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Melanie was looking a little dazed, something I couldn’t exactly blame her for. I kind of doubted she’d expected to walk away from this interview with both her job and her housing so neatly taken care of.
But while I wasn’t exactly a take-charge person like Josie, I still preferred to get things handled quickly so I could move on to the next project. And with Melanie on board at the shop, that meant I’d be able to focus on other things, like Archie and Victoria’s rapidly approaching nuptials…
…and possibly doing my best to figure out who had sent Archie that threatening note.
“Welcome aboard,” I told Melanie, and extended my hand to seal the deal.
4
Fitting Arrangements
“You hired someone already?” Victoria asked, clearly surprised.
She and Hazel and I had all gathered at the bridal salon, where Thora, the owner, had pulled Hazel’s and my attendants’ dresses. All right, bridesmaid gowns, but since Hazel and I were both in our early thirties and married, and I was carrying my first child, I didn’t think there was anything particularly maidenly about either of us. Out of deference to my pregnant state, the gowns had high Empire waists but were absolutely lovely, in a deep blush color with the sort of airy, floaty silk chiffon skirts that made me want to twirl around like a little girl playing dress-up.
Of course, if I tried to twirl right now, I’d probably knock Thora right over, since she was busy with her dressmaker’s pins, making a few adjustments to my dress’s bodice.
“Yes, and we just had our first day at the shop together,” I replied. “I mean, we had to spend most of the morning filling out forms for the insurance and her W-2s and all that. Even so, I thought it went really well.”
Which it had. Melanie had come in around nine-thirty, and I’d taken her over to the Airbnb to get settled first, since Hazel had given me the key when I went over the night before after I closed the shop for the day. Once her housing was handled, it was all about filling in those pesky forms my accountant had told me needed to be on file before I could have anyone come work for me. Afterward, though, there was still plenty of time to show Melanie around the shop and point out the various wares, to show her where I kept the key to the display case that held the more expensive jewelry pieces and crystal specimens.
She’d picked up on everything quickly, and revealed more knowledge of gems and minerals than I would have expected of someone who mainly worked in women’s wear boutiques.
“Some of them also sold jewelry,” she explained. “And I’ve always kind of liked rocks, so I’ve done a lot of reading about them on the side.”
Not for the first time, I’d reflected it seemed like the universe had sent me exactly the right person for the job. Although I still had months to go, I knew I was already a little more relaxed than I had been even a few days earlier, now that I knew I had someone like Melanie to take over for me when the time came.
“And she’s staying at my Airbnb until she can find a place,” Hazel chimed in. She was also wearing her attendant’s gown, waiting her turn until Thora was finished with me.
I could kind of tell the bridal salon owner wasn’t completely thrilled with the way my body kept changing what felt like from day to day. At least, I was pretty sure I hadn’t been quite this booby the last time I’d come in for a fitting.
Luckily, though, Thora was a genius with alterations. All the same, I was very glad the wedding was only a week and a half away. The Goddess only knew what I would have looked like a month from now.
“That’s got to be a load off your mind,” Victoria said. She looked as calm and put together as always, but I still thought I could detect a certain tension to the set of her shoulders. Because Hazel and I had arrived at the bridal salon at the same time, I really hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to Victoria in private, to see if Archie had heard anything else from the blackmailer.
“It is,” I said. “Honestly, if everything works out with Melanie the way I think it will, then I might be able to go on leave earlier than I’d planned. I know Calvin would like me to take it easy that final month.”
Because although he was never anything except utterly supportive of me, I also could tell he’d be happier — and a lot less worried — if I didn’t work until the moment I was practically in labor.
I had to agree with him on that point, and now with Melanie working at the shop, it looked as though I’d have the opportunity to step away whenever it felt right.
“We all would,” Hazel remarked. “My mother worked until the day before I was born, and I know she would have done it differently if she could. It’s great that you have the luxury of going on leave when it works best for you.”
It had been much the same for my own mother, who’d found herself pregnant at barely twenty and didn’t have any options except to keep working until she absolutely couldn’t.
“Well, now we don’t have to worry about me giving birth in front of the incense display at the store,” I joked.
Hazel and Victoria exchanged a glance that told me they didn’t think my little quip was very funny. In fact, Thora jabbed me with a pin right then, although I didn’t know for sure whether that was her way of expressing her disapproval or her finger had just slipped.
Not that I’d ever planned to work that long. Even if I hadn’t been able to find a suitable shop assistant, I would have simply closed down the store until I felt ready to go back to work. It wasn’t as if I needed the income from Once in a Blue Moon to keep our household going — Calvin’s salary as chief of the tribal police was more than sufficient for that, even if you didn’t count the interest from all my investments — but I still had never liked the idea of having to keep the store shuttered for months and months.
But it seemed the final pin jab from Thora was a signal she was done with my fitting, because she tapped me on the shoulder and told me I could get down from the dais where I’d been standing so she could move on to Hazel’s dress. I obediently stepped away and let Hazel take my place, and went to stand next to Victoria. She’d already done her fitting, and so her wedding gown — a glorious strapless sheath of shantung silk with some fabulous beading on the bodice — had hidden in its garment bag.
“Any developments?” I asked her in an undertone once I was sure Hazel was occupied with Thora.
Victoria shook her head. “No, nothing. I guess that’s good news, right?”
“It seems like it to me,” I said, once again hoping I was correct about that. “Since you got only the one letter, it sure feels like someone was just trying to get Archie’s goat. How’s he doing?”
