Page 13 of Not So Very Sensible

“We’ll aim to leave at four thirty.” Ellie really meant 4:45 p.m. “That way we’ll have enough time to find a parking spot.”

Katie clapped her hands. “Oh, this is fun! Then maybe we could go to the Heritage Hotel and get dessert.”

“Mm, or we could see how full we are after the pizza. Remember, we can’t afford to go crazy and eat out every night.”

“So, we can have dinner here one night?”

“We are having dinner here on Saturday night, remember? Besides, have you seen the prices of dinner at the restaurant?” Judging from the way her sister bit her lip, that was a no. “Katie, we need to budget well. The only way we can afford to have dinner here is to make your breakfast stretch out, have fruit for lunch, or whatever.”

Katie’s nose wrinkled. “Fruit?”

“It won’t kill you, you know.”

“Hmm.”

There was no fruit on the pizza that night. They preferred the Papa Dino’s special, basically a supreme complete with olives and anchovies. It was delicious, and filling enough that they didn’t need dessert. Which was just as well, because Ellie wasn’t sure just how well she could rein in her sister’s excesses as they discussed their plans over the next few days. Katie’s ideas pinged like pinballs, shooting out as new options to explore. Good thing Ellie had had a lifetime of learning to discern that her sister’s verbal expressions of wanting to go here or do that didn’t always mean she actually wanted to do those things. Instead, she knew to keep Katie’s focus on the main thing—their adventures to an op shop to find vintage clothing to wear for the art deco murder mystery evening on Saturday night.

“What do you think of this?” Katie asked the next morning, the red sequined dress draped against her.

“It’s pretty. And your colour.”

Katie grinned. “I’m going to try it on.”

“Go for it.” Ellie gestured to the next stall. “I’ll go look at the books.”

“Of course you will.” Katie rolled her eyes, but Ellie shrugged, leaving her to it.

So what if she was on a quest to complete her collection of Georgette Heyer books? She had nearly all of them, all in the Old Masters print editions that looked perfectly beautiful together.

She wandered through Blackheath’s old picture theatre, now transformed into a treasure trove of vintage stalls, selling everything from jewellery to books to records to vintage clothing and homewares. A scan of the books showed only a couple of Heyers, and none in the edition she was looking for. A perusal of the prints showed no Ghibli prints either. Oh well. One day. In the meantime, the quests could continue.

By the time Ellie returned, Katie was preening in front of a long mirror. “Don’t I look fabulous?”

“You look great,” Ellie said sincerely.

Her sister, never short of personality, seemed to have finally found a dress that matched her for sparkle.

“Come on. You should try this one on.” Katie tugged her to a hanger.

Ellie’s breath caught. The dress was a nude one-shouldered sheath, stitched with an overlay of gorgeous peacock feathers in an intricate design that rippled up and over one shoulder and descended to the knees. “It’s stunning.”

“Right? And look at the blue in the feathers! You wouldn’t even need to dye your hair. It’d match perfectly.”

She was sorely tempted to try it on, then glanced at the price tag. Coughed. “Yeah, as amazing as that is, the price tag is way out of my budget.”

“Oh, forget being sensible for a moment and just try it on.”

“I’m not about to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress I’ll only wear once.”

“Who’s to say you’ll only wear it once? Go on. Try it on. Please?”

Maybe she did play it safe too often. She sighed, picked up the hanger, and moved to the changeroom. Two minutes later, she stared at her reflection, touching the cross at her neck, the gold and fake diamond necklace one she rarely removed. Whoever had made this dress knew exactly how to accentuate a woman’s figure without revealing anything inappropriate. She looked amazing. Most unlike her regular self at all.

“Have you got it on yet?” Katie called.

“Yes.”

“Coming, ready or not,” Katie called, then swished open the curtain. Then gasped. “Ellie!”