Jude:Stop before you melt Siri. I’m trying to be a safe driver here, Gracie.
Gracie:
Jude:Does your dress fit? It’s all I can think about.
I catch my reflection in the polished glass of the intricately carved bookcase I’m standing next to, and my cheeks heat. This morning, I woke up to a pile of iconic black-and-white boxes that hadnobusiness gracing my shabby kitchenette table. When I insisted there was no way I’d be accepting a gift so outrageous, he gave me the saddest puppy eyes to ever puppy.
“Just try them on, at least,” he’d said.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t need gifts like this.”
He’d laughed. “I think we can both agree that this is a gift for myself.”
“Just because you have the money to be a sugar daddy, doesn’t mean Iwanta sugar daddy,” I’d argued. “I love the way you want to take care of me, but this might be too much.”
This had sobered him. “The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable. Ifyoudon’t get pleasure out of this, then I don’t either.”
It was the lack of pressure and his sincerity that made me reconsider. In the end, I agreed to try it on as an experiment, butonlyafter he’d left to get the cake. When I finally lifted the lid of the largest box with trembling hands, there was a note inside.
Not a Gracie Holland original, but I hear they make an okay LBD.
Heart in my throat, my brain connected the dots—this wasn’t some random luxury brand but the one responsible fortheiconicBreakfast at Tiffany’sdress I’d tried re-creating for Agatha’s funeral. I carefully folded back the tissue paper and was confronted by an oil spill of blackest silk.
My chest squeezes as I take in the perfect silhouette in the reflection of the bookcase. I knew it would be beautiful—how could it not be? But what I didn’t expect was how cherished I would feel in it. Or how desired. I smooth the fabric over my hips as warmth builds low in my belly. I think of the last and tiniest box, which held another note.
To match your other bows.
Flushing, I realize I haven’t responded to him and still have a wedding to coordinate. I fire off a quick text back.
Gracie:You should be thinking about the CAKE. Get back soon, I miss you.
“Gracie, hey.”
Turning quickly, I see Calvin coming toward me with a grin stretched across his face. He looks incredibly handsome in his tux, but all the heartache I anticipated feeling on this day is nowhere to be found. Instead, there’s only regret for spending so much timepining over someone I thought was too good for me, when all along, he simply wasn’trightfor me.
“Hey, Cal,” I respond, smiling.
“Wow,” he says, giving me a once-over. “You look beautiful, Gracie.”
“Thank you,” I say, barely feeling an echo of what those words would have meant to me just a couple of months ago. “How are you feeling? Ready for the big walk?”
He puffs out his cheeks and lets out a big exhale. “More than ready, thanks to you. I don’t know how you managed to pull something like this off in so little time, but it’s more than we ever dreamed of. Even Brookey’s parents haven’t found something to frown at.”
I wave a hand like the last two sleep-deprived months of my life were a joyful skip through the park. “It was my pleasure.”
The smile on his face tightens a little. “I’m sure it wasn’t. In fact, I’d be willing to bet my left ass cheek that it was one giant headache from the word go.”
“Just the left one?” I ask with a smile.
“Fine, both,” he says.
I give a modest shrug. “It was a lot of work, but I’ve had help,” I say, my mind sliding to Jude. “All of the vendors really pulled through for this.”
Calvin looks down at his polished wing tips. “Yeah, but I don’t just mean the work.”
I’m silent at this, and he looks up sheepishly. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, sorry for asking you in the first place.”
“Oh,” I say faintly.
