Page 49 of Honey Bee Library
Before I could ask him, Maddie pulled me to my feet and started to guide me to the front door. “I’ll have her back later,” she called over her shoulder.
“Sounds good,” Cole said.
I glanced back at him to see that he was still watching us.
I followed behind Maddie as she walked toward her car. The sun was beginning to set, the heat of the day going with it. I waited for Maddie to pull open the driver’s door. When I heard all the locks disengage, I grabbed the handle and pulled.
Once my seatbelt was buckled and the car had been started, Maddie pulled out of Cole’s driveway. I felt her glance over at me a few times. Not knowing what to do, I just smiled each time her gaze fell on me. I didn’t want her to think that I didn’t like her. That would be ridiculous. Maddie had been nothing but nice to me.
It was childish for me to be upset with a woman for dating a man I had no claim to. He had no desire to date me. I was the only one who couldn’t seem to get it through her head that Cole was not available.
“Everything going well?” Maddie asked as she clicked on her blinker and took a left out of Cole’s community.
Determined to be as nice to this woman as she was being to me, I nodded. “Yeah. Everything’s great.” I glanced over and gave her another forced smile.
Maddie nodded. “Good. I’m glad.” She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “So what is your style exactly?”
I glanced down at my faded jeans and discount store t-shirt. “Affordable?” I offered and then winced. Was that the wrong thing to say? Cole and Maddie lived in a completely different tax bracket than I did. I feared that I would be pushed into purchasing things I couldn’t afford just to fit in with those two.
“Comfortable?” Maddie offered.
I glanced over to see her smile at me. It was such a genuine smile that, for a moment, I hated myself for being so skeptical of these people. She was truly trying, and I was the one with a stick up her bum.
“Comfortable is right,” I said with a smile and a nod.
“Comfortable I can do.”
With this direction, Maddie turned her attention to the road and kept the conversation light as we drove through downtown Miami. She asked me questions about my childhood and my connection to the diner. She didn’t push me by asking questions about Harold, which I appreciated. I preferred to keep my failures in love to myself.
Fifteen minutes later, Maddie pulled up in front of a small boutique called, Citrine & Cashmere. She unbuckled her seatbelt as a man in a suit made his way toward the car, I realized that Maddie and I had completely different views on what comfortable meant. Never in my life had I gone to a store where there was a valet to park my car.
“Ready?” Maddie asked as she let her seatbelt retract and opened her door.
I took in a deep breath. “Yep,” I said as I followed after her.
The shop smelled like roses, and the lighting was as soft as the clothing looked. A beautiful woman with a harsh black ponytail and a suit that flowed like liquid gold approached us. Recognition passed over her face as she grasped Maddie’s hands and did the cheek kiss that all the French people do in the movies.
They talked for a moment in hushed tones before they both looked over at me. It was then that I realized they were talkingaboutme. Not sure what to do or how to join their conversation, I just gave them an awkward smile before I glanced around at the soft beige sweaters that were hanging next to me. I reached out and rubbed a sweater’s sleeve between my thumb and forefinger. It felt like touching butter.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” the shop woman said as she patted Maddie’s hand before approaching me. “No, no. This is not your color,” she said as she pulled the sweater from my hand and let it fall back in place. “Come with me.” She raised her hand and flicked her finger in a beckoning manner.
It was pointless to protest. I was here, and my ride home was currently making herself comfortable in a large oversized couch that ran parallel to the dressing rooms. I doubted she would be interested in hightailing it out of there. I was going to try on clothing with labels I couldn’t pronounce whether I wanted to or not.
I followed after Claudette—she’d thrown her name over her shoulder as we made our way through the shop—and watched her pick up item after item. Most of them I wouldn’t be caught dead in. But there were a few that looked decent enough.
Thirty minutes later, I found a few outfits. I felt bad for doubting Claudette. Even though I would have never voluntarily set foot in this place, I was glad I’d trusted the process. That woman seemed to know the exact styles and colors that looked amazing on me.
Maddie was just as enthused as I was every time I stepped out of the dressing room and up onto the pedestal surrounded by mirrors. She cheered and clasped her hands, declaring thatthisoutfit was the best one yet.
She had a way of making me feel amazing in just about anything.
While I was in the middle of changing out of a gingham midi dress, I heard a phone ring. Maddie declared that it was Cole, and my heart sank. For a moment, I’d forgotten who Maddie was, why I was here in Florida, and the man I would never have—though I still wasn’t sure I even wanted him like that. He belonged to Maddie, which was evident from the fact that he was calling her and not me.
“Idiot,” I whispered under my breath as I turned away from the mirror and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. I needed to get my head on straight. At some point, I was going to leave Miami, and Cole was going to leave Harmony. There was no future inus.
“Oh, yeah?” Maddie’s voice carried over the dressing room door, and I paused in an effort to hear more of the conversation. “A dress?” Pause. “I think we can do that.”
A dress? For who? Me or Maddie? Was this going to turn into a joint shopping trip where I was going to have to have the same enthusiasm for Maddie’s outfits that she had for mine? I was a decent liar, but I wasn’t that good.
