A Promise of Forever (19 page)

As they arrived downtown, it was Brody who first commented on the size of the town.
“It’s a far cry from what you’re used to but I love it here.”
What he didn’t know was that Katelyn found the quaintness of the town to be its major allure.
Brody came around the side of the truck to help her out.
He raised one arm in the air with a flourish.
“My town is your town, my lady,” he teased.

“I don’t know but this city girl is pretty pleased with your town.
I happen to like small and intimate,” she added before jumping out of the truck, something she’d never get used to.
Why anyone owned these trucks, she didn’t know.
They were hard to get in and out of for someone of her stature.
On the other hand, the weather changed here on a dime and a truck would probably make the most sense, especially during the snowy season.

Brody pointed to a shop across the way.
She turned to see what he was pointing at and she saw the exquisitely decorated storefront.
The shop stood out on the main street but not in a bad way.
It was different, but tastefully so.
She couldn’t wait to go inside and take a peak.

“You’re on your own from here.
I’ don’t do ladies fashion, ever.”
He closed the door behind her and smiled lovingly down at her face before locking the doors.
“I hear that the woman, I think her name is Nellie or something close to that, knows her craft.
I’m sure she’ll take good care of you.
Be nice to the old lady, her establishment is relatively new and we’d like to keep main street thriving.
She probably heard you were from New York City and is scared to death to have you in her shop.”
Brody was kidding with her.
He knew better than anyone that Katelyn was far from stuck-up or fashionable.
“I’ll give you a couple of hours on your own and, while you’re shopping, I’ll go and see how Kevin made out in court this morning.
I’ll swing by later and meet you for dinner at the restaurant, Captain’s Table,” pointing down the block to a large green overhang that jutted out from the rest of the buildings surrounding it.
“You can’t miss it, that’s the Captain’s Table.
If you’re running late, no need to worry, I’ll wait at the bar.
We don’t need reservations on a week night so take as long as you want.”

He saw a glint of girlish excitement in her eye as she began to cross over to the shop.
As Brody walked away, Katelyn couldn’t help but notice a woman staring at them from the shop window.
The woman was peeking from behind the curtain, looking in their direction.
Maybe it was Brody she was looking at because any interest in her would make no sense.
The woman disappeared when Brody came closer to the shop.
Katelyn decided she wasn’t going to waste time trying to figure it out.
She had to find a dress for this charity affair, time was running out.
She would put aside the thoughts about all the men in her life and concentrate on the dress.
Today was going to be all about her.

Leave it to Katelyn to coerce me into rehashing the secret I kept buried.
He had thought he had put Eleanor behind him, and now, after all this time, he was thinking about her again.
Brody walked a couple of blocks in the opposite direction and headed for his office.
There was a good possibility that Kevin could still be in court; if that were the case, he’d just go ahead and start on his case load for Monday.
Anything
rather than think about Eleanor Mulaney Calder
.

The little bell on the door above her head sounded as she walked into the shop.
During those first few seconds, Katelyn was totally alone.
She wasn’t sure if she was in the right place; it looked more like she was in someone’s living room rather than a dress shop.
She glanced around the room until she heard a woman’s voice call out from behind the curtain.

Katelyn sat down on the sofa and wondered what to do next.
It was obvious that this wasn’t a buy off-the-rack sort of place.
The woman called out to her, “Have some tea and cookies while you wait.
If you like, you could skim through the albums on the table.”
The albums were lying on the coffee table; she helped herself as she skimmed through the pages one by one.
The designs were magnificent; they were made for all different shapes and sizes and the colors and styles were breathtaking.
Katelyn was no expert but Nellie, whoever she was, belonged in New York City or Paris.

Katelyn skipped to the section marked wedding dresses and it was there that she saw it, the dress she had always dreamed about wearing when she married Gianfranco.
She tried to describe it to a New York seamstress many years ago when she thought for sure he was going to propose.
It was just as well that the designer never understood her vision because the proposal never came.
Katelyn stared long and hard at the dress as she pictured herself in it.
It was perfect for her.
Maybe she was meant to walk into this shop after all.

Nellie watched from behind the curtain as the stranger stared at the pale pink dress she had designed so long ago, wondering whether she was going to purchase it and, in conjunction, break her heart.
The dress itself was so pale it looked more white than the pink it actually was.
It was a strapless gown with a delicate piece of expensive antique lace wrapped around the top of the dress, while the rest of the silky material flowed down toward the ankle.
It was beautiful and Katelyn couldn’t stop admiring it.

She knew that this dress was everything she had ever dreamed of wearing on her wedding day.
The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself to throw caution to the wind and purchase it.
She was getting married, after all.
She could, at the very least, have the dress she wanted, since it looked very unlikely that she’d get the loving husband to go with that fantasy.

“I’m sorry, I’ve kept you waiting.
I didn’t mean to take so long but I was putting the finishing touches on a dress.
With this charity event coming up, I’m getting backlogged.”
Nellie held out her hand to introduce herself and Katelyn graciously accepted the hand offered.

Nellie wasn’t the old lady Brody thought her to be; she was young and as beautiful as the clothes she designed.
She looked vaguely familiar though Katelyn couldn’t remember where she’d seen her before.
Since she wasn’t one to follow the fashion scene, it hadn’t surprised her that her memory was lacking on the subject.
The woman was dressed impeccably and the clothes she wore were obviously of her own design, one of a kind.
Katelyn picked up the album from the table and smiled as she opened the book.
“I have to tell you, I’m really impressed with your designs.
Are they all yours?” she asked.

“Yes, I’m proud of them.
Was there anything in particular that you’re interested in?”
Nellie hoped that the wedding dress from the portfolio hadn’t intrigued her new customer because she had witnessed for herself the way Brody had looked at the woman and it might mean that he had moved on.
She regretted adding that particular dress to the portfolio this morning.

“I work for a magazine in New York and I have to tell you these dresses are better than some of the designs that I’ve seen on our ad pages.
I’m no expert but these look great.
Have you ever tried marketing your designs on a grander scale?” Katelyn asked curiously.

“I had a dream once to launch my designs all over the international world of fashion and, for a while, I did quite well but it wasn’t what I wanted in the end.
You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.
Sometimes you get everything you wanted and find out it wasn’t what you expected after all,” Nellie responded with a note of regret in her voice.

Nellie is turning out to be a mystery as well.
What is it with me that everyone who surrounds me these days has a secret to tell?
It doesn’t take a super genius to figure out that Nellie gave up something near and dear to chase a dream only to find out it cost too much in the end.
Katelyn also felt that, for whatever reason, Nellie wasn’t taking a liking to her.

“I was admiring this dress and I was wondering if I could try it on?
I’m getting married soon and I haven’t had a chance to look for a dress.
Oh, I’ll also need a dress for the charity event.
I hate to cause you so much trouble but my brother neglected to tell me about the charity ball until after I arrived from New York.”
Katelyn could see that Nellie’s reaction to the news of her impending wedding was upsetting, for some unknown reason.
She couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out why.

She began to wonder if there was any way that Nellie knew Gianfranco.
She guessed it was a possibility and the way her luck ran these days, it was very probable.
But until two minutes ago, they had never met, so Nellie wouldn’t be aware of Gianfranco. Although she wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer, she asked the question that seemed to be suffocating them both.
“My fiancé will be arriving from New York in another day or two and I’d like to surprise him by telling him that I’ve found a dress.
I don’t suppose you could put a rush order on the alterations and hope for the best?” she asked, hoping Nellie would ask for the name of her fiancé.

Nellie’s demeanor mysteriously changed; she looked confused but definitely happier about something she heard her say.
“Your fiancé is not in town?” she quizzed.

Katelyn realized that she had been right with her first assumption and started to put two and two together.
It was Brody that Nellie was looking at as they crossed the street and it was Brody she was interested in.
Katelyn wondered if Brody was even aware that he was being admired from afar.

“My future husband, I’m afraid, is tied up in New York on business.
I don’t think you would know him but you might have met him in passing; he’s been here on occasion to visit my brother, Kevin Donavan.
My fiancé is Gianfranco Broccolini.”
Nellie almost choked when she heard his name.

“Gianfranco Broccolini is getting married?
I’m very happy for you both.
Don’t get me wrong but I have to tell you I’m shocked by your news.
I actually met Gianfranco in Milan years ago.
He was at my first fashion show.
I believe he, indirectly, helped to launch my international brand.
He was there with a friend and let me tell you, he was very generous.
I think his investment in my clothes for that woman created a whirlwind of speculation from buyers all over the world.
They wanted what he wanted and he wanted plenty.”
Nellie exclaimed with excitement.

In her enthusiasm she hadn’t realized she hurt Katelyn by her revelation.
“I didn’t mean any disrespect when I said I was shocked that he was settling down.
I’m sure he was waiting for the right woman.”
Nellie led Katelyn to a room at the back of the store where she could try on the dresses she selected.

There were dresses everywhere and Nellie had a story for every piece she created.
She stopped at a rack of dresses in the center of the room and found what she had been searching for.
The sound of the zipper startled Katelyn, from her own thoughts.
She couldn’t help but wonder who the mystery friend was who accompanied Gianfranco to the fashion show.
Nellie took the dress out of its protective carrier and showed it to Katelyn.
This is the dress
.
She couldn’t believe her eyes; it was exactly as she had pictured it in her dreams.
The attention to detail was amazing.
She took the gown from Nellie and held it against her body.
As she looked at her reflection, she was almost brought to tears.

Nellie looked pleased with herself.
Nothing made her more excited than one of her designs on the right body and she knew Katelyn was meant to wear this dress.
“The dressing room is right over there.”
Nellie said pointing to the room behind them.

Without hesitation, Katelyn went and tried it on.
As she slid the gown down over her body, she stared shockingly at her reflection.
The gown was everything she’d hoped it would be.
The neckline of the gown showed cleavage that she only acquired after becoming a mother.
Fortunately, she had retained her some of her fuller breasts after giving birth.

Nellie joined her in the fitting room and saw the tears in Katelyn’s eyes.
They both stood silently staring at the image in the mirror and it was Nellie that broke the silence first.
“It was made for you.
When I designed that dress, I had no idea it would look as beautiful as it does on you.
You were meant to wear it,” she added with compassion.