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26
Using the hanger trick,Viv zipped up the third dress she’d tried on in the last ten minutes, took one look in the full-length mirror, and then promptly took it off. She checked the time and saw that she had twenty minutes before she was supposed to be at the venue for the Hometown Heroes Ball.
She’d planned on wearing an emerald green scoop neck satin midi dress that she’d purchased especially for the occasion. She’d loved it in the store, but when she put it on tonight, she just felt blah in it.
Next, she’d tried on her trusty LBD. It was a tea length black dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. The halter-top number was what she called her mullet dress. With the conservative neckline it was business in the front and a party in the back with a scandalously low backless fit. When she’d slipped into it, it just didn’t look special enough for the event.
The third dress she’d pulled out of her closet was a slinky spaghetti strap metallic bronze cocktail dress she’d bought during a sale at Neiman Marcus but had never worn. She barely pulled it on before she pulled it right back off again. This was not Scarface and she was not Michelle Pfeiffer.
“This is ridiculous,” she groaned in frustration as she went back into her closet.
Normally she never had issues picking out what she should wear but tonight it seemed like an impossible task. This was a huge event, yes, but it wasn’t any bigger than the Single’s Week she’d done. Or even the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. So why was she so nervous about what she was freaking wearing?
Glenn “The Gladiator” Maguire.
That was the simple answer. She knew that he would be there tonight. She hadn’t asked him if he was going and no one had told her that he was, but his cousins are the fire and police chief respectively. Also, Lucky’s Gym had a table and he was employed there, for now anyway.
The question was, how long would he be? Was he going to accept the job and stay in Hope Falls? She had no freaking idea. Why didn’t she know? Because she hadn’t asked him.
Over the past week they hadn’t really spoken. Other than simple pleasantries in passing.
“Hi, how are you doing?”
“Good, how are you?”
Every time they spoke it felt more and more impersonal. She knew part of that was her fault. She’d pulled away. And maybe she was making up the whole emotional staring contest in her head, but she still wasn’t going to blink first.
Her phone rang and she figured it was one of the vendors for tonight’s event. So far there had been no emergencies, but those tended to creep up at the last minute.
When she saw her father’s name, she was relieved.
“Hi,” she answered it.
“Hey, I just wanted to tell you good luck tonight with the benefit. I know it’s gonna be amazing.”
She felt herself begin to tear up, but she sniffed back the emotion. Her father’s approval shouldn’t mean anything to her. It actually pissed her off that it did.
“Thanks,” her response came out sounding a lot more clipped than she’d meant it to.
Mason was just trying to support her. He wasn’t trying to insert himself in her life. Every boundary she’d set, he’d abided by. When he asked when he could come and visit Hope Falls, she said she didn’t know—but not yet.
When he asked if it would be okay to call her once a week, she told him every other week would be better.
When he was texting her every day, she told him that every three would be more manageable.
She didn’t have her sister’s degree in psychology, but she wondered if some of her restrictions with him had to do with her feeling so out of control right now with so much of her life.
Namely, things with Glenn. She wanted so badly for things to be different with him. For things to be as real as they felt. But that was more impossible than picking out a dress for tonight. Since she couldn’t control that, she was controlling her father’s access to her life.
It made sense… But the two could also have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
“Well, I won’t keep you. Just wanted to tell you that I’m so proud of you. You and your sisters.”
“Okay, thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Viv hung up the phone and caught a glimpse out the window of Glenn and Bree going into the back house. Her heart wrenched so badly she felt like she was having a heart attack. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but she was a drama queen, so it tracked.
