Chapter 139

“Okay,” Yena said, “jacket’s done. You should have it pressed before you wear it, of course, but besides that you’re all set.”

Tina pushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear and stood, collecting some spent dishes from the table and hurrying over to the sink.

“Thank you, again. Both of you.” Nolan stood and wiped his hands on a napkin but was still hesitant to touch the pristine jacket afterward.

“I’ll go put it in a garment bag.” Yena smiled up at him. “Bathroom’s there if you want to wash up.”

Nolan glanced over at Tina, but the woman still had her back turned to them, sorting dirty dishes in the kitchen sink busily.

The little washroom on the main floor of Yena’s family home was, perhaps, the smallest room Nolan had ever wedged himself inside of. He washed his hands quickly, unable to keep his mind from spinning on what Tina had just said to him.

“Don’t let her go.”

She had repeated the exact words his wolf had been saying to him in the seconds before Evan interrupted his moment with Yena… when she had put her hand to the center of his chest, and their heartbeats fell into sync with each other’s…

Nolan found Yena and her mother together in the dining room as he moved back through the house. They were speaking in hushed tones, but Nolan’s hearing was very acute and he heard every word of their conversation.

Tina was asking if Yena was alright. Yena was quietly insisting that she was.

He cleared his throat as he crossed the threshold into the room, announcing himself. “Thank you again for the delicious breakfast, Tina. I am sorry to eat and run, but I must be going now.” Nolan’s eyes moved to Yena. “And I can’t thank you enough, Yena, for this gift.”

She gave him the jacket and walked him to the door, stopping in the doorway as Nolan paced forward on the deck. He paused halfway down the steps, turning back to look at Yena when they were at eye level.

“Goodbye, Yena,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

Her mouth moved into a sad smile. “Bye, Nolan.”

YENA

A dull ache was running through every muscle in my body. I watched Nolan cross the path through the front yard in a few long strides. He slipped into the back of the waiting limousine quickly without looking back.

I don’t remember walking out the front door. Next thing I knew I was at the bottom of the steps, watching the car grow smaller as it rolled down the street and vanished around a corner.

Lily was trying to break through, pressing at me from under my skin, wanting to take over and go running after him.

I steadied my hands on the railing and climbed back up the steps, my legs feeling heavy like they didn’t want to come along. Tina had her arms open when I got back into the house, and I let her wrap them around me, more for her sake than my own. The only person I wanted to be holding me right now was Nolan.

“I’m gonna go upstairs for a bit,” I told her, taking hold of her shoulders and gently removing myself from her embrace.

“Okay, dear.” She nodded, blinking too much, like she was holding back tears.

Tina wanted me and Nolan to get back together. She never told me that outright. But I knew that she adored the prince. And that she could tell how in love he and I had been…

I locked myself in my room and resolved to take my mind off all the drama with Nolan and Evan by working on my next project.

I’d been thinking about the lie I told my jealous brother last night. That I could whip up Nolan’s jacket in an hour or two. I realized there actually were lots of garments I could make that fast. And it would be a good way to get my side business started, the one that was going to start making me some money of my own.

I sat at my desk, picked up a pencil, and let my hands fly across a blank sketchbook page, just drawing. I drew ten pictures in ten minutes, flicking my eyes up intermittently to watch the minutes passing on my little digital alarm clock, not letting myself overthink. It was an exercise we used to do in school, and sometimes it resulted in some really good ideas.

Looking back on the sketches after, I was surprised… I thought maybe there’d be a few good ones in the mix with mostly throwaways. But I liked them all. I started planning, next, which fabrics I’d use for each design, selecting from what I already had piled up in my closet.

I started some music playing and turned on all the lights in the room. And started timing myself again as I began cutting and sewing. I made the first dress without a pattern, pinning the stretchy red fabric over my own body and pricking myself in a lot of places as I tried to shimmy it down my body to take it off while keeping everything in place.

I sat back down at my desk in my underwear and sucked on a bleeding pinprick on the tip of my ring finger. When I pulled it out of my mouth, it was completely healed.

I smiled. I’d forgotten I could do that.

It was kind of a useful little trick for my line of work.

I finished the dress a few minutes past the deadline I’d given myself. Slipped it back on and looked at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t help but smile.

It was perfect.

And I had done my hair and makeup today for Nolan’s visit. I shoved a bunch of clutter to the side, making a clear space in my room near the mirror, and snapped some selfies. Then I took the dress off and hung it on a wooden hanger, and finally took a bunch more pictures of it on its own.

Don’t overthink, I reminded myself, lying in bed with my phone.

I opened my social account and quickly logged out of my personal account, ignoring the little bubble that told me I had 7.8M unseen notifications. And started a new account.

Then there was a blank field where I needed to create a username. I looked up at the ceiling, thinking, don’t overthink… and ran my thumbs over the keypad.

In the username field I typed: Y E N A.

And for the bio: Limited Release Plus-Size Eveningwear by Y E N A – Every Dress is Handmade & One of a Kind.

I took a quick selfie. It was good. My hair was splayed all around my face, gold on a pink pillowcase that I then noticed matched my lipstick.

Profile pic uploaded.

First post: a slideshow of the dress. Caption: Limited release. DM your bid.