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Ethan walks straight to the elevators and presses the button. Once we arrive at the menswear floor, he flags down a passing salesman. “We’re here to see Claire.”
Those appear to be the magic words that release the genie from the bottle, because an elegant woman around my age appears out of nowhere. She claps her hands, and her minions take the boys and Ethan off to get ready. Once they’re gone, she turns to me. “Please follow me. I’ve pulled a couple dresses for you to choose from.”
She takes me to a private dressing room with a rack holding five different dresses. “I understand you’re in a bit of a hurry, so I asked someone from the cosmetic counter to come up and freshen your makeup for you.” I barely refrain from asking her to turn a pumpkin and some rats into a horse-drawn carriage. I’m pretty sure she could do it.
The first thing I do when Claire leaves is to look at the price tags on the dresses. I practically choke when I discover the cheapest one is seven hundred dollars. The shoes that go with it are two hundred and fifty. Feeling lightheaded, I put it on and turn to stare at myself in the mirror. The crimson red contrasts nicely with my dark hair, and I know immediately that I would have chosen this dress no matter what.
Claire quickly cuts all the tags off and then puts my own clothes into a bag. Once my makeup is done, I feel like Julia Roberts inPretty Woman. You know, if Julia was playing a single mom instead of a sex worker.
After my transformation, Claire takes me back out to the main floor where Ethan and the boys are waiting. My breath hitches in my throat at the sight of them. Handsome doesn’t begin to cover it. I’ve never seen Ethan in a suit, as there’s no reason for him to wear one in Alaska. He’s breathtakingly gorgeous. Emotion clogs my throat as I remind myself that he’s a cad.A cad meant for a supermodel, not me.
“Mr. Caplan,” Claire says. “Would you like me to send your street clothes over to your house.”
“Please,” Ethan tells her as he pulls out his wallet and hands her a wad of cash. “Thanks so much, Claire. As always, you’ve outdone yourself.” I’m guessing the money is a tip for her last-minute services, as he had no way of knowing which dress I was going to choose. Note to self, sell the diner and become a personal shopper. Although in Gamble, I’m guessing customers would be few and far between.
We’re back in Ethan’s car in only fourteen minutes and we all look like we’re about to be presented to the queen. I’m so overwhelmed that speech evades me. My boys look amazing, and I feel like a princess. Ethan looks like he’s ruler of his own country.
A dreamlike haze encompasses the evening and even though Ethan and I barely speak to each other, I don’t let that ruin a meal that will go down in history as the best and most expensive food that’s ever passed my lips.
Tomorrow, we go back to Gamble and the fairy tale ends. It makes my heart ache, but I’m grateful to have found out Ethan’s true character before I was in too deep.
Chapter40
Ethan
The trip home is long and devoid of any excitement. We got up at the crack of dawn to get to LAX on time, only to find out the flight would be delayed. The boys are grumpy and quiet, as are the grown-ups. The wall of ice between Moira and me is so thick, I don’t even care to try to knock it down.
I spend the entire day going through the motions as an increasing sense of dread builds inside. I don’t even have it in me to try to cheer the boys up, knowing that the moment we touch down in Gamble, Moira and I will have no reason to see each other again—other than at the wedding, of course.
Last night was hell. Moira looked incredible in that red dress. I have never wanted a woman as badly as I want her. It’s not just because she’s beautiful on the outside, either. She’s selfless and caring and she’d do anything for someone she loves.
In addition to all the good things, she’s also a bit of a wounded bird. And even though she’s made it clear she doesn’t want me, I can’t help but want to do things to make her life better. Hence last night’s extravagance. I knew after we left California, she’d never let me do something like that for her again.
She nearly freaked when she saw the cheapest steak on Maestro’s menu was over fifty bucks. I thought she’d faint when she discovered the price didn’t include any of the sides. She wanted to share her steak with the boys, but as it was only four ounces, that would only have gotten them all two bites.
The boys spent the entire meal talking about how much food they could buy in Gamble for the cost of our meal. Instead of being horrified by the indulgence, they were thrilled by it.
Every time Moira shifted in her chair next to me, my gaze would drift to her bare legs. Moira is more beautiful than a thousand Bridgette Hills, she just doesn’t know it.
I feel horrible about how I played things with Bridgette, and it kept me up half the night. The other half was spent fantasizing that Moira would walk through my bedroom door so we could talk things out. I imagined that talking would end with her crawling into my bed so I could show her what she means to me.
But she didn’t knock on my door, and the night passed without us fixing anything.
I haven’t felt longing and angst like this since I was a teenager. But the truth is, I regret nothing. I put myself out there in the most honest way I could. I can’t be responsible for how Moira feels. God knows if I could have changed things, the night would have ended much differently.
Digger has a hundred questions for us when he picks us up in Anchorage. The boys are happy to fill him in on every detail, but Moira keeps her answers to one word. Fine. Okay. Good. Nice. She might as well have spent the week at the Motel 6 in Burbank.
It’s almost six in the evening when the lodge comes into view. Despite being hungry and tired, the kids perk up when they see Harper, Lily, and Liam standing on the dock waving while waiting for us to land.
The boys scramble out of the float plane the second Digger opens the door, then take off to tell their soon-to-be cousins everything about the trip. I wait until Moira is off to climb down, then help Digger get the bags out of the cargo hold.
When I join everyone else, Harper is quick to ask, “So? How was the trip?” Her expression says it all. Prisha must have filled her in on what happened when she saw us.
“Lovely,” Moira says with a tight smile. “It was a vacation the boys will never forget.”
Harper looks back and forth between us, then her gaze lands back on Moira. “Did you like LA?”
“It’s a great place to visit, but I can see why you wanted out of there,” Moira says with a forced laugh. She glances at me, and adds, “Ethan was an extremely gracious host. He definitely gave us a taste of what life would be like there.” Her tone lacks warmth and I can’t help but take her comment as a slight.
