AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s going to be perfect,” I informed the empty room.
I retrieved my Ginghers from their cloth case and lost myself in the cutting.
First, the large bolts for the skirt and train, then the bodice, then finally, the long sleeves, which would be kept sheer.
The motion, the concentration, the busyness, wasenough to keep my mind from wandering to conversations and should-have-saids.
I thought of Hawk, of our brief but jam-packed interaction in the elevator, of the flight to Montana, of how it’d felt to be held by him during our dance, and of the chance to get to be with him tomorrow night.
Gabby and I chatted occasionally. I hadn’t yet told her and Adrian about this. What would they say once they found out I would be going on a date with him after all?
They’d laugh, probably. Give me an outrageous, “I told you so.”
I hadn’t yet asked him about Adelie, either, but the least I could do was invite her. Then I’d leave the choice of whether to come or not to her.
I reached for my phone to present the idea when footsteps pounded up the stairs outside, and the door to my apartment busted open.
Chloe hustled in, breathless and flushed. Her cheeks were red from the transition between severe cold outside to the toasty seventy-nine degrees I kept my apartment at.
“Ellie, we’ve got a problem, and oh, my stars, is this your dress?”
She fumbled with the scarf around her neck and strode closer to the table, tracking in chunks of snow on the floor in her wake.
I smoothed a hand over the skirt piece. The anticipation of wearing this made my fingers prickle.
“It will be once I finish. But what’s up? What’s wrong?”
Chloe set her scarf on the chair and stroked the lace,pinching it between her fingers before shaking herself back into the moment. A few snowflakes drifted from her black hair.
“This is so gorgeous. I shouldn’t even tell you.”
I’d heard this tone before. This had the knell of bad news.
Chloe was flying home to be with her family in Ohio in just a few hours. Maybe it was something to do with that. Snow had been blowing like crazy all over the northeast.
“What happened? Is it your flight?”
Chloe pressed her lips. “There was an accident. The hospital misplaced the first pillowcases we brought over. You know that new nurse? She didn’t put the box where she was supposed to. They think they’ve been thrown out.”
Relief and devastation duked it out in my chest. When Chloe had saidaccident,my mind had flown to worst-case scenarios. Canceled flights. Natural disasters.
At least it wasn’t something drastic like that.
But missing pillowcases—after all our hard work?
“How many are missing?”
“Ten,” Chloe said.
“Ten.” I sank into the chair.
Ten pillowcases. The day was already half over. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve.
I couldn’t feasibly finish my dress if I had ten more pillowcases to make before tomorrow night.
“Do we have any material left?” Chloe asked.
I sniffed. “No. We’ll have to pick some up. With all the last-minute shoppers out there, it could take hours.”
