Page 56 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
“Oliver is Dani’s brother,” Jonah said as if being snapped out of his thoughts. “He’s a good friend, really business savvy. He mentioned the bookstore was for sale. I think he might have some ideas on how to make a bookstore profitable.”
“I think you should do it.” Bronte bobbed her head in a curt nod. “Call Oliver. See what he can tell you. Besides, it might be good if you had a somewhat solid plan in place before you talk to your dad.”
“You know, you might be on to something,” Jonah said, turning them to head back in the direction of home, but not before looking over his shoulder one more time at the sleeping shop. Bronte could see the spark of a dream firing in his chest, and the wall that surrounded her heart started to crumble.
ChapterThirteen
DateDecember 24
Days until Deadline11
Words to be written73,894
Bronte was a fish out of water. She shouldn’t have come. She should have said she had to write words and didn’t have time to meet everyone for the “getting ready” party. Which wouldn’t have been a lie. There were so many sequins and tulle in this room, it was getting hard to breathe.
“Doing okay? Completely overwhelmed yet?” Dani asked, coming to stand next to Bronte and handing her a champagne glass filled with sparkling juice.
“This is…a lot.” Bronte had to be honest. She was pretty sure the panic was written all over her face, and if she lied, she knew Dani would call her out on it.
Dani’s living room had been transformed into what Bronte imagined one of those high-end boutiques would look like, only this one had more laughter and a lot more cheese. Pop Christmas music played low, and wood floors creaked as the group of women perused through all the dresses that had taken over every available surface in the room. Scents of yeast and oregano from the pizzeria below blended with the aroma of floral candles Dani had burning.
“We’re a lot, but I promise you you’ll have fun. If you’re hungry, there’s a couple of charcuterie boards over there and lots of pizza. And there’s plenty of sparkling juice and water in the kitchen if you need it. Please make yourself at home.” Dani patted Bronte on the arm, crossed the room, and browsed through a rack.
Bronte nodded, not sure if she believed Dani. Part of her wished she’d just insisted on picking up a dress from Jordi, whatever she had picked out for her, but she’d gotten excited when she’d heard about the getting ready party. Now that she was here, she was wondering why she’d thought it sounded fun.
“Come over and pick out some dresses.” Mia waved Bronte across the room to two racks that could hardly contain the dresses they held. Mia pointed to a few more dresses strewn on the back of the couch. At least, Bronte thought it was the couch. She wasn’t entirely sure.
“These are up for grabs as well. They just couldn’t fit on the rack.”
Bronte nodded, sipping her juice as she stepped back against the wall to take everything in.
Jordi had said that it was just going to be her, Dani, Mia, Lily, and someone Bronte hadn’t met yet named Sadie, but there were at least three other girls that Bronte didn’t know. Introductions had been made, but it seemed as if the information had gone in one ear and out the other. Everyone had brought multiple dresses—Dani explained it was so they could all pick and choose from each other’s closets. This way they felt like they were getting something new while not actually breaking the bank. Bronte felt bad she didn’t have anything to contribute. Not that she would have actually had anything to contribute, even if her entire wardrobe were here—just her one sad black dress, still hanging in her closet in Oklahoma.
Jordi stood next to Bronte with a plate of pizza, grease soaking into the paper. “Isn’t this just great?”
Bronte looked at Jordi over her shoulder, just to make sure she was talking to her. Bronte thought she’d done it discreetly, but Jordi grinned and kept on talking.
“I’m so glad we decided to do this this year. No one really thought this would happen again. When the hotel burned and everyone started leaving, it looked pretty dark, but now Dani has taken over with her plan and really turned everything around. Do you know which dress you want to wear yet?”
Bronte felt like she was watching a one-sided ping-pong match where one player was running between both sides of the table to hit the ball. It took her a breath to realize Jordi had asked her a question. “I haven’t had a chance to look through them yet. I thought I’d let everyone else choose first.”
“And get the last choice? No way. You need to get in there and pick out your dress.”
“No, really, it’s okay.” Bronte waved her away.
“You know what? I think I saw the perfect dress for you. Here, hold this.” Jordi handed Bronte her soggy plate of pizza, wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, and disappeared across the room. Bronte was curious to see what kind of dress Jordi thought was perfect for her.
She didn’t have to wait long. Jordi appeared moments later, clutching a black floor-length dress with gold swirls sewn into the front. The sleeves were long and the neck high, but with the back open, it was a timeless dress.
It was perfect.
Bronte couldn’t stop her grin. “I love it.”
“I knew you would.” Jordi’s grin matched her own. “And we can pile your hair up high, which will make you look so long and elegant.” Jordi squealed. “Oh my goodness, it’s going to look so good!”
“So does this mean you found your dress?” Dani asked, coming up to them, a pitcher of more sparkling drink in her hands. She lifted it in question to Bronte, who shook her head.
“I picked this one out for her. Isn’t it perfect?” Jordi asked, holding up the dress for Dani’s inspection.
