I love it.
“Oh, that is gorgeous. Are you going to get it?” Addison asks while she reaches out and touches the fabric. I take the one in my size from the rack.
“Yeah, I really like it,” I say while grinning at the piece of fabric that’s bringing me new joy.
“You should see these cute shirts,” Paislee calls from another section in the clothing store. Slowly, I make my way to where she is and soak up all the other pieces of clothing along the way. I really want more jeans and some shorts, because I don’t have any.
When I finally find her, she’s holding a stunning satin, light-pink top with lace covering the shoulders.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” I breathe as I take it from her hands and check the size is right.
“That will be perfect for your blind date.” She winks.
“What blind date? I didn’t agree to anything of the sort.”
Paislee groans. “Why not? It’ll be fun. You can meet someone new and, who knows, maybe hit it off.”
“I’m not so sure I want to,” I say as I lay the top over the top on my arm, ready to take them to the register.
Paislee’s hands shoot out and wrap around my arm. “Pllleeeease,” she begs. “I can beg; I can go all night with this. Just give him one shot. I’ll give you his number, and you can contact him, or would you like me to give him yours?”
Neither is preferable, is what I want to say. Instead, an image of my father flashes in my mind. I’ve been on lockdown for so long, and now is my time to shine. Screw all the rules my father implemented. He’s not here anymore. “Fine. You get him to message me. At least then I won’t feel like I’m pressuring him.”
“Oh, he’s keen; he’s already told me so, and I’ve already given him your number. I can give him the go-ahead now.” She claps excitedly. I’m too stunned to process what she just said. She’s already given my number to him? Before I can say anything, she says, “Perfect! You’ll hear from him.” She pauses a moment and pulls her phone out. Her fingers move like lightning over the screen, and then she slips it away into her pocket and looks around the rest of the store. “Okay, girls, let’s go to the next shop.”
I pay for my items, and then we head to the next store. We stop to buy some donuts. “So, do you like being back here?” Paislee’s friend Elsie asks. She’s pretty blunt and says things how she sees them. I like people like that.
“Yeah, it’s been good getting to know my mom again and the rest of her family.”
“Don’t you mean your family?” Elsie asks as she shoves a piece of donut in her mouth. Paislee shoves her in the arm. “Sorry,” she mumbles.
“No, that’s okay. You’re right; they are my family. I’m just not used to calling them that. It’s been so long that I’m not sure how to act around my mom, but my brother and sister are cute. I’ve never been more excited than I was the day I found out about them.” There’s always a positive to a negative, and I choose to take all I’ve gone through and turn it into something good—like getting to know my mom and siblings.
“That’s cool. What was your dad like?” Addison asks, and this time, she gets a glare from Paislee.
Reaching out, I touch her arm. “It’s okay. He was a good man.” Even as I say the words, they form concrete in my throat. He was a great dad, but deep down in my stomach, I know there were things he did that weren’t right.
“Anyway, I passed your number on, so you’ll hear from your date soon.” Paislee takes the chance to change the topic. One day, I’m going to have to address all the buried emotions caused by my father. I’m so torn over him and the kind of person he was.
“Who are you setting her up with?” Elsie asks.
“I’m not telling you. You’ll go and say something stupid and blow all my hard work. Nope, this secret is staying with me and each party involved.” She laughs.
“Well, I guess I better find a couple more outfits, considering I have been living in the same pair of jeans all week,” I say with a small smile.
“Did your dad not buy you clothes? I mean, of course he did, but why the same pair of