Note – The gifts are back. I've decided they're a motif in this story. :-P This is fluff until shit starts hitting the fan in the next chapter. And I said 'starts to.'
The Right Girl 37
The locker room, the next day…
"Are you ready?" Nadine looked up at the girls as they gathered around her, eager to see what she had slipped out to buy over her lunch break. She pulled the emerald gown out of the white box and held it up to her shoulders. "Ta-da!"
"Oh, my gosh!" Leyla clapped her hands together in delight. "What a lovely color for you! It really brings out your eyes."
"Is it backless?" Kelly reached out and turned the dress around. "Oh, it is, it is! Good work, honey, if you have it, flaunt it. I love it."
"I love the cut," Elizabeth agreed, leaning closer so that she could peer at it. "Look at the stitching here…oh, you might want to have the brooch reinforced there. The stitching looks weak there. No, no, don't let me touch it."
She shook her head and backed away when Nadine held it out to her. "I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something – both of the boys have sniffles – and I don't want to get anything on it. It's just gorgeous, though."
"I don't think I've ever seen you dressed up," Leyla mused. "You're always in your jeans and t-shirts. If anything, you're sure to turn quite a few heads when you walk into the Versailles room wearing that."
"One head in particular," Kelly agreed wickedly. "A head of thick, dark hair and-"
"Seriously, you guys." Nadine shook her head at Kelly's single-mindedness, but couldn't keep from laughing. "Besides, Johnny's already seen me in this dress."
"See, I was talking about Nikolas," the obstetrician feigned. "Interesting that your mind went straight to Johnny."
Elizabeth laughed and elbowed her friend. "Stop teasing her – she's getting all red. And when did Johnny see you in the dress, hm?"
"I, uh…" She cleared her throat and began to gingerly fold up the dress. "I was at the boutique with Claudia and she told me to try on the dress because she wanted to see what my taste in clothes was like. Johnny walked in to talk to her and he saw me and Maxie modeling ours."
Leyla arched a brow. "…So if I heard that correctly, you went shopping with Maxie Jones and Claudia Zacchara."
"Not really shopping, no. We were all just trying on dresses and happened to do it in the same area…and exchange opinions. That's all."
"You were shopping with Claudia Zacchara," Kelly informed her dryly. "Accept it. And buy a bullet-proof vest while you're at it."
Nadine rolled her eyes. "Guys, she's not that ba- Okay, yeah, she is. Never mind. I was in trouble, like, three words into that."
Elizabeth smiled weakly. "You're, um, you're careful around her, right?"
She glanced up from trying to arrange the tissue paper perfectly around her perfect dress. It all had to be perfect, damn it. The dress deserved nothing less. "What do you mean?"
"It's just…you're a very open person," Elizabeth started slowly. Kelly was nodding in agreement. "You don't have any problems talking to new people and putting yourself out there. I think we only knew each other for a few days before you told me about the things your Aunt Rayleen used to say. Just…just remember to be careful around Claudia, okay? She's not like you. She's not like any of us. I get the feeling that she's the kind of woman that, if she sees her advantage, she'll take it. No matter who she has to sacrifice for it."
"You wouldn't be wrong," Nadine admitted. "Johnny told me that she once said that – uh, never mind." It probably wasn't prudent to air Claudia's death threats against her father.
Her self-censorship seemed to come as a relief to Elizabeth, and the nurse smiled warmly. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you must be handling yourself okay around her so far because she still tolerates your presence and lets you shop with her. What'd she have to say about the dress?"
"She just told me to buy it," Nadine grinned. "She ordered me to, actually. Twice. So I took that to mean that she liked it. And she's got pretty good taste in clothes, too. The dresses she was looking at were all understated and elegant and had really delicate designs. She wasn't happy about buying off a rack, though, but she liked hers so much that she did. I think she's the type that goes to the designer stores in Italy and sits around and drinks champagne while models show her the newest ones, then points to the ones she wants without even asking about the price."
"With her money, why not?" Kelly shrugged and folded her arms across her chest. "More power to her."
"I'm just happy with mine," Nadine sighed dreamily. "It's so pretty – by far the prettiest thing I've ever owned. And I got a great discount on it, too. I mean, things will be a little tight and I won't be eating that much this week, but it's worth it. Besides, a mini-diet will help me rock this dress even harder."
Elizabeth laughed and picked up Nadine's tote bag as she hefted the light box of precious cargo. "Come on, let's get out of here. You have to get that dress home, and my Gram is dropping the boys off in half an hour. See you tomorrow, ladies."
It took them about ten minutes to get all their things together, say goodbye to their colleagues at the hub, and head out to the lower garage where their cars were parked.
"Thanks for helping me with my junk," Nadine called out over her shoulder. She rested the box on her trunk and then reached for the tote bag that Elizabeth was carrying for her in order to find her keys. "Lucky that we parked next to each other today."
"You got everything?" She grunted as Nadine relieved her of the bag altogether, then pried a coffee cup from the hand she had her own in.
"That's it," Nadine smiled. "Thanks again. Say hey to the boys for me."
"I will. I-"
Nadine looked up when Elizabeth cut off abruptly only to find that her friend was suddenly alarmingly pale. "What – Oh!"
She spun around and found two men in matching black trench coats standing not two yards away from her car. One carried two bags in his arms and the other was looking at her pointedly. Upon closer inspection it was clear that they didn't mean either of them any harm, but it was still unnerving to be accosted by two strange men in a dark parking garage, and she didn't blame Elizabeth for being afraid.
"A stab in the dark…you guys work for the Zacchara family, don't you?"
The one not carrying anything smirked at that. "Yes, we do. These are for you, Miss Crowell. If you don't mind, we'll just place them in your trunk."
Both women watched curiously as the man with the bags moved forward and carefully propped the paper sacks up in her trunk, arranging the other items there so that nothing would topple over. Unable to resist, Nadine leaned down and looked over the guard's shoulder, spying various Styrofoam containers and a wealth of napkins and plastic utensils.
"Is there a note with it?"
"Always is," the man smirked. He withdrew an envelope from his breast pocket and handed it to her. "Have a nice night, Miss Crowell. Ma'am."
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose but waited until the men were out of earshot. "I hate it when people call me ma'am."
"I hate it when people call me Miss," Nadine murmured, turning the envelope over and neatly opening it with her nails. "Oooh…."
Elizabeth shifted her weight, as if debating whether to get in her car and leave for the night or give in to her curiosity and see what it was all about. When Nadine noticed her standing there over her shoulder, she quirked a smile and held the note into the light so her friend can see. Elizabeth quickly scanned the neat, masculine block print on the tidy square of cardstock.
I know you said that it was either get the dress or eat this week. Since I think you made the right choice, dinner's on me tonight.
JZ
She schooled her features carefully, not wanting to give anything away, and nodded curtly. "Hm."
Nadine arched a brow. "That's it? Just a 'hm'?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "That's it."
"You don't have anything to say?"
"Nothing that you'd want to hear," she demurred.
Nadine pursed her lips together. "Let me guess, I'm going to get another lecture about being careful and how dangerous the Zacchara family is?"
"Not from me," she replied, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.
"Then say what you were going to say."
A slow, teasing smile curled Elizabeth's lips. "I was just going to say that I thought that was very romantic. And to be careful only because a romantic gesture from a man that's spoken for is confusing and sometimes dangerous."
Nadine gaped at her, then stuffed the note back in the envelope. "It's not romantic! It's – it's platonic! And it's nice. In a platonic way. He just wanted an excuse to send me dinner."
"And that doesn't tell you something?" Elizabeth asked. "And by the way? He's flirting. With you. So get over it."
With a laugh, she gave Nadine's shoulder a playful squeeze and headed toward her car. "And if I was a betting woman, I'd say you've already figured out what you're sending him in return."
A day or two later…
"I don't care if it wastes gasoline, I'm not going to have that rat Trevors riding with us back to Crimson Manor."
Johnny rolled his eyes as Reivers let them in and moved immediately to take Claudia's light wrap and purse. "I get that you hate him, Claudie, I do, too, but it just feels wasteful. I mean, he had to take his own car and follow us eighteen miles out here. It's just wasteful."
"Don't care," she grumbled, exchanging surly looks with Trevor as the attorney stepped into the foyer. "Trevors, how good to see you."
He sneered at her and switched his attaché case to the other hand. "If you two kids are done screwing around, we have important business to – what in the world is that?"
Reivers nervously wrung his fingers together as all of them turned and caught sight of a giant clear plastic bag filled with fortune cookies. "Er…uh, I purchased those for Master John, Mister Lansing. I remembered his fondness for them and ordered a batch from the nearest wholesale merchandise store."
Claudia snarled as Trevor looked at the butler strangely. "Reivers, what's the matter with you? Who's going to eat that many fortune cookies?"
"I seem to remember your fondness for them, too, in your girlhood, Miss," Reivers tried. "I only thought-"
"And what are you doing shopping at wholesale food marts, anyway? Ugh, giant warehouses of stale food…" She walked over and flicked the bag. "Hey, there's a note…"
"That's just the receipt!" Reivers practically yelped, moving forward to usher Trevor from the room. "Silly me, in my carelessness I must have left it out. Mister Lansing, Cook just made a batch of your favorite scones. I'm sure she can be persuaded to put on the kettle for you as well."
With the attorney safely out of earshot, Reivers back-tracked over to where the Zacchara siblings stood. "I didn't purchase the cookies, Miss. I confess, I fabricated that little bit to evade Mister Lansing's suspicions. The cookies arrived for Master John this morning with the customary note."
Johnny grinned and plucked the envelope from his sister's hand. "Nice."
Claudia looked down at the bag of cookies, tied on top with a blue ribbon, and then tried to read over her brother's shoulder. "Let's see what it says."
"I don't think so," Johnny murmured, turning his shoulder abruptly. She tried to peek over his other shoulder and he turned again, absolutely certain that he and his sister looked like a decade-younger version of themselves, but beyond caring.
My Aunt Rayleen used to say that the man (or woman) that feeds others grows fat off their wishes for his or her good fortune. I thought you'd enjoy these, especially since your sister hardly seems like the Betty Crocker type anymore. Plus, I didn't have to give away too many of my magic beans for these, so my dress remains justified. God, I love Cost Effective Mart. What other place would sell me a 10 lb. drum of nutmeg? I ask you.
NC
"What'd she say? What's the deal with the cookies?"
Johnny stuffed the note in his pocket and grinned at his sister. "No deal. She just hopes we enjoy them."
Claudia made a face at his back as he bent to pick up the bag. "You just don't want me to see. I bet it was something mushy."