Page 14 of It Started with a Sunset
Summer was telling the shop owner that she wanted to try the dress on, and the shop owner was telling her how it was the perfect shade of yellow for her and how much it was going to bring out the undertones in her blonde hair. And then Summer was back in the dressing rooms trying it on, and he was standing near them with two overfilled Taheny’s carts that seemed so out of place among all the formalwear.
Then Summer came out of the dressing room wearing the dress and he stopped breathing. He was so used to seeing her in a Welcome Center polo and jeans that seeing her wear something so fancy was so foreign to him. She looked incredible. Beyond incredible—he didn’t even have a word for it.
The shop owner led her to the small stand in front of the wall of mirrors that had some angled at the sides so she could see more of the dress. From where he stood, he could see how it looked on her from all angles. He’d figured out how to breathe again, but he was still gaping. And, if he was being honest, imagining actually being at a ball, dressed in a tux, dancing with Summer. He knew that mental image wasn’t going to be leaving him anytime soon.
The shop owner was cooing and telling Summer how beautiful she was and he couldn’t agree more, even though it wasn’t out loud—he might have figured out how to breathe, but he hadn’t figured out how to speak again yet.
Summer lifted the dress as she stepped off the small stand, and he breathed a chuckle as he saw her gray and teal canvas sneakers. The one time she was actually wearing sensible shoes, and it was also the time when she was wearing a formal gown.
“So,” the shop owner asked, “do you have a special event coming up?”
Summer glanced at Brock, a sly smile on her lips. “No, more like everyday occasions.”
The shop owner looked understandably confused.
“But I love it, and I want to buy it.”
Now he and the shop owner were both shocked. She recovered first. “Well, okay, if you would like to head in and change, I’ll start ringing this up.”
But, surprising them both further, Summer shook her head. “I’d like to wear it out of the store, please.”
Brock reached up and rubbed his forehead. But Summer was giving him a smile so brilliant that he couldn’t help but smile, too.
He still loved rules, plans, and things going according to plans. But her spontaneity was growing on him just a little bit. It was adding something to his life that he’d never known he was missing.
Before long, they were back to walking down the sidewalk, pushing their carts overflowing with an abundance of pool noodles and carrying a Best Dressed bag filled with Summer’s Welcome Center polo and jeans, with Summer wearing a fluffy yellow ball gown and a smile as bright as the sun.
Okay, he could see that everything to do with this ball gown was in reaction to him being too rigid.
Noted.
Chapter Seven
Summer
Summer had walked through the gap in the half wall that separated the Welcome Center offices from the Admissions offices and was sitting in a chair next to Avery’s desk. A student had come in for a campus tour earlier and had some unusual admissions questions since they were currently a foreign exchange student, and Summer told her that she’d look into them. And, of course, Avery had all the answers and even typed them up in an email for her.
“We hosted a foreign exchange student once,” Avery said.
“Oh yeah?”
Avery nodded. “Nikolas Servais. He was from Belgium.”
“Look at how dreamily you said his name!”
“I had such a crush on him back then. We still keep in touch, but I haven’t chatted with him in a while. He really was the sweetest boy. Still is. I’m pretty sure he has a girlfriend now, but he said that his grandpa has small flats in both Bruges and Brussels that he only uses for when he’s there on business once or twice a month, and that I could stay there if I visited and he’d show me around.”
“Thatissuper sweet! You should take him up on it.”
But Avery turned back to her work, needlessly organizing the things on her desk. “It’s too far. And I haven’t actually seen him in years.”
“So? If he’s so sweet, that won’t matter.”
Avery just shrugged.
A timer sounded on Summer’s phone and she smiled, turning it off and going into her texting app. “I was shopping with Brock for some supplies for Aquamoose Tracks on Monday, and he was being his usual rule-follower self and said I shouldn’t buy a ball gown we saw in Best Dressed’s window because I didn’t have anywhere to wear it.”
Avery gave an exaggerated gasp and joked, “Doesn’t he know you well enough to know you don’t like being told what to do?”
