Chapter 25 Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
“Gwendolyn.” My grandmother’s soft voice catches as I exit the dressing room. “You are stunning. Do a twirl for me.”
The back room of the thrift store had been turned into a makeshift dressing area. Four curtained-off sections allowed for some privacy to change, while a neon orange velvet couch sat in the middle. Ophelia had taken her place there, waiting for us to try on our finds.
I step in front of the mirrors placed in the corner, unable to take my eyes off the dress on my body.
As soon as we found the racks for discarded old prom dresses and evening gowns made for various themed parties, I had gravitated to the deep emerald silk nestled between two poofy Cinderella style ball gowns, as if hidden from public viewing until it found the right owner.
The silk skirt of the A-line cut fell in perfect waves to the floor, while the cowl neck draped elegantly against my chest. I fiddle with the thin straps that are tied into bows at the top of my shoulders.
Ophelia stands from her seat, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes gather in tears. Stepping up behind me, she adjusts my hair against my back to get a full look at the dress in the mirror.
“Sweetie, this was made for you.” Her sniffle cracks my heart, and I turn to fully look at her.
“Why are you crying?” I swipe at the tears falling down her cheeks as she releases a small chuckle.
“Just emotional at my little Gwenny all grown up.” She fidgets with the bows, her fingers slightly shaking, before she lays her hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye. “You look just like your mother.”
My eyes prickle with unshed tears that I try to hold back.
“She would be so proud of the woman you have become, my sweet girl.”
I can’t hold the tears back as I let one, then two, slip from my eyes.
“Oh, please don’t cry, too! We don’t want tear stains on the silk!” She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me in so my face is in her shirt.
“Why are we crying?”
We pull apart, both wiping at our wet faces as we take in my best friend.
“Holy shit, Gwen. You look like a princess! Okay, I get the tears now.” She rushes to me, picking up the skirt of her own dress she’s trying on.
Taking my hand, she twirls me away from Ophelia, who looks on with fresh tears in her eyes again.
Piper and I do an impromptu slow dance as she spins me back to face the mirror.
“This is the one,” she announces.
I pick up the skirt, looking at the dress from all angles. Turning it front to back, side to side, watching the color shine in the show lights surrounding the mirrors. “Are you sure? It’s the first one I tried on. What if there is a better one out there?”
The curtain Piper’s mom, Daphne, was changing behind, pushes open with a flourish. “Honey, that dress was made for you, and I will wring your neck if you think that you are leaving here without it.”
Piper claps her hands. “We all know Momma’s word is final.”
“Your date is going to trip right over themselves when they see you.” Daphne is clearly fishing for information, as she has been for weeks.
Owning the only salon in town has her all in everybody’s business, and it kills her not to be up on the local gossip.
Mostly when it comes to Piper and me, because we know better than to let her in on information unless we want it accidentally spilled through the streets of Willow Grove.
We learned the hard way when we both got our periods for the first time.
So now our dating lives are not allowed to be discussed.
Not that either of us has one of those lately. Except for a certain man with hazel eyes and hair so soft I think I can still feel the strands between my fingers. Which is exactly where they were just yesterday.
My fingers ghost over my lips as I feel them curl up at the memory of his kisses. The way they made me feel lost to the world, only tethered by his touch or else I’d simply float away from existence.
“Momma, she doesn’t have a date. Stop bringing it up.”
I drop my hand quickly as I let the daydream fade away. This wasn’t the time to get heated over making out with my neighbor in the back office. I’d save that for later tonight without an audience.
Daphne brushes over the layers of tulle on the skirt of her dress, schooling her features to look as innocent as possible. “I know some single fellas that come into the salon who are still looking for their own dates. I could set y’all up.”
“Nope. No ma’am. Don’t even start with thinking about setting us up with anyone.”
“I heard the Mayor’s son is back. He’s single, right?”
I suck in an inhale, choking on my own spit. Piper slaps a hand on my back as I take a deep breath trying to clear my throat.
Ophelia raises an eyebrow at me, concerned at my painful sounds, but I can’t deny the hint of skepticism I see in her brown eyes. I sheepishly grin, letting them know I’m okay as Piper hands over her ever-present water bottle with a cheeky grin.
Thankfully, Daphne doesn’t pick up on the look as she turns to Ophelia and groans. “I’m never going to have grandkids, am I?”
My grandmother wraps an arm around her shoulder as they grin at each other. “There’s still time, Dee. Let Piper enjoy her single years while she can. It goes by awfully fast.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
I pick up Piper’s hand, this time twirling her around to show off her midnight blue velvet mermaid-style dress. “This is gorgeous. Who needs a watch when you’ve got an hourglass with you at all times?”
Piper blushes slightly, always a little self-conscious with her body—which I never understood when she was basically a pinup model dream.
She stares at herself in the mirror, a frown threatening her lips as she runs her hands over the fabric.
They linger on the dip of her waist for a brief moment before looking over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the back in the mirror.
The zipper didn’t quite meet at the top.
She sighed and dropped her shoulders, looking back at me. Her lips twitch up, sadly.
“Wasn’t meant to be. But it was fun to try on.”
Her eyes look down, staring at the skirt as she brushes over the velvet one more time.
“We will find the perfect one, I promise. I just hope it’s in this color because, hot damn, it makes your eyes pop.”
It was the truth. Her baby blues looked even more crystal clear surrounded by her dark hair and the deep blue of the dress.
“You know,” Ophelia steps up to us, staring at the fabric with an inspecting eye.
“I think I have some extra fabric from an old project in this exact color. I bet we could resect the back, if you want.” She walks around my best friend to assess the whole dress.
“A corset back would look amazing on this dress, anyway. It would be a simple upgrade.”
I catch my grandmother’s eyes, questioning as to why she would have this exact color of fabric, silently. When she shoots me a wink over Piper’s shoulder, I realize what she’s doing.
“That’s right,” I add on, with a snap of my fingers. “I remember seeing it when I was looking through your craft closet a few weeks back. Pipes, it would be so perfect!”
“I don’t know.” She nibbles on her bottom lip, staring at her reflection in the mirror. A look of longing passes over her eyes. “I don’t want to put that on you, Phee.”
Ophelia waves away her concern. “Nonsense, you know how much I love my craft projects. And I haven’t worked on a dress since you two were in high school.”
It was true. When I couldn’t find the perfect homecoming dress senior year, I went to Ophelia with tears in my eyes and a crushed dream in my heart.
She dried my face, grabbed her purse, and tossed me in the car.
We made it to the craft store moments before they were set to close, but when Ophelia explained what was going on, they let us stay well after the door was locked looking for the perfect fabric.
I had a brand new custom-made homecoming dress that was everything I dreamed of the following weekend.
Daphne took her daughter’s face in her hands. “This was also made for you, my love. I think that’s such a wonderful idea.” Her mom looks over at my grandmother. “You are a superwoman, you know that.”
“Oh, Daphne, don’t make my head any bigger than it already is. I simply cannot let this dress go when it screams Piper’s name.”
Piper sighs, taking one last look in the mirror, then back at Ophelia who nods her head. “Fine, if you insist.”
Ophelia and Daphne both cheer in excitement.
“What about you, Phee? Are you going to try on anything?”
She shakes her head. “Not this time. I’m going to leave the ball to you kids and have a night with Rowan instead. Let Jackson have a night out, too, without worrying about getting back to her that night.”
“That boy is nonstop, isn’t he?” Daphne asks. “I dropped off Buster the other day for his annual checkup and he was at the check-in desk working. I don’t know how he does it.”
Ophelia sighs. “I don’t either, but hopefully things will slow down a bit for him soon. He needs to hire more help, but he’s so dang picky. Rightfully so, but you gotta get help when you need it.”
Daphne turns to Piper, who is still glancing at her dress mesmerized. “Pipes, why don’t you pick up a few shifts to help him out?”
Piper’s head jerks up to her mom, eyes full of confusion. “I already do. With the shelter side of things.”
“I mean, at the clinic. You could do the clerical work easily, pumpkin. Not to mention that wouldn’t be a bad day’s work, looking at that fine man.”
I scrunch my nose. “I think I might throw up a little bit, Mrs. Montgomery.”
She rolls her eyes. “What? It’s the truth.”
Ophelia laughs and steers Daphne toward the fitting room again. “Let’s get you out of this contraption and start looking for y’all’s masks to match those gorgeous dresses.”
I nudge Piper toward the fitting room she was in, but stop her before she shuts the curtain.
“You look beautiful, Pipes.”
She grins at me, reaching her hand out to grab mine. She squeezes three times and replies, “So do you, Gwenny.”
We pull apart, both a little misty-eyed as we look once more at each other, giggling as we realize how mushy we are getting.
There’s a thin mirror, something you would find in the back to school section for dorm rooms at Target hanging on the wall.
I’m still smiling when I reach into my purse to pull out my cellphone to snap a photo.
That’s when I notice another notification on the screen.
A text message from Logan.
I open the text thread, my eye starting at the top to reread what was sent between us last night.
Last minute trip to the city. Business stuff for my father.
But I’ll be back tomorrow and I want to see you.
I think we can work something out.
I want to see you too.
As much as the little voice in the back of my head keeps reminding me this won’t end well, I can’t seem to care the more time I spend with him.
I get a little thrill at just the thought of seeing him again.
A warmth in my core at the possibility of touching him again.
Of him touching me again. Next time, though, I want to feel him on my skin.
I can feel my cheeks heat up, and I catch a glimpse of myself in the skinny mirror. Yeah, I need to find some water to splash on my face to calm down. But first, I need to get out of the dress before anything happens to it.
I wonder what Logan will think of me in this dress. The thought rushes through my mind as if floating through the wind. Easy, light, harmless. I shake my head to clear it, though. He’s not my date. It doesn’t matter what he would think of it.
Looking back down at the phone in my hand, I realize I got distracted with thoughts of Logan again and didn’t read his new text.
The meeting ran way too long. I’m not going to make it back to Willow Grove tonight.
I’m so sorry.
I noticed he sent the messages half an hour ago, but I still send a quick response, eagerness in my chest to check on him.
Is everything okay?
When I don’t get a response a couple of minutes later, I lock my phone again, placing it back in my purse.
I step out of the dressing room shortly after, searching the main shop for Piper.
She’s leaning over a glass case, a dress bag draped over her arm and clutched tightly as if she’s afraid it might disappear.
I smile to myself at the memory of her in that dress.
It’s more a twitch of my lips, though, as a twinge of worry still sits in my mind at Logan’s texts.
“I think they have a few good options—what’s wrong?”
Piper stands straight up as I stop next to her, looking down at the case. “Nothing’s wrong. Oh, this one could work.” I point out a gold-colored eye mask.
“You can’t lie to me, you know. Something’s got your eyebrows pinching.” Her thumb reaches out to press lightly between my eyebrows until I relax. “What’s up, buttercup?”
I sigh, my eyes lingering on the case so she can’t read too much into how I’m feeling. “Logan has to stay in the city another night.”
She hums in understanding. “And you were supposed to see each other tonight.”
I nod my head, tracing my finger along the edge of the glass case. “I know it’s stupid. Whatever we are doing is fun. Complicated, but wholly enjoyable. I don’t expect anything from him.”
“But you were still excited to see him.” She brushes my hair over my shoulder. Her gaze drops to snag mine. “And that’s okay. You deserve to have something exciting to look forward to.”
I can hear the next word, so I supply it for her. “But…”
“But just remember who he is.”
I lean my head against her shoulder as her arm wraps around my back. “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”
“What’s with the long faces, girls?” Daphne comes around the corner with my grandmother. “Good, y’all found the masks. Any good ones?”
Ophelia steps up to the other side of me, her eyes taking stock of me. A question is clear on her face, asking what happened.
I shake my head and give her a small smile. I’ll talk to her about it later. After I mull it over and beat every thought to death in my mind.
“I think I like this one,” Piper directs our attention to a silver mask adorned with moons and stars. It was like it was made for the dress she’s currently clutching to her chest.
Daphne immediately goes to flag down an employee to unlock the case, obviously realizing what I did at the same time.
Piper nudges my side, pointing to the opposite end.
The small gasp I release tells her all she needs to know.
When the attendant shows up with a key, Piper requests both of them to be brought out to try on. As soon as we place them to our eyes, we just stare at each other. Grinning like schoolgirls, giddy with excitement.
“We’ll take them.”