met at the Bistro after work, she’d almost forgotten about the box sitting ominously on her bed. Emma’s wedding was in the morning and they were celebrating with nonalcoholic champagne. The ceremony would be quiet and small, with only family and a few close friends in attendance. Still, Ana couldn’t be happier for her friend.
And so, Ana really had forgotten about the dress by the time Emma came back by Ana’s house to check out the new digs. Emma hadn’t seen the house since Ana had moved in.
Naturally, when the impromptu tour reached the bedroom, the first thing Emma did was saunter over to the bed.
“What’s this?” she asked. With her good hand, Emma struggled to get enough leverage to pull off the lid.
“That’s nothing,” Ana hastily said. She quickly explained about the Hudsons’ Valentine’s Day bash that would take place the following evening.
“Holy cow!” Emma exclaimed, fluffing back the tissue to see the dress inside. “That’s not nothing.”
“I’m sending it back,” Ana rushed to explain.
“Why on earth would you send this back?” Emma pulled the dress from the box. Yards and yards of ocean-blue chiffon fluttered to the floor.
Ana, who hadn’t seen the dress until now, nearly gasped. She recognized the fabric before Emma had even pulled it from the box. She was intimately acquainted with the dress.
“Never mind that,” Emma kept talking, apparently in conversation with herself. She held the dress up, admiring it. “Forget where it came from. How could you afford it?”
“I couldn’t,” Ana said grimly. “It’s from Ward.”
Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “From Ward?” She drew the question out so that it was obvious she was asking about far more than merely the dress.
“Yes, from Ward,” Ana repeated.
“And he’s sending you clothes…why, precisely?”
Beneath Emma’s inquisitive gaze, Ana remained steadfastly silent.
“Oh, come on,” Emma protested. “You’ve got to give me something to go on! Taking you to the Hudsons’ party for work, I could buy that. But why is he sending you clothes? Are you dating?”
“Sort of. I don’t know.” Ana gave a frustrated tug at a lock of hair. Explaining her relationship with Ward was far too complicated. Besides which, she was pretty sure Emma would not approve of her plan to have a quick fling with Ward. She gestured toward the dress Emma still held. “So I don’t know what to think about this, damn it.”
Emma smiled smugly. “When a man sends me a generous gift, I rarely curse him for it.”
“It’s not the generosity that I have a problem with. It’s the dress itself that…”
She swallowed her curse of frustration, choosing instead to snatch the dress out of Emma’s hand. Some tiny part of her just wanted to rip the thing to shreds. But she didn’t dare. After all, she’d worked too hard on it.
“I made this dress!” She shook it, the gossamer fabric cascading from her hand.
“What?” Emma asked.
“The last movie I worked on.” She’d slaved over the dress, over several versions of it actually.
“That sword and sandals epic?”
“Exactly. This is the dress the female lead wore in the big finale when she was about to be sacrificed to Scylla.”
“Oh.” Emma’s eyes widened and then her brow furrowed into a frown. She moved closer to give the gown a better look. “How did Ward get it?”
“I have no idea.” With a sigh, she unclenched her hand from the delicate fabric and studied the dress. As fitted the story line, the gown was Grecian in style, all flowing fabric and delicate tucks. Rhinestones had been sewn on to the wide strap that draped over one shoulder. Though Ana was curvier than the actress who’d worn the dress originally, the other woman had some help in the chest department and the dress was loose about the hips, so the dress should easily fit her.
Emma ran her hand over the gleaming stones. “I didn’t know they had BeDazzlers in ancient Greece.”
“They didn’t have horrible sea monsters either. I don’t think they were striving for authenticity.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine how he got ahold of it.”
“Ward does have a lot of connections.” Emma stood beside her to study the gown. Then she gave Ana a knowing smile. “But he must have gone to a lot of trouble to find it. Especially at such short notice.”
“Exactly.” That was what made her so uncomfortable. When she’d made the quip about regretting that she’d never had the chance to wear one of her creations, she’d never dreamed he’d go to these incredible lengths to let her live