Page 3 of Dress Rescue
2
Ellis
“How was school?”
I’m sitting at my dining room table with my daughter, Tammy. Her phone is in her hand. For all intent and purposes, she might as well be on another planet.
“Yeah,” she says.
“I hear your principal has renamed himself Prince P’chi-chip and now walks around with a crown and demanding people kiss his ring.”
“Uh-huh.”
She forks a bit of salad into her mouth. Her thumb still scrolling down the screen on her phone. Watching TikToks or talking in a message group or doing whatever the heck it is people her age do all day on their phones.
“Your mom says that you’ve decided that when you go to college, you never want any financial help from either of us. That the moment you turn eighteen you want to become completely self-reliant. No loans. No rides. You’ll even pay me for all the food you eat and the water you use during your forty-five-minute showers.”
“Yup.” She keeps looking at her phone, and then something clicks. “Wait,” she says. “What did you just say?”
I smile. It’s good to know she listens. Kind of.
“I was just asking if you’re excited about prom?”
“I guess.” She immediately goes back to looking at her phone. It’s as if I no longer exist.
For a few minutes, I just sit and eat my food. It’s kind of nice. To have a moment of quiet. Peace. Even if I would rather be spending quality time with my daughter.
And thenmyphone rings.
I don’t recognize the number. But it’s local.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Hey, it’s Sara,” the voice says. “From the dry cleaners. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
I get up from the table and sneak off into another room. Sometimes it’s good to have a daughter who thinks you’re invisible.
“Hey, Sara.” I can’t help but remember her chocolate brown eyes and the curvy, sensual shape of her hips. It’s been etched into my mind all day. “Thanks for calling back so soon.”
“Why don’t you wait to thank me until after you find out what I’ve got to say.” I can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s a bit nervous. In my mind, she’s sitting behind a desk, chewing on a pen. Tapping her finger against her leg. “I’ve got some bad news and some good news. Which do you want to hear first?”
I think about it for a moment. “Good news,” I say.
“Okay.” She lets out a deep breath. “I’ve managed to track down the company who made the dress, and they think they’ve got a replacement.”
“That’s amazing!” I do a little happy dance. Swing my head from side to side in celebration.
“Not so fast, big guy,” Sara says.
“The bad news?” I say.
“That’s right. The company is about five hundred miles away from here. It’s run by an old, mean woman. She told me she has a dress in stock, but it’s not exactly a retail store. It’s a wholesaler. And I can’t guarantee they’ll sell it to you even if you drive all the way out there. She’s kind of like that. If she takes a disliking to you - and she hates pretty much everyone - then you’re screwed.”
I squeeze the bridge of my nose. This is all I need. Some cantankerous old bitch ruining everything when I’m so close to victory.
“What about if you came with me?” I ask. “She clearly likes you, otherwise she wouldn’t have told you about the dress?”
“I dunno,” Sara says, “I can’t just drop everything and go on a road trip with you.”
