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“I should burn it, but it’s beautiful, and it’s not the dress’s fault he was a dick.”
“This is true. I wish I weren’t superstitious or I’d ask to borrow it. It was probably the most beautiful wedding gown I’ve ever seen.”
“I thought so too. You can wear it if you want, but it feels creepy, like it’s got too much sadness attached to it.”
“There’s a thrift store here in Pensacola that specializes in bridal and office wear for underprivileged women. I’ll bring it in for you if you want. That should rid it of any unwholesome attachments.”
“I should offer it to Claudia,” Maggie said, laughing.
“That’s too funny. No, Claudia can buy her own damn dress. I didn’t want to bring this up, but since you mentioned it…”
“You don’t have to protect me,” Maggie said.
“Russ broke that off right away, and she moved back here.”
“I heard. You should have told me, Annie. What if I would have run into her?”
“You wouldn’t have. You have to leave your house in order to run into people, and you never did. So anyway, she got a job in the radiology department at Fairvale, and the last I heard, she was having an affair with Dr. Randolph, and now he’s divorcing his wife.”
“She makes me sick.”
“Yep, she can’t just have a relationship with someone. She has to steal him away from another woman.”
“You’re a shrink. What’s that called?”
“She’s a mate poacher.”
“That’s perfect!”
“Hey, I didn’t coin the phrase, okay? She needs something being unfaithful provides. It stokes her ego. There are a whole slew of excuses they use. Anyway, I’ve got to run. I’m glad you found the dress because it’s one more step toward acceptance that you were saved from a really terrible life with a jerk.”
“Ha! Okay! Love you and see you soon.”
Taking the carefully prepared Easter dress downstairs, Maggie tied up some loose ends for her client before Steve came by to pick up the dress. She was sitting at her desk when headlights swept across the porch, and Brulee leapt off the couch, her little tail wagging. It had to be Justin because Steve didn’t know the combination to the lock. Maggie opened the door and fell right into his arms.
“Why’s the door closed?” he asked, handing her dinner from his father’s house.
“I was upstairs getting Annie’s dress for the wedding. Steve’s coming over later to pick it up so she’ll have it as soon as she arrives. How was your day?”
She had her arms around his waist and was looking up at him, melting at his handsomeness, overwhelmed with love for him.
Hugging her back, he did his usual nuzzling of her neck and the top of her head.
“My day was rough. One of the mares at the preserve had a difficult foaling, so we’re watching the baby, but it usually doesn’t bode well.”
That was just the news she didn’t want to hear, but she was learning to be supportive when she was able. He was talking more about his day, and she thought about what it would take to really be a good partner to him. Thank god they weren’t living together because she didn’t think she could take twenty-four seven. She couldn’t wait for Annie to move there so she could have her own private psychologist.
“I’m so sorry,” she finally said when he was finished. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“I don’t either,” he said, laughing. “Tell me about your day?”
“Well, look in here, first,” she said, leading him to the living room.
“Wow! It’s Lonnie Langtry’s evil eye! Where was it?”
While she got their dinner out of the bags he had brought, she told him about Gus and his visit and her plans to paint a new mati.
“I loved that thing as a kid. We’d canoe around the bay, and you could see it a mile away, so I was never afraid.”
