Chapter 8
elaine
“My wife?”
Vera smirked. “I think she’ll see reason once she sees who you’re with,” she said. “Besides, if the family reports us as being married, Whitecliff will be faster to find out their plans have been foiled. They might start backing down even if we haven’t officially gotten married.”
“But I… my family wouldn’t believe…”
“They don’t need to believe. Just to hear an excuse for why I’m there.” She picked up the can again, pulling the top open. “Now, let’s eat. We’ll have to be quick so we have time to go shopping before we head over.”
“Shopping? For what?”
She laughed. “For rings, obviously.”
Vera took the stolen car again, and we drove back into town, where we went first, to Vera’s annoyance, to buy a carrier for Clara.
Once she was closed up in the carrier in the backseat, Vera sat next to me in the driver’s seat, looking me over.
“Not that you don’t look beautiful, but you look like you just got in a fight in a dumpster and then slept in a safehouse.”
“Should we go back to my place and we can—”
“Not unless you want to get jumped by Whitecliffs.” She frowned. “I got word that Yulia is in town.”
“Yulia?”
“High-ranking Whitecliff operative. We’ve gotten into a lot of scrapes, her and I.” She looked away. “She’s the one who gave me this scar.”
The long, angry scar along her face… if someone who could do that even to Vera, I wouldn’t survive long around them. “So what do we do instead?”
“We’ll get you some new clothes. Have any stores you want to shop at?”
“Oh…” My stomach fluttered, and I looked down, blushing. “There was this… this dress at the secondhand store that I wanted, but I didn’t want to waste the money…”
“Tell me the address.”
I guess there wasn’t much use in trying to save Caitlyn’s twenty dollars right now. “It’s on the corner of Walnut and 6th.”
My heart sank when we got to the shop and I found the dress was gone, the window display rearranged.
Vera led me inside, and I tried not to sulk, but the spark of magic from that dress was gone, and all the clothes were just that—clothes.
Things I was wearing to help me escape from people who wanted me dead. Cold, hard reality.
“What’s the matter?” Vera said gruffly when I was taking my time looking through the racks. “I thought you had something specific you wanted.”
“Oh, well… it seems like it’s gone. It was up in the window, but you know, it’s a secondhand store, so…”
She pursed her lips. “Where in the window?”
“It’s been replaced with the white polo shirt,” I said, and I frowned when she turned and marched towards the counter. “Vera?”
I followed her to where she cut in line at the counter, muscling into the current interaction, and she said, “You had a white dress on display in the window yesterday. Right there, where the white polo is now. Do you still have it in stock?”
“Vera—please,” I said, my face hot, my heart beating faster. I wouldn’t have ever dreamed of anybody even offering to take me to the shop to buy the dress I wanted, let alone… whatever this was.
The attendant frowned. “Ma’am, this is a secondhand shop. We don’t track every item like a big box store. If it’s gone, it probably sold. Have a nice day.”
Vera glanced at the employee’s nametag. “Listen, Roxanne,” she said, her voice so cold and sharp it stopped everyone in line, the whole store holding its breath as they watched her speak.
“My wife is looking for something very specific. She’s had a hard day.
I trust you are going to make this right…
and tell me where we can get that dress. ”
The attendant swallowed, suddenly marble-white. “I’ll… I’ll get the manager.”
I hated how warm it felt in my chest, seeing someone claim me as a wife they were going to make sure had what she wanted. I’d never… never really had someone… go to lengths to give me what I wanted before.
I think I felt myself crying, just a little, as the manager came out, a stocky man with a serious expression.
“You’re looking for the white dress that was in the window display yesterday?” he said, and Vera nodded.
“That’s right.”
“I’m sorry, but we’ve had somebody place a reserve order on it. It seemed to be a rare vintage piece, and the client wanted to take a closer look. Your wife must have an excellent eye for—”
“How much?” Vera said.
“Well—I’m not at liberty to disclose that.”
Vera pulled a wad of cash from her pocket, what might have been a few hundred dollars, and my stomach lurched as she slapped it down on the counter. The manager looked wide-eyed at it, and then at her.
“More?” Vera said.
“That’s… well.” Flustered, he adjusted his tie. “I suppose you can… outbid them.”
“Then bring my wife the dress already.”
“Vera,” I whispered as soon as he’d left, sidling into her side. “You can’t—”
“Shh.” Vera pressed a finger to my lips. “You’re getting the dress, Elaine.”
Oh, God, I was going to cry. I buried my face in my hands, my chest heaving, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe when the manager came back with a sealed dress protector holding the beautiful white dress I’d seen in the shop window yesterday, even more intricate and breathtaking up close, and he held it out to me.
“Is this the one, ma’am?”
“That’s… yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
He smiled. “It’s all yours. Have a wonderful day.”
“I can’t possibly wear this,” I said as soon as we were out of earshot, Vera leading me towards the changing rooms. “You heard him! It’s a vintage—”
“You like it. It’s a dress. Clothes are meant to be worn, Elaine.”
“But it’s so—”
“You’ve sacrificed more than enough of yourself over the years to deserve this.” She put a hand on my back, pushing me into the changing room. “Go on.”
She drew the curtain shut. I got a little teary-eyed seeing myself in the mirror once I’d changed…
it was a perfect fit, comfortable and flowing, soft and romantic, with puff sleeves and delicate lace accents.
I took a second to wipe the tears out of my eyes before I drew the curtain back, and Vera gave me an appreciative look.
“There we go,” she said, holding out a hand for me. “My wife looks better with a sparkle in her eyes.”
I blushed furiously, ducking my head. “Vera.”
“We can’t spend too much time here,” she said, and I took her hand, letting her guide me out of the shop, everyone’s eyes on me.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she took me straight from there to the jewelry store, where she told the attendant that we were a couple shopping for wedding rings together, and when the attendant asked her budget, she laughed.
“For my wife?” she said. “There’s no budget too high. Let’s just see your recommendations.”
“Vera,” I whispered, but she didn’t let me get a word in, and this terrible part of me was glad she didn’t, because my heart ached terribly when the attendant showed us the most beautiful set of wedding rings I’d seen in my life.
They were small, delicate, nothing ostentatious, but they were beautifully made, in elegant silver with an oval-cut diamond wrapped in ornate detailing. Vera looked at me for approval, and I clasped a hand over my mouth seeing the price.
“Vera—this is too expensive.”
She laughed, putting a hand on my lower back, and I jolted.
It was just for appearances, but—my whole body reacted to the touch, to the quiet intimacy of the connection.
I never thought someone would proudly claim me in public like this, even for an act.
“Darling, I think you’re forgetting how well I get paid,” she said.
“I’d buy you every ring in this store if you liked them, but you only have ten fingers. ”
“Vera…”
The attendant laughed. “Would you like to try them on, ma’am?”
I swallowed. Vera whispered. “Say yes.”
“I… yes, please, sir, if that’s all right.”
My heart bled for a life I could have had when he gave us the rings and Vera held my hand, slipping it onto my finger. It gleamed beautifully in the light, and I felt tears stinging my eyes when the cold realization hit me.
If I’d kept living life the way I had been, this never would have happened.
Nobody would have ever married me, not while I was working every hour to look after my family.
I’d never have the money for even a twenty-dollar dress, let alone what Vera had paid for this.
Even if I ever did get married, it would have been with paper rings and a courthouse wedding without a dollar more than what was needed to administer the vows.
My whole life, my whole future, all my hopes and dreams. My mother would never have let me have them. She’d stolen them from me when I was still a child, and I’d been sleepwalking through the wreckage telling myself it was just around the corner.
“Elaine?” Vera’s voice said softly, and I realized I was crying, tears flowing freely down my cheeks.
“It’s… it’s beautiful,” I choked, wiping my face. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever…”
Vera watched me a while longer before her expression softened, and she turned back to the attendant. “I think we’ve made a decision.”
He smiled warmly. “You’re both very lucky women.”
But I wasn’t that lucky, because the whole thing was just a dream, and I woke up not long after Vera had finished paying—all in cash, of course. The door opened, and a man came into the store behind us, making a show of going right to the watches and browsing, but Vera stiffened ever so slightly.
“Don’t react,” she whispered. “Whitecliff.”
“What?” My stomach dropped.
“No more time to waste. We have to see your family. Now.”