Chapter 109
The next morning, Mr. Chevalier called Lily and informed her that the case was being dropped. Lily gladly offered me my job back and asked me to start working again immediately. It warmed my heart to know that she needed me so badly.
The day after that, I was getting dressed for work, adding a belt to my dress to accentuate my waist, when Andrew wrapped his arms around me. He tucked his head into the crook of my neck and planted a kiss on my cheek. I grinned broadly and placed my hands on his arms.
I could definitely get used to spending all my time with him.
“How does it feel, having your job back?” he asked, nuzzling his nose against my ear.
“Like everything is finally falling into place.”
I turned around in Andrew’s arms and kissed him on the lips.
“Even if you can’t get your revenge on Bob?” he asked as we pulled away.
“I haven’t quite given up on that yet,” I replied. “I still have Mr. Brown’s recording and whatever evidence Noah has—”
“If Noah is still willing to work the case.”
I cringed.
“Yes, if Noah is still willing to work the case.”
I brushed some imaginary lint off of Andrew’s collar, trying to think of how to say what was on my mind.
“I know that it seems petty, especially in light of Mr. Brown’s murder, but I have to see that case through,” I continued. “That company meant a lot to me. I want the truth about what happened to it to come out, once and for all.”
Andrew cupped my face in his hand and ran his thumb over my cheek.
“I know that you do,” he said, “and you deserve justice. I just don’t want something to happen to you in the process.”
I thought about all the close calls that had already occurred. Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe it was too great a risk.
But I was too close to give up now, and with everything that Bob had done, he didn’t deserve a happy ending.
I grabbed his hand and brought it to my lips, gently kissing the knuckles.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”
I approached the front door of Ever After Weddings’ bridal shop with butterflies in my stomach. My hand froze on the handle.
Could I really handle returning to work after such public accusations against me? Even if Lily and my colleagues welcomed me back, that didn’t guarantee that our clients would. The papers didn’t mention anything about the evidence that the prosecution had found against me, but the fact that I had been arrested at all could be enough to turn our customers against me…
I shook those thoughts out of my head. Surely, most of my colleagues would back me up and convince our clients to see that I was innocent. They knew the kind of person that I was.
I took a deep breath and pulled open the door.
Everyone in the shop turned their heads towards me. I smiled slightly, though it was uncomfortable.
“Hi, everyone,” I said.
No one responded. Even Terri, who was working at the counter again, did not say anything. Instead, everyone returned to their work, most people leaving the front of the store as quickly as they could.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I shrugged and went behind the counter. Terri leaned forward, seemingly trying to not even be touched by me.
I furrowed my brow and pursed my lips but tried to not take what she did personally. She was probably in a bad mood, was all.
I took out the folders for my weddings, placing Lisa and Bob’s on top, and went to take a seat. Dave was already sitting at the table, but I figured that we could share it so long as neither of us spread out too far.
As soon as I sat down, Dave scooped up his folders and left the room. I watched after him, my mouth agape. Once he was gone, I turned around to face Terri.
“What was that?” I asked.
Terri shrugged but did not speak or look up at me.
“While I’m at it, why is nobody talking to me?”
Again, Terri only shrugged. My nails dug into the back of my chair.
“Terri, say something to me or so help me Moon Goddess—”
“Okay, okay, just calm down,” Terri said, holding her hands out as though to placate me. “I guess that everyone is a bit nervous around you, is all.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. In the back of my mind, I knew what she was talking about, but I didn’t want to admit to myself what was going on.
“What are you talking about?”
“I…well, not everyone here believes that you are innocent in the John Brown murder case,” Terri responded, whispering towards the end.
“So, you think that I could have done it?”
“Some of us around here think that, yes.”
Terri still would not meet my gaze. That was all the proof that I needed to know that she was included in that “us”.
“I would never hurt anyone, especially not any of you guys,” I said, my tone begging her to believe me. “You have to know that.”
Terri glanced at me momentarily.
“No, I don’t know that.”
Terri’s attention returned to her work. My heart heavy, I faced my binders and threw myself into my work as well.
I ate dinner at the mansion with Andrew that night. Not a word passed between us. Although a comfortable silence often fell when we spent time together, something dark and upsetting clouded this evening.
Andrew must have felt it as well. While we ate our strawberry shortcake, he cleared his throat to catch my attention.
“Yes?” I asked, dabbing the corner of my mouth with a cloth napkin.
“Is everything all right?” he asked. “You’re very quiet tonight.”
“I’m fine. I just don’t feel like talking.”
“Are you sure?” Andrew reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “You know you can tell me anything.”
Yes, and you’ll try to fix it, I thought. You can’t fix everything for me. No matter how tempting it is.
I squeezed his hand and ran my thumb over his knuckles.
“I’m sure. I had a bit of a bad day, that’s all.”
“And you don’t want to talk about it?”
His eyes implored me to speak to him, to tell him everything that was on my mind. My heart broke at the sight. I trusted him more than anyone I had in my life, but I could not have him interfering with every aspect of it.
“Not right now.”
He seemed about to push the subject, but instead, he nodded.
“All right. Please, just promise me that you will tell me if it gets really bad.”
I brought his hand to my face and caressed it with my cheek.
“I promise.”
We returned to eating. I tried to smile at Andrew and talk to him more the rest of the night, but there was no fooling either of us. A sadness grew in the pit of my stomach, and soon, it would reach my heart.
