17. Jillian
JILLIAN
Later that week, Jillian went to Burlington to try on dresses. It had been so long since she had gone out without her girls that she hardly knew what to do with herself.
Once she had settled in a little more, she was going to have to start making friends again—real ones, not just work ones. It would have been nice to go into Burlington with a friend today, and grab a coffee together after trying on dresses.
Instead, she took advantage of being in the bigger town by running to the bookstore and browsing casually for a bit before heading to the dress shop.
The bookstore was the only thing she really missed about living in the city. She mostly read ebooks these days, but there was still something so nice about caressing the spines of a beautifully stocked shelf, and taking down a book to inhale that intoxicating paperback scent.
She splurged on two purchases for the girls—a Christmas picture book about bears for Posey, and one of the Noel Streatfeild shoes books for Mari.
She chose the one about ice skating, since they didn’t have it yet, and Mari had been talking about skating with Tripp pretty much non-stop all week.
The two books would make perfect Christmas Eve presents.
After she checked out, Jillian headed down the cute little street to the dress shop.
All of the shops along the way had bright lights and holiday displays.
It was nice, but in Jillian’s opinion, all the branded shopping signs paled in comparison to the simple greenery and Christmas cheer on the little storefronts in Sugarville Grove.
When she finally reached the dress shop, the gowns in the window were gorgeous. She felt a little burst of relief that it hadn’t been a waste to come all the way here.
“Hi there,” the saleslady said with a friendly smile as Jillian entered. “How can I help you?”
“I’m looking for a nice dress to wear to chaperone a Winter Formal,” Jillian told her.
“Wonderful,” the lady said. “Are you looking for something glamorous? Something with wow-factor?”
“No, no,” Jillian said, chuckling. “I’d like something pretty but simple. The kids will have all the wow-factor.”
“I see,” the lady said with a smile. “Well, we have lots of options and I’m sure we’ll have something you love. Do you have a preference for color, length, sleeve type?”
They talked for a few minutes, and then the lady pointed Jillian to a nice sofa and a pitcher of lemonade with glasses by it. So she helped herself to some, then decided to send a quick text to Tripp.
She snapped a photo of the lemonade and sent it to him with a little message.
I’m trying on dresses.
She figured he would be busy at work on the farm or her grandparents’ place, so she was surprised to see bubbles pop up almost immediately, and then a reply.
Tripp Lawrence
i want a pic of the winner!
She smiled and slipped her phone back in her bag as the saleslady returned, pushing a wardrobe cart hung with beautiful dresses.
“I hope you’ll like these,” she said. “Go ahead and look through them and try on whatever you want. If you need different sizes or colors, just let me know.”
“Great,” Jillian said, her eyes feasting on the lovely shades and fabrics.
“And keep in mind that we do alterations here,” the lady added. “So if you love something but the fit isn’t perfect, we can take care of it, no problem.”
“Thank you,” Jillian said.
She browsed through the rack and selected five dresses before heading into the changing room.
Though she wasn’t usually a big shopper, Jillian found that she enjoyed trying on the pretty things today.
Several of them were really nice, but when she looked at herself in her final selection, she knew she had found the one.
The price was a little more than she’d planned to spend, but not terrible for a dress she was sure she would wear again.
Before she could rethink it, she snapped a quick selfie and sent it to Tripp.
Then, because she was still herself, she overthought things and studied the photo for a minute.
The man she sent it to was drop-dead gorgeous, and he wanted to relive the Winter Formal they had missed as teens.
But here she was sending him a photo of herself in a tea-length, dusky-pink dress without sequins or a plunging neckline—just a modest silk A-line that barely clung to her curves.
I feel like myself in this, she thought to herself as she watched bubbles below her message appear and disappear twice. If it’s not glamorous enough for Tripp, that doesn’t mean I have to change it for something that makes me uncomfortable.
But her phone dinged at last, and she had to smile at his message.
holy cow, jillian!
you look like a movie star
i’m the luckiest guy in sugarville grove
She hugged the phone to her chest for a moment before responding.
Thank you!
should i rent a tux or borrow a suit?
i’m not sure how formal you want me to be
Right. No wonder he wanted to see her dress first. To Jillian, it seemed pretty clear that a suit was the right choice, but she had to smile at the idea that her sweet Tripp wanted to get it right.
Definitely a suit. No tux needed.
excellent
but i’m still allowed to buy you a corsage, right?
Jillian smiled as she responded.
That would be lovely.
“How are you making out?” the saleslady asked from outside the changing room.
“I think I found the right one,” Jillian told her, slipping her phone into her bag and stepping out.
“Wow,” the lady said with a smile. “You look amazing. Great choice. How does it feel?”
“I think it’s perfect right off the rack,” Jillian said. “What do you think?”
“Spin for me,” the lady said.
Jillian walked, spun, and showed off her pretty dress as the lady smiled and clapped.
“It’s perfect,” she told Jillian. “How are you on shoes and accessories?”
By the time she left the store, Jillian was ready for the dance.
“Fun to go to these again as an adult, right?” the lady asked as she rang her up.
“Yes,” Jillian agreed, not bothering to tell her that she hadn’t attended as a student.
On the drive home, she replayed her text conversation with Tripp in her mind, feeling excited about the formal instead of nervous.
Maybe things are working out just as they should…
She had some time, so she decided to swing by the country store on the way home and grab a few things.
It was clear that adding herself plus two growing girls to the household meant the fridge got emptied quicker than her grandparents could possibly be used to.
And with Tripp around, even Jillian was finding it hard to anticipate how much food they needed.
She parked and hopped out, waving to the trio of old-timers who were chatting outside.
The country store was sort of a clubhouse for some of the older folks in town.
If her parents hadn’t moved to Florida, she wondered if her dad would have wound up passing time here one day.
Grampy sometimes liked to come by and talk with his friends, though he still spent most of his days following Gram around the house like a besotted puppy.
She headed inside, enjoying the Christmas music playing on the radio, and grabbed a basket and got to work filling it with fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, and eggs.
“Hey, Jillian,” a woman she’d gone to high school with said. “How’s it going?”
“Hi,” Jillian said, racking her brain for the woman’s name. “I’m happy to be back. How are you?”
“Heard you were going out with Tripp Lawrence,” the other woman said with a funny smile.
“Oh, um, yes,” Jillian admitted, feeling her cheeks heat, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it felt a little like bragging to say she was dating a boy who had been so popular.
“Well, watch your back,” the woman said quietly. “He’s a heartbreaker.”
“What do you mean?” Jillian asked, her stomach twisting.
“He took my best friend out a couple of times,” the woman said. “But then out of nowhere, he dumped her cold, just when she was really starting to like him. It’s kind of his MO.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jillian said.
“It is what it is,” the woman said, shrugging. “Not like she didn’t know who she was dating, right?”
Jillian blinked at her, feeling lost.
“Have fun though,” the woman said, patting Jillian’s arm. “Really, he knows how to show a woman a good time. Just don’t fall for him. And if you do, definitely don’t let him know it.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Jillian managed.
“Hey, Max,” the woman whose name Jillian still couldn’t remember called out to the owner of the shop as she turned and headed to the counter. “Hey, do you have any of that really good cheese?”
It doesn’t mean anything, Jillian told herself. Just because he hasn’t had a serious relationship before, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want one now. He said he was serious about me and the girls.
But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help thinking about the conversation she’d had with Jess Dansen the other day, and what he’d said about Tripp and how he ran whenever things got serious.
It was one thing to hear a warning once and ignore it, but at this point, Jillian was starting to wonder if she might be making a big mistake.