She wasn’t any help. “Yes. It’s next Saturday. But I’m sure we could still sign Jana up. Why not?”
“Yes, why not, Daddy?” Jana’s eyes were wide and hopeful.
He smothered a groan.
“It won’t be anything worrisome,” Katherine put in. “I mean, some moms go over the top, dressing up their girls in makeup and fake tans and everything, but you don’t have to. It would just be for fun—wearing a pretty dress and modeling it across the stage.”
“Please, Daddy?” Jana twined her fingers together in a supplicating gesture.
There was no way he could disappoint her. Not now and not when she was asking for something so simple. “Okay. I guess it would be okay. But you’re not wearing any makeup or getting a fake tan or anything like that. You’re six, and you’re not going to dress like a grownup.”
Jana clearly didn’t mind this admonishment. She clapped her hands and squealed in excitement.
He was smiling, pleased he could make the girl happy, when Katherine said, “You’ll need to take her to Ariana’s shop this morning so she can get a pageant dress. I’m sure Ariana can find something pretty for her.”
Bradley gulped.
He’d just gotten his emotions under control again, and now they were going to be thrown into chaos again.
Too late now. His daughter needed a dress.
JANA INSISTED ON GOING to find a dress right away, and Bradley figured he might as well get it over with. Gayle was still in bed, and Katherine had offered to hang out with Ford at the bookstore, so he and Jana could go on their own. Maybe he’d get lucky and Ariana wouldn’t be there. Surely she couldn’t run the shop entirely on her own. Maybe she’d have staff there this morning and Bradley wouldn’t have to face her again.
No such luck. As soon as he and Jana stepped inside and the chime on the door went off, Ariana’s pretty, smiling face appeared from the back room.
She froze for a moment. Then her eyes shifted from him to Jana and back again. Her smile wavered just slightly, but she managed to say in a friendly tone, “Hi there! How can I help you?”
“I need a dress for the pageant,” Jana announced, all smiles as her eyes circled the shop, taking in all the fancy dresses displayed.
“Oh wow,” Ariana said, focused on Jana now. “Are you going to get to be in the Candy Cane Pageant?”
“Yes! My aunt called and got me signed up this morning, so now I need a dress. Do you think I can find one that fits?”
“I’m sure we can. And if it doesn’t fit just right, then I can alter it no problem. We might not have time for those specially designed ones though.” Her eyes cut back to Bradley’s face. “So I hope that’s not what you had in mind?”
Bradley had absolutely no clue about pageant dresses, but he couldn’t imagine Jana ever needing a dress at her age that would be specially designed. “We’re just looking for something simple and pretty,” he said. “It looks like you mostly do wedding stuff. Do you keep girls’ dresses?”
“Some. Not a whole lot, but there’s always a need for flower-girl dresses. Plus I stocked some extras because I knew this pageant was coming up. They haven’t all been bought. Let me show you what I’ve got.”
Ariana took them into the back, and Jana was clearly thrilled by the pretty, frilly dresses she was shown and by the fancy dressing rooms and velvet sofa and the pink punch in elegant glasses she was offered.
Ariana had relaxed as soon as she’d gotten to work, and she appeared to be her normal vibrant self as she chatted with Jana and sorted through dresses. Bradley didn’t have to say a lot. He wasn’t included all that much in the conversation—except to verify his approval of potential dresses—and so he could watch without pressure.
It was just last year that Ariana was naked in bed with him, touching him all over, making him feel better than he’d ever believed he could feel again. He could still remember the softness of her skin, the heat of her body, the way she’d shuddered all over as she’d come for him.
As soon as his mind drifted down that particular avenue, he put on his mental brakes immediately.
He couldn’t be thinking that way about Ariana. It wasn’t fair to Gayle, and it wasn’t fair to himself. What he’d had with Ariana was over, and his life was different now.
She still seemed to spill over with sunshine, like it was seeping out the edges of her being. In her eyes. In her smile. In her laughter. He tried not to see it. Tried not to revel in it. But it made something quake in his heart just the same.
He oohed and aahed over the little dresses Jana tried on, relieved that they were simple and age appropriate—pretty white gowns with wide sashes and skirts that made Jana want to twirl.
“This one is probably my favorite,” Ariana said, coming out with a red dress on a hanger. “It would be perfect for the pageant, and I think it would look really pretty on you. You want to try it on?”
Jana stared with big round eyes at the red dress with a full, fluffy skirt and sparkles on the chest. “It’s beautiful! Can I try it, Daddy?”
He nodded. “Sure you can. It looks really Christmas-y to me.”
Jana was giggling as she and Ariana disappeared into the dressing room. A few minutes later she came out.
It almost fit her—just a little loose up top. She looked like a winter fairy as she danced and twirled around and admired herself in the mirrors.
Bradley felt ridiculously touched as he watched her. She was so beautiful. And so happy. Celeste would have loved to see her this way.
“Can I get this one, Daddy? Please, please, please! It’s my favorite dress ever!”
“It just needs a few alterations,” Ariana said. “I can get those done in a couple of days.”
“Please, Daddy!”
“Of course you can have that one if that’s the one you want.”
“Do you want to look at the price tag first?” Ariana asked him. “It’s not exactly inexpensive.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. He’d have paid anything for the look on Jana’s face right now. “She can have it.”
Jana squealed and danced some more, and it was a few minutes before Ariana could get her still enough to pin the dress for the alterations that were needed. Bradley pulled out his credit card while Jana was changing back into her jeans and sweater, and his eyes did widen automatically when he saw the amount he owed.
“Told you,” Ariana murmured, flashing him a hint of a dimple.
“It’s fine. Outrageous, of course, but fine.” He shook his head as he glanced back toward the dressing room where he could still hear Jana giggling. “She’s so happy. Thanks for your help.”
“No problem. She’s special. I’m glad we found a dress she loves.”
Bradley shot her a quick look, but Ariana wasn’t even looking at him. She wasn’t trying to impress him or get on his good side. She hadn’t spoken for his benefit. She was just saying what she meant.
She’d always been like a breath of fresh air to him. Like sunshine and a crisp breeze. Evidently she still was.
“I’m ready, Daddy!” Jana called as she burst out of the dressing room. “Can we go tell Aunt Katherine about my dress?”