“No…”
“Oh, yes. I was five foot eight and the only girl wearing a woman’s size bra.”
“Wow, that must have been hard on you.” I keep pulling pageant dresses out of the final bin.
“Boys back then were scared of me. But they eventually caught up.”
Madison stopped by my office earlier to give me my junk mail and two phone messages. One claimed I needed a business loan, and the other was a wrong number. When I filled her in on our trip to California and ourBeauty and the Beastplans, she wanted to see some of my gowns firsthand. I brought her upstairs to my empty apartment and pulled out the bins.
She lifts a purple gown from the pile I’ve started on the bed. “Oh, Keri. This one would look spectacular at the beach just before a summer storm, don’t you think?”
I eye the eggplant dress and remember it well. Strapless, with a sweetheart neckline and chapel train. I can picture the dark material billowing in the wind, salt and sand in the air, angry clouds rolling above the churning Atlantic.
“It’s giving offWuthering Heightsvibes. You’re absolutely right. You have a great eye, Madison.”
She waves me off. “I used to love fashion when I lived in Atlanta and worked in corporate.”
“You don’t love it anymore?”
“I do, but it’s not practical with a young son while working on a farm. Now I think of fashion like flowers—lavender in spring, daylilies in summer and fall. The daylilies are amazing now.Maybe ask Adam for shots in the fields at their peak. Do you have a cream or orange gown?”
“Orange?” I laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever worn orange except on Halloween.” I rifle through a bin. “Aha! But I do have this light apricot.” I hold up the pastel gown with a thigh-high slit. “I had to beg my grandma to make it so I could show a little leg with this one.”
Madison nods and points, her pretty face twisted with humor. “You mean a lot of leg! Girl, how old were you when you wore this one?”
I hold the fabric up to my body and stand in front of the full-length mirror attached to my bathroom door. “I was eighteen. Totally legal to show my legs off back then.”
“I’m going to need to see some pictures.”
“I’ve got some in a photo album somewhere. And that’s a great idea. Adam could get a better visual of each dress without me having to try them all on.” My phone vibrates on the nightstand, and I reach over to pick it up, my mouth instantly morphing into a huge grin. “Speaking of Adam.”
“I’ll let you two talk. I gotta get back to George and Joey. I promised them cookies from Miss Jenny’s.”
“Yum! Thanks again for holding down the fort for me.”
“Anytime.”
As Madison clicks the bedroom door shut, I answer my phone. “Hey, handsome. Did you get Molly picked up?” Silence falls on the other end, making me wonder if the call dropped. “Adam?” I wait, then hear him clear his throat.
“I’m here. And yes, I’ve got Molly.”
I frown, uncertainty replacing my earlier cheer. “Great. Do you still want me to pick up dinner at Mr. Garcia’s before I head back to the house?”
“Ummm. Sure. But I’m not going to be able to eat with you.”
“Why not?” I ask, sitting on the edge of my bed with a thump. My muscles tighten as I brace myself, uncertain if I want to hear his reason.
“Because I have to head back to California. Someone made an offer on my property. A significant offer. Double the asking price. I have to go back. It’s an all-cash offer with a quick closing.”
“You don’t have to go tonight. I work in real estate, Adam. Even all-cash closings take seven to fourteen days. You have plenty of time, and you can even sign the papers digitally now. Things have changed.”
“No… no.” His voice sounds husky with emotion over the phone. We’re interrupted by the call-waiting beep. “It’s Roxy calling. Let me call you right back.”
“Okay.”
He hangs up without saying goodbye, leaving me with more questions than answers. I stare at the phone, unsure what to do next.
On the street below my window, a group of people spills out of the Tipsy Daisy on the corner. The low bass notes of a rap song from a passing car’s open window boom and then fade away. A train blows its horn in the distance. The entire world keeps moving as I sit and wait for Adam to call me back. We’d barely been in Heartsboro for more than a few hours when he got the message.
