Page 79 of Finding My Charming

“I’m all-knowing and all-seeing.”

Holy crap!

“Yes, I can read minds too.”

I nearly fell to the ground. How could my family not share this little bit of information? My whole life had gone by, and not one time had they told me dear Grandma was clairvoyant.

She turned with a sly smile. “I’m jesting. I can’t read your mind. I just know you well enough to know what you’re thinking.”

I didn’t think that was necessarily true, but at that moment, I didn’t trust her, and I didn’t want to put myself in a position of being abandoned at the mall. I remained silent while nodding, hoping she would change subjects soon.

While looking through another rack, she handed me a few more dresses, explaining how I could wear each and what she would pair them with. To my astonishment, she selected several different styles, a few that boarded on sexy, but she convinced me to at least give them a try. April might be able to pull off the flowy spaghetti-strap-look, but I assumed it would look ridiculous on me. Not only did I not have a body to show off, but I also wasn’t comfortable wearing something that begged to have the attention of everyone around.

After wandering around the dress area, she led the way to more casual, yet stylish, clothes. An associate approached us with wide eyes and offered to relieve me of the pile of garments I was to try on. I was glad to have my arms free, but it only lasted a moment.

“You want to balance pieces that are more comfortable and informal with classy, fitted pieces so you always look put together. You don’t need to wear heels and a dress to look like a lady.” She reached for a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans, something I liked but wasn’t expecting from her. “You can wear these with a blouse or blazer and even…” Her eyes dropped to my shoes. “…something like those as long as they are clean. No one should be walking around in worn, old things if they have a choice. And you my dear, have a choice.”

I fought the urge to salute her but accepted the jeans instead. We followed this pattern of new item and lecture for the next hour until she announced it was finally time to go to the dressing room.

When I went shopping with Ari or my mom I usually grabbed whatever looked comfy and bought it. I rarely ever tried things on, so walking into a mountain of jeans and every rack full of hangers was daunting. Grandma took the seat outside my room and instructed me to put together outfits to show her.

I hadn’t realized at the beginning of the day that I was going to be tested. I joked that I should have been taking notes, but she just gave me a stern look and shooed me into the room.

Chapter 24

two hours and four stores later, Grandma declared it was time for a break. I’d made two additional trips to the car to drop off bags so we wouldn’t have to cart them around, so I was completely worn out. I thought she was only letting me sit for a moment because she felt bad for me. The woman looked like she could go for another two hours without a problem, but she wasn’t the one having to try on hundreds of combinations.

As horrible as it was to admit, I’d been expecting her to criticize my choices or tell me that I couldn’t pull off certain looks. She proved me wrong, though. Not once did she have a negative thing to say. If she didn’t love something I’d put together, she would look through the clothes until she found something more flattering.

I collapsed onto a chair and leaned my elbows onto the food-court table in front of me. “I’m exhausted.”

Grandma cracked a smile. “If it were easy, everyone would look good, but it takes time and practice. It’s better to learn now, even if it is hard. Being well-dressed is more than vanity. You are an incredibly intelligent young woman with a huge heart. You’re beautiful, but you hide.”

“I don’t hide. I dress up every day for work.”

“Oh, darling. You’ve always hidden behind your books or activities at school. I’ve seen how you look at your sisters. I don’t think you should compare yourself to them.”

“Yeah, because I can’t.”

She turned to face me straight on. “That is not what I meant. You are gorgeous. You have thick brown hair that you don’t even need to hassle with for it to look great. I’ve spent many hours trying to convince April not to dye hers your color.”

I picked up a strand of my hair and stared at it in disbelief. “It’s brown.”

“It’s a beautiful chestnut with natural golden highlights. Many women pay a fortune to achieve what you have been blessed with naturally.”

My hair did have a tendency to turn sun-kissed after hours outside, but I never thought of them as highlights, and I never in a million years would have thought April wanted my color. She was the one with deep red hair girls at school cried over. Why would she ever want to be like me?

“You have the perfect olive complexion, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one speck of a breakout on your face.”

I shrugged, suddenly very uncomfortable with where this conversation was going. “I guess it’s because I never wear makeup.”

“You’ve never needed it. Sure, you can wear some mascara or eyeshadow to make your eyes pop, but you don’t need to wear it every day like some girls do.” She caught my gaze and smiled, warmly, for the first time today. “You’ve also always had a svelte figure, and with the clothes we got you, everyone else can finally see it.”

I blushed at her onslaught of compliments. It was so unlike her.

“I know we’re not as close as I am with your sisters, but I never thought you needed the attention they required.” She held up her finger when she saw my mouth open to interrupt. “You have always been the strong, independent one. They warranted more reinforcement while they were discovering who they were and what they liked. You, on the other hand, are an old soul. You took to things naturally. I never worried about you like I did with your sisters. I know now how it affected you and gave you the wrong impression, and for that, I’m deeply sorry. I love you, Elise. I always have.”

So many things had shocked me about today, but this definitely topped the list. I never would have guessed this was how she’d felt about me. She’d loved me enough to let me have my independence to explore the world on my terms. I guess in a way I was the lucky one.