“Yes, I remember,” I replied flatly. “We all remember. You broke down crying in the middle of the ice cream shop when your cone started to melt.”
“Hey! I wasn’t crying because it was melting. I was crying because they’d run out of toffee crunch. I had to get caramel swirl instead and it did not taste the same. No matter what that stupid kid behind the counter claimed,” she finished on a grumble.
“You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?”
“Meh.” She shrugged like it was no big deal before narrowing her eyes and tilting her head to the side in concentration. “You know what? Now that I’m thinking about it, there’s a strong possibility I might have gotten that dress from the junior section.”
“Argh!” I began clawing at the material around my ribs, feeling like I was slowly being squeezed to death by an anaconda. “Just help me get this thing off. I’m starting to lose feeling in my fingers and toes.”
It took the two of us, an act of God, and a pair of scissors, but five minutes later, I was free and filling my lungs with some much-needed oxygen.
“Thank you,” I breathed, shaking out my arms so blood would start flowing back to them. “You didn’t happen to bring any grownup clothes, did you?”
She hummed pensively and started flipping through hangers, assessing and discarding dresses before she finally held one up with a triumphant, “Aha! Here. Try this on. I think it’ll work.”
I slipped the spaghetti straps off the hanger and pulled the dress on. The silk was the color of red clay, the neckline dipping into a V that showed a hint of cleavage, but not so much that I’d be uncomfortable. The bodice was loose, cinching high on my waist with a faux knot, and the wrap skirt hit just below my knees, with a split in front that made it flow as I walked, giving a nice peek at my legs.
The zipper in the back went up without any trouble, and the best part, I could actually breathe in this one.
“Why the hell didn’t you just start with this one?” I chastised as I moved back to my bathroom so I could get a better look. I had to admit, I kind of loved the dress. It fit perfectly, was demure but still sexy, and the color looked great with my lightly tanned skin and long blonde hair. Plus, it made my light brown eyes pop. Tali didn’t know it yet, but I wasn’t giving it back. The dress was mine forever and ever.
“I just grabbed a bunch of stuff out of my closet when you called. I didn’t even know what all I brought,” she called back.
I gave my hair one last fluff, combing my fingers through the beachy curls, before flipping off the bathroom light and stepping back out into my room to find Tali on her knees with her top half buried deep in my closet.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding you some shoes,” she answered. There was more shuffling around. I had to duck to avoid being hit in the head by a Chuck Taylor. Then finally, she announced, “Got ’em!” She crawled backward until she was free of the dark confines of my crammed closet.
Resting back on her haunches, she held up a pair of strappy bronze stilettos with a smile. “These’ll look killer with that dress.”
I took them from her hands and slid them on my feet. Sure enough, they looked great. Grabbing her hands, I pulled her off my bedroom floor and, together, we moved to my dresser to rummage through my jewelry drawer.
“I miss dating,” she lamented wistfully as she clasped a long, delicate gold chain around my neck.
“Yeah, well, I’d gladly trade places with you if I could, but stupid Layla already texted my picture to the guy I’m supposed to meet tonight.”
My girls hadn’t hesitated to put their plan to get me back on the dating wagon into action once I’d given them the go-ahead. The day after that fateful conversation in the dressing room, I’d gotten a call from Layla informing me she’d talked to Clark, my blind date, and everything had been set without me having to lift a finger—without my knowledge.
“Who is this guy again?” Tali asked as she pulled out a chunky ring I’d gotten on a whim because it looked like the one Cersei Lannister wore all the time on Game of Thrones and held it up for inspection before passing it to me.
I slid it into place on my middle finger while answering, “I think he’s an accountant or something? She said he does her taxes. I don’t have high hopes for tonight.”
“Hey, accountants can be good-looking.”
I turned back to her with a quirked brow. “Yeah? Name one hot accountant.”
She looked up and to the side as the seconds ticked by. “Oh! I have one. What about that guy from Nick’s firm? The one I introduced you to at the Christmas party we hosted a couple years back? He was cute.”
“Wasn’t he fired for embezzling?”
She looked at me with befuddlement. “So?”
My mouth gaped open. “He’s in jail right now, Tali!”
“He was still cute,” she stated firmly, pointing her finger like that just won her the argument. “And anyway, cute or not, at least you’re getting out and spending time with adults. I’d kill to have a conversation with someone over the age of twelve.”
My issues and unhappiness with my blind date instantly moved to the back burner when I turned to look at my sister, concern flooding my chest. I knew her almost as well as I knew myself. She was doing her best to hide it, but I could see the pain and sadness beneath the mask she’d superglued into place.
“You and Nick could go on a date. I’ll watch the kids so you two can have a nice night.” I offered up a smile. “We can have a sleepover at Aunt Marin’s house. They’d love that.”
Tali let out a snort and plopped down on the edge of my bed, clasping her hands between her knees. “Please. Like he’d take enough time off work to come home and take me on a date.” She laughed derisively and shook her head. “The only reason I was able to come over here was because Erika’s at the movies with some friends and Matty’s staying the night at his friend’s house.”
“Oh, Tali,” I said softly as I moved to the bed to sit next to her. “Maybe you should try talking to him. Let him know you and the kids are feeling neglected.”
She blew a puff of air past her lips and gave her head a shake. “There’s no point, Mar. It’s like talking to a brick wall.”
I wanted so badly to make things better for my big sister, but before I could say another word, she’d slid that mask right back into place, clapping her hands together and declaring, “Enough with this sad sack stuff. You have a date you need to get to. Stand up so I can do one last check.”
I pushed to my feet and moved to stand in front of her, holding my arms out as I did a little spin.
“Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Good. No deodorant streaks, no panty lines, no double boob from your strapless bra sliding out of place. I think you’re good to go, sweetie.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Thanks for the inspection.”
She pushed off the bed and reached for her purse, hooking it on her shoulder. “Go into this with an open mind, would you? Try having a little fun. One of us should, and if it can’t be me, then it’s your job to allow me to live vicariously through you.”
“Wow,” I deadpanned. “No pressure or anything.”