True Gift (An Anya Maynard Novella)

Chapter Five

   “Well good,” Maddie huffed as she began on the couple of dozen satin buttons on the back of my dress, “I’m glad, otherwise this all would have been pointless.”

   “It might be anyway Maddie,” I said as I fiddled nervously with the bow at my waist, “I told myself that that was it, that I would give myself to him then. But when he reached for me, when his touch slipped down…” I sighed and dropped the bow, “I chickened out…again.”

   “Again, good, that way I didn’t waste my money on this lingerie,” she said as she tugged at the corset she swore you couldn’t see through my dress.

   “You mean her money?” Jess shouted from the bathroom where she was finally beginning to unwind the curlers she had had in her hair all day.

   “As a matter of fact it wasn’t,” Maddie shouted over my shoulder to Jess, completely offended, “besides the fact that I do have my own money, Steve loaned me a couple hundred to buy my dress,” she shrugged, “I had plenty left over.”

   Because unlike Jess and me who bought our dresses from the specialty store, and as such nearly made me faint when I saw the bill, Maddie picked hers off the rack at the Macy’s. And it was surprisingly appropriate for her appeared age. The gold dress was light and frilly, hanging just about to her knees, with a glittery shrug to cover her arms from the chill.  She even pinned a gold bow in her rusty hair adding to what she said was her cuteness factor.

   “Well then my apologies,” Jess said dryly as she came back in the room, tossing her robe on the bed and unzipping her garment bag, “but I still can’t believe you talked to Maddie first about this and not me.”

   I grimaced, “I know Jess, and I’m still sorry I didn’t, but I didn’t want to bring up bad memories.”

   “They weren’t all bad,” she shook her head, “I can see that now…it was only at the end…”

   She drifted off, and I knew exactly where her gaze went to. To a past that wasn’t long gone enough for anyone to move on from no matter what she said.

   “Not to mention you’re just as big of a prude as this one,” Maddie mumbled as she finished the last of the buttons.

   Jess shot an angry look at Maddie, “I heard that.”

   Which, I had a feeling, Maddie had intended. Jess may have the same mixed wolf blood as me, but the wolf in her was dormant, so no enhanced senses. Which meant it was simple human ears that picked that up.

   I shook my head at the both of them and swished my way over to my shoes, shoes that matched the deep green dress I was wearing, a dress everyone- even the other women shopping that night- had insisted I needed to get. Even if I didn’t want it or felt completely ridiculous in it.

   I had picked out this simple black dress, no bows or other glittery embellishments, just –what I was told- was the little black dress. But Jess happened across this one, with its a-line shape and corseted top covered in rhinestones. She fell in love with it, but they didn’t have it in her size so she insisted I try it on. And, to my disappointment, it fit perfectly. It was too much for a simple Christmas party to me, but Jess contended it wasn’t, that this was the highlight of the year for the town and everyone would be dressed to the nines. When I told her I didn’t believe her she reminded me about the tux I had picked up for Connor.

   But even so, it didn’t even have sleeves- just these wispy chiffon…scarves that fell over my arms- and it was winter, which meant cold outside. But the saleswoman remedied that quick enough, offering me a cashmere shawl and elbow length dinner gloves to go with the dress.