Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up #4) - K.F. Breene Page 0,87

was clearly a much bigger deal than I’d thought.

Or maybe Mr. Tom knew something I didn’t. Were Austin and Kingsley having doubts that I could pull off a façade of refined elegance for the visiting mage? Was this dinner a trial run, of sorts, to see what they were working with?

If so, they clearly didn’t know about my past. After attending hundreds of work parties and boring, WASP-y functions with my ex and his parents, I knew how to pull off regal, self-important, and stuffy. Conversation might pose more difficulties, of course.

A little while later, Mr. Tom came back with a stack of long, flat black boxes. He set them on the table and began arranging them.

“How about this?” I emerged from the threshold to the bathroom. “I don’t want to go too formal with makeup and hair because it’ll look out of whack with the dress. I’ve had extensive training on how those things go together. My ex-mother-in-law criticized me every time she saw me for the first five years of my marriage.”

Mr. Tom straightened and turned, scanning me from head to toe. “You are a vision, miss. Perfect.”

I beamed. My ex’s mother had never said anything like that, that was for sure.

“Now. All you need are some finishing touches.” Mr. Tom stepped to the side as he partially turned, looking down at the boxes, then back at me. “Which do you think?”

Stepping closer, I nearly choked on my spit. My ex had been in the habit of buying me nice jewelry—expensive jewelry—which I had always liked. Sometimes a lady needed a little bling. But this!

Four boxes in total, each containing a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet, except for the last one, which didn’t have a bracelet. The first set was a tasteful and elegant design of pearls separated with diamonds. My ex’s mother would highly approve. Those were out.

The next box held a simple strand of diamonds, all the same size on the necklace, studs for earrings, and a tennis bracelet. The third set incorporated rubies, the teardrop necklace ending in a large crimson stone, the earrings a similar design, and the bracelet switching off diamonds and rubies. But it was the last set that stole my ability to speak. The earrings were elegant strands of diamonds, but the real beauty was the necklace: a sort of webbing of black and white diamonds that would drape down the neck, almost to the cleavage. The crisscrossed strands were dainty, the glitter elegant but not overbearing, and the wow factor off the charts. That one would make my ex-mother-in-law green with envy, and if I ever met her again, I’d wear it.

Might as well practice now, just in case.

I pointed, half wondering if I’d wake up to Mr. Tom’s face and a cup of coffee.

“Excellent choice, miss. I nearly didn’t bring that one. It almost seemed too flashy for your attire, but I think you can pull it off. We’ll need to shop for some simple pieces. Everything else is much too formal for a light affair such as this.”

“Where…” I gulped as he gingerly lifted the necklace and unhooked the clasp, walking around me. I carefully swept my hair out of the way. “Where did you get these?”

“I keep a selection of jewelry in my closet. Most pieces are old and were kept with the house. I updated their boxes or containers.” He fastened the necklace and stepped around to look at it, nodding. “Keeping them in my room stops that insufferable Irishwoman from playing dress-up and heading to the bar. She used to hope someone would try to mug her. Well, someone eventually did, and it created an awful problem with the local Dick law enforcement. She broke five of the mugger’s bones and was in the process of trying to crack his neck—she was clearly out of practice—when the Dick policeman showed up to help. Only, the policeman didn’t know who to help at that point. There was a lot of explaining to do. Old Jane women do not usually assault their attackers in that way. She broke the necklace, and we had to get it mended.” He tsked and shook his head, handing me an earring and waiting for me to fasten it before he handed over the next. “I keep them hidden around my room now. She can’t get in.”

Checking the additions in the full-length mirror, I couldn’t believe how much they elevated my simple black dress. I looked like some cartoon princess, ready to