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“You almost done in there?” Honor called out.
“Yes!”Focus, Sophie.She couldn’t let thoughts of Zane distract her. Not when her career goals were inching closer to reality with the opportunities in White Strand.
Fifteen minutes later, she and Honor walked down Bluff Avenue—the hippest street in White Strand, Honor said. Quaint stucco and Mediterranean architecture drew Sophie’s eye to the boutique shops and gourmet restaurants. She happily window-shopped, enjoyed the sunshine on her face, the smell of seafood, and most especially, the untucked-shirt-and-flip-flops style everyone had going on.
“Honorlicious, how goes it?” a cute twenty-something guy heading toward them on a skateboard said. He stopped just shy of colliding into Honor and flipped the board up into his hands.
“It’s going. Dylan, this is Sophie. Sophie, Dylan.”
Dylan lifted his chin, “Wassup?”
Sophie smiled. His blond Einstein-style hair totally worked with his dark eyes and faded T-shirt that readSurf waves = Brain waves on H2O. She liked him immediately.“Hi.”
“Pull your pants up, would you?” Honor said, tugging on his low-slung shorts. “They’re about to fall off.”
“That’s how the ladies like ’em.”
Honor rolled her eyes. “When they trip you up and you fall on your face, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Since when did you get sensible?”
“Since…” Honor waved her arm at him. “Come on, Sophie. We’ve got shopping to do.”
Dylan dropped his skateboard and pressed a foot on it. “Whatever. See ya around.”
“How do you know him?” Sophie kept pace with Honor’s quick steps back down the sidewalk.
“He’s my brother’s best friend.”
“You have a brother?” Sophie’s eyebrows rose.
“Yeah, but he’s not worth discussing at the moment. Come on.” Honor stepped off the curb to cross the street. “Ivy Bleu’s is right over there.”
The chime of the bells from the clock tower on Main Street rang in Sophie’s ears as she followed Honor into the tiny clothing store.
Before they ran into Dylan, Sophie had learned all of Honor’s favorite places and wished she had someone like Honor back home. Her new friend shared everything with such openness and camaraderie that Sophie had let slip things she’d never told another soul. Like the time she’d stolen a tube of lip gloss from the drugstore on a dare from the popular girl who lived across the street. Some might call it stealing, but Sophie had considered it preservation. The favored girls at school made fun of her for always having her nose in a book and dressing conservatively. Her one brush with shoplifting had bought her a short reprieve.
“Hey Ivy,” Honor said to a tall, willowy brunette.
Sophie had pictured Ivy much older, but she couldn’t be more than thirty. She’d owned the clothing store for the past two years, Honor had said. Ivy also designed clothes, and several of her creations were in the store. Honor introduced them, tacking on, “Sophie is Zane Hollander’s date tonight.”
She’d sort of forgotten that the whole reason for shopping was to find something to wear tonight. So much for keeping her mind off the surf stud.
Honor crossed her arms over her chest, a grin on her face, while Ivy sized up Sophie with enthusiastic eyes. “You’ll need something special, then.”
A few minutes later, Sophie’s arms full of dresses, Honor and Ivy shooed her into a dressing room.
“You need to come out and model each one,” Honor said, her elbows pressed to her body, her hands clasped under her chin. Excitement danced in her blue-gray eyes.
“Yes, please,” Ivy added.
Sophie smiled all the way down to her toes. They didn’t say anything about her figure being less than curvy, and picked colors and styles she never would’ve picked on her own.
She slipped on a casual pink cotton dress with a scoop neckline and crossover strap in the back. Form-fitting in the bust, it had a fluid short skirt. Sophie pushed the dressing room curtain aside and spun around for Honor and Ivy. They both gave a thumbs-up. Honor said, “It looks adorable on you, but there’s still a lot more to go.”
Sooo many dresses to go, and while several were definite misses, a few made her feel like awoman. And for a girl who never fit in anywhere, for this brief moment in time, Sophie felt like she belonged. She was finally playing dress-up, and Honor and Ivy seemed to be having as much fun as she was.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying this,” Honor said as Sophie stepped out of the dressing room to model another dress.
