yes, this is the dress.
The following day, Paige and I left Sophie in charge of the café to go on our very first Cozy Cottage Catering job. It was only a light lunch and finger food for twelve members of a board, who were meeting at a location downtown. But as it was our first, we were treating it as though we were catering to royalty.
We were due to meet Jason at the venue, a high-rise building in the center of town, and I’ll admit I was more nervous about seeing him than I was about the job. He’d been playing on my mind since we met a couple of days ago.
“Can you to tell me what happened on Saturday afternoon? You know, after you left so suddenly when Jason came to the café?” Paige asked as I drove us through the busy city streets to the hotel.
I came to a stop at a set of traffic lights. “I guess.”
“Come on, Bailey. You can tell me. I’ve been trying to work it out and I came up with one possibility.”
I glanced at my friend in the passenger seat. Her face was creased in concern for me, and I had a sudden desire to come clean with her.
“I know this is going to sound really stupid, and I’m kind of embarrassed. But the thing is, Jason reminded me of someone.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Dan.” Paige’s voice was soft.
I snapped my head in her direction. “How did you know?”
“After you left, Josh came by to pick me up and he said the same thing. He said it gave him a shock to see someone who looked so much like his brother.”
“Oh.”
“Look, why don’t you drop me and the food at the venue? Jason and I can manage just fine without you.”
I shot her a smile. Paige was such a sweet friend and her kindness had me blinking back the tears—not exactly a good thing when driving through the thick traffic in New Zealand’s busiest city.
As tempting as her offer was, I didn’t want to be a coward. I’d be seeing Jason again on Saturday. I needed to “woman-up” here.
“That’s really thoughtful of you, Paige, but no. I’ll do it. It was just the initial shock, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”
Truth be told, I wasn’t particularly fine. The moment I laid eyes on Jason, dressed in a pair of black pants and white shirt, looking every inch the high-end waiter we’d instructed him to be, my tummy tied in knots, and I had to resist the strong urge to run again.
Paige took the lead with him, telling him what we needed him to do, giving me the chance to hide out, busying myself with the food prep. Which is what I did, spending the entirety of the job managing to avoid looking at him.
I probably came across as some sort of weirdo, but I didn’t care. This was survival, people! Well, at least until I got used to having the spitting image of my former fiancé around.
In the lobby afterwards, the executive assistant to the board, a nice woman in her twenties called Joanne, sang our praises. “That was delicious! Thank you so much. Judging by the fact all the food went, I think the silver foxes loved it, too.”
Paige and I laughed. “The silver foxes?” Paige asked.
It was true the board members had all been older men, so the name was fitting.
“Yeah.” Joanne laughed. “They may not all be foxes, but they like it when I call them that.”
“Well, we’re very pleased to hear they all liked the lunch. I hope you think of us next time you need a caterer.”
“Oh, absolutely. In fact,” she pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to tap her screen, “can you do the twenty-fifth? The silver foxes are having a get together at the chairman’s place. We’d need a dinner for about thirty?”
I beamed, shooting Paige a look. “That sounds great. I’ll book it into the calendar and be back in touch about the details.”
“Fabulous, thanks.” Joanne’s heels clicked on the polished floor as she walked across the lobby.
The elevator pinged, and Jason stepped out, holding a stack of trays. He smiled at Joanne and said something to her that made her laugh. As he walked over toward Paige and me, she turned and mouthed what appeared to be “so cute,” before she disappeared into the elevator.
“Where do you want these, ladies?” Jason asked.
Paige answered while I concentrated on studying the floor.
Man, I needed to get over this! He wasn’t Dan. He was Jason Christie, medical student and now part-time waiter at Cozy Cottage Catering.
“Bailey?” Paige said.
I snapped my head up. “What?”
“I was just saying Jason can put the trays in the trunk, once you’ve brought the car around.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” I chanced a look at Jason. He was watching me with a questioning look on his face.
What must he think of me?
“I’ll go get the car now.” I turned on my heel and pushed my way through the revolving doors out onto the street.
Maybe the Universe was using Jason to test me, to make sure I’d moved on from Dan?
I could conquer this, I knew I could.