Chapter Fifteen
When he got back to the shop, the sign was flipped back to Open, the door unlocked.
Zoey still wasn’t in the front, but there were plenty of customers flitting about, checking out shoes and dresses.
No doubt one of them had literally knocked on the door to be let inside, and naturally Zoey had obliged.
He set the burgers and fries down behind the counter, but before anyone tried to approach him with a fashion question, he hightailed it to the annex to find Zoey.
“Oh, yes! Yes! This is the one.”
He heard Zoey’s voice carry from the annex room in the back, and when he peeked his head into the wedding dress section of the store, his eyes immediately went to Rachel, standing on the raised podium in front of the mirror, wearing a white dress with a long train he’d be afraid to step on.
He’d been to his sisters’ weddings and his thoughts ran something along the lines of Don’t wear a long train if you have a brother you want in the wedding.
It would also be difficult to dance in… Should he say something?
No, for God’s sake, this was just a cover. He wasn’t a fashion consultant!
“Gorgeous,” Rachel said. “I like it so much better than the first one.”
“Yes, the slit up the leg wasn’t really your style,” Zoey said, shaking her head. “But, oh, this sweetheart collar!”
Archer wished he could get Zoey to model that one with the slit for him.
“Archer, what do you think?” Zoey turned as if she’d just noticed him standing in the doorway.
Rachel turned, too, and both looked at him expectantly. This was where he could share his fashion expertise. But maybe instead he should say something profound, like the wedding day doesn’t matter, it’s the marriage that counts.
Instead, he found himself saying, “I think your fiancé won’t actually care about the dress.
He’s going to see the woman he loves, and you could be wearing a potato sack and he’d still have a stupid grin on his face.
Men are simple creatures. If we love you, we love you, and we don’t care what you wear. ”
He expected Zoey to give him a dirty look for not helping her with the sale, but instead she smiled. “So, basically, get what makes you feel like a princess, because he’s going to show up in a rented tux.”
“Ouch,” Archer said. “For my wedding, I’d buy the tux.”
“You don’t know how expensive they are,” Zoey shot back. “It doesn’t make sense to buy it for just a day.”
“And it makes sense to buy a dress for one day?”
“A woman dreams about this day for years, and the dress is hugely sentimental.”
Now she gave him the first look he’d expected to see: the glare. They hadn’t indulged in an argument like this for a couple of days. Rachel’s head bobbed between the two of them, as if observing a tennis match.
Archer held up his palms. “Sorry, I stand corrected.”
“But…do you like the dress?” Rachel asked, her finger trailing along all the lace and fluffy stuff at the train.
Archer stepped closer, avoiding the train. He tried to take in the dress, the sequins, the buttons, the…whatever. Then he made his pronouncement with all the assuredness of a soldier on his first day of boot camp.
“Do either of you have brothers who will be in the wedding?”
“Um, no,” Rachel said, looking perplexed.
“Then it’s perfect.”
“I agree,” Zoey said. “But why not think about it since you still have time. I also might be getting in a new shipment next week.”
“Will you hold the dress for me? I wouldn’t want to lose it by waiting.”
“Absolutely,” Zoey said. “No one sees this dress until you decide. And be sure to tell your friends that I have vintage wedding couture. We’re trying to get the word out!”
Rachel waved happily and left, promising to be back soon.
Archer had expected the hard sell from Zoey, and he was pleasantly surprised to see her seem so relaxed about it. Maybe she wouldn’t be too pissed that he’d nearly ruined the sale with his dumb comment.
Later, after they’d finished their burgers, Zoey turned to him.
“So, explain the comment about having a brother in the wedding.”
“The train,” he explained. “It’s…long.”
“Yes, and?”
“Brothers can be clumsy, especially after they’ve had a few drinks. Plus, it’s hard to dance in it.”
“Hmm. Well, the train comes off that dress, but…wise words.”
“I had no idea they made dresses with moving parts.”
Zoey snorted. “Well, not exactly moving, but, yes.”
“The thing is I have sisters, as you know. They’re all married now, so I’ve been through the wedding thing a few times.”
“Always the groomsman, never the groom?”
Archer shrugged. “Yes, I suppose.”
“I wish I’d had a sister,” Zoey said dreamily.
While he hated doing this, he would have to pop that bubble. Hard.
“No, you don’t.”
“Excuse me?” She honestly looked confused.
“Sisters,” Archer explained, “are like cats. They like you one day, hate you the next. And God forbid you get drunk at their wedding.”
“Ha ha,” Zoey said, chuckling. “But I always wanted a sister, because that way we’d both have memories of our mother that we could share. Maybe she’d do something that reminded me of our mother, or I would, and then we’d say, ‘Remember when she used to…’ That kind of thing.”
Shit. The words hit him with a punch. Poor Zoey. She was still grieving her mother. Maybe she always would.
“Tell me again, how long has it been since you lost her?”
“I don’t think I told you,” she said. “It’s been four years.”
“Not long at all.”
“No,” she said, biting her lower lip. “And sometimes it feels like yesterday.”
* * *
Archer logged in to his call with the agency early Monday morning and listened to the varied and interesting reports from all over the world. When it came time for him to report on his assignment, his boss’s tone grew serious.
“Any luck getting that party canceled?”
“Not yet, sir,” Archer said. “It would help if I could tell her the truth. She’s not falling for the obsessive boyfriend angle. He’s backed off.”
“Then we’re going to have to think of some other reason to cancel it, because the threat level has increased.”
“Here? I have not seen any sign of danger.”
“Not in Charming, but her father’s security team reported receiving a package with contents that were disturbing. We don’t have all the details, only that they might now finally have enough to get this person arrested.”
“Does that mean my assignment is over?”
“Not yet—or not until this man is officially in custody. If anything, her father wants her security level increased. Let’s just say this package has him worried the guy has escalated his game.”
“Got it,” Archer said. “I will make sure this party gets canceled, one way or another. You can count on me.”
He disconnected the call, and almost the next moment, heard a splash from the pool. She was swimming again, which was a form of torture for him.
He’d had a difficult time winding down after Zoey had asked him to go swimming yesterday morning.
He’d been forced to face the facts: he would have gone, if not for his foot.
It was humiliating for a man who’d always believed he didn’t need anyone.
But there was just something about Zoey.
She was so beautiful and funny and sweet.
Then there was the fact that, at times, he almost felt like she knew—about his leg, that is—although he realized she couldn’t.
She hadn’t said anything to him directly, but then she was always so kind. Not just to him, but to everyone.
She hadn’t been direct enough with her ex, and the guy obviously clung to the hope that she’d change her mind.
Archer couldn’t blame him on some level.
If it were him, he’d want to keep trying, too.
Zoey was truly a prize. But Scott wasn’t the problem anyway, and with every passing day he had the feeling Zoey knew something else was going on.
He couldn’t keep this ruse going without making stuff up, and he didn’t want to lie to Zoey. But now he had to.
He waited for her to finish her swim, shower and dry off. When she strode back into the room, wearing a bright yellow dress with orange polka dots that were actually tiny pumpkins, he couldn’t stop staring.
“It’s Monday,” she reminded him, and he was nearly struck dumb.
Monday: the day she went to the cancer ward to cheer up the patients and encourage the staff. He didn’t know how he could have forgotten. It seemed like much longer than a week, since they’d been spending every day together. In some ways, he felt like he’d known Zoey for years.
“I have a check for them,” she said, digging it out of her purse and showing it to him. “It’s the end of the year and my daddy is making his charitable donation.”
He’d never seen that many zeroes on a check in his life. Zoey’s father was incredibly generous.
“Then we’d better get that right over to them,” he said.