***
Friday night at the appointed hour, I showed up on Kelly’s doorstep ready to do some serious shopping. She met me at the door, and we were off to hit the best of the best dress shops in town. Mom had been only too happy and excited to watch Sam for me. In fact, she had practically pushed me out the door. I looked over at Kelly as we walked along Bay Street, “I needed this.”
Kelly looked over at me. “Needed what?”
I smiled and threw my arms open wide to encompass everything. “All of this, an afternoon walk, a friend, a shopping trip, a new dress, a party...” I looked over at her, “Something to hope for.”
Kelly looked at me with knowing eyes, “Just what are you hoping for?”
I briefly closed my eyes to gather my courage and pull it out of myself, “A happy ending.”
Kelly bounced along beside me. “And just who are you hoping for this happy ending with, may I ask?”
I looked over at her and rolled my eyes. “You already know. It’s Heath. How could it not be?”
Kelly stopped in the park square and looked at me. “Miranda, is he the one?’
I nodded. “Yes. I felt it in my heart every time he has walked into my life over the years, and when we finally kissed, I knew. But how can I feel this way for a man who might be a murderer?”
Kelly threw her arm around my shoulder, and we began to walk again. “Miranda, I’ve been thinking about your dream, and I believe I have the answer to that question. I think I can safely say, there is no way Heath can really be a murderer.”
“How can you possibly know that? Please don’t say that Jacob told you in a dream?”
Kelly looked at me sadly, “I wish I could tell you that I had dreamed of him, but I have not seen him since that last dream. No, I don’t believe that Heath Brandon is a killer for a couple of reasons. You might like them, or you might not.”
She stopped as if waiting for my acquiescence to continue. “Well, go on! I want to hear whatever it is you have to say because right now I will take about any encouragement that I can scrounge up!”
“Okay, first reason: I don’t believe you are the kind of person who could love someone who was evil. Don’t roll your eyes at me. I’ve only known you a short time, granted, but you can read people very well. You do it all the time. You feel or see whatever a person needs, and you give it to them.”
I paused and thought about what she was saying. “I’ve always just considered that a part of knowing a person I care about, nothing special.”
Kelly rolled her eyes at me. “Believe me, it is special, and even if it wasn’t, you just said it yourself. You can read people you care about and you care about Heath, so what do you feel about him?’
We had arrived at Maggie’s, a wonderful hip clothing store with to die for dresses on the east end of Bay Street. I stopped outside, and we looked into the storefront window at the dresses on display. Kelly’s eye zapped right away to an emerald green little number that would probably look great on her. I, however, was thinking about her question. As she opened the door and we entered, I answered her, “I feel that he is a good man. Beyond that I don’t know, but I know he would not hurt me or Sam in anyway. I believe he loves us.”
Kelly paused in her dash to grab the green dress and turned to me, “Then there you go, darling. That’s all you need to know, and we didn’t need to go to reason number two. Now let’s go grab some great dresses!”
I laughed as she grabbed her dress and headed for the dressing rooms at the back. Suddenly, I was feeling as light as air and as happy as a clam. That happiness filled up all the dark spaces from these last few weeks, and miraculously, I heard laughter bubble out of me as I looked around the shop for just the right dress.
After looking over rack after rack of dresses and finding nothing that seemed just right, the sales lady sauntered over and offered me some help. “I see you’re having some trouble deciding on a dress. Would you like some help?”
I smiled at her, “Yes, please. I’m going to a charity ball tomorrow night, and I want to look hot.”
The saleswoman’s laughter tinkled out. She eyed my body with a scrutiny that worried me a little. Then she tapped her bright red lips with her perfectly manicured index finger. “I’ve got just the right thing for you. We just got this dress in; in fact, it’s still in the backroom.” Then she dashed off; I assumed to the back room.
I looked around the shop while she was gone certain that I could find just the right thing. After all, who could pick out a better dress for me than well me? But then she came back with a dress that had my mouth dropping open. “That’s gorgeous!” It was a floor length number done in grey with silver threads running throughout in a pattern that shimmered like moon light on the ocean waves. I touched it, and it ran through my fingers like water..I looked at her with questioning eyes, “Silk?”
The saleswoman just smiled a mischievous smile. “Yes, ma’am. This will hug your curves like a lover.” And then she turned the dress around and showed me the back or rather the lack of a back.
I let out a shaky breath. “I don’t think I can pull this dress off.”
She winked at me. “With a body like that, this dress was made for you. Go try it on in the back; then tell me what you think.”
She handed me the dress and ushered me into a dressing room in the back. I hung the dress on the hook and stared at myself in the mirror. Do I really have the body for this dress? I looked at myself standing there in jeans and a tank top, and I did not believe it. But, the saleswoman seemed so sure.
“What the hell, if I look ridiculous, there is no one else here to see it.” I stripped off my shoes, socks, pants, tank top, and then chucked caution to the wind and slipped off my bra too. I stood there in front of the floor length mirror in only my panties and looked at myself. Then I grabbed the dress and slowly slid it on. It fit like a glove. Every inch of my skin felt smoother, sexier against the brush of the silk dress. I raised my eyes to look at my reflection, and I was too stunned for words. I looked more beautiful than I thought possible. The dress looked like it was made for me, the way it settled on my body. I turned to look at the back of the dress, and I was transfixed at the way the lack of material made my back look long, lean, and sexy as it invited a lover to run his hands down my bare flesh and, maybe if he was wicked, under the line of material that began at the sensitive part of my lower back. The idea of it made my skin heat and my body tingle. Yes, this was the dress!
I pulled it off and changed back into my clothes, the clothes that hid my perfect body from the view of the world at large. I could not believe this revelation. I was hot….not just pretty, but truly HOT!!
I stepped out of the dressing room to find Kelly and the saleswoman waiting for me. I smiled like the cat that got the cream. “You were right; this dress is perfect.”
She nodded and took the hanger from me. “I’ll take this up to the register for you. Feel free to browse around until you are ready to check out”.
Then it was just Kelly and me. “Did your green dress look great?” I asked.
“Of course, I looked completely hot and totally untouchable, which is just the look I was going for.”
I laughed; of course, she wanted untouchable. “How about you?” she pressed.
I gave her my sauciest look. “I looked completely sexy and totally touchable for the right man exactly the look that I was going for.”
We laughed together and poked around the store some more. Kelly picked up a new bra and a pretty little sun dress, and I picked out three more dresses and some lovely lingerie to go with these new curves and desires. After our evening of shopping and gossip, I was ready to go after what I wanted or rather who I wanted.
As I was leaving that night, getting into my car, I paused. Kelly had never given me her reason number two about Heath. Even though I didn’t need it anymore, I still really wanted to hear her ideas.
I called out, “Kelly,” to stop
her from getting into her own car.
She turned around, “Yeah?”
“What was reason number 2?”
She looked confused. “Huh?”
I laughed at her. “Kelly, come on. Reason Number 2 on why Heath is not a murderer.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Well, do you think Cara would have gone to all of this supernatural trouble to hook you up with a bad guy?”
“Huh?” Now it was my turn to be clueless.
“Oh come on, Miranda, haven’t you figured it out yet? Everything about those letters, the dreams, the story of Cara and Douglas, even the way they look like the two of you tells me that you and Heath are supposed to be together. Cara knows it. Douglas knows it. Jacob and Claire know it, and frankly that’s good enough for me.”
I stood there with my mouth hanging open; this happened to me a lot lately. “Well, I’ll be damned.” To Kelly, I just waved and called out, “Thanks, Have a good night.” And then we both got into our cars and headed out.