with a pair of woven wedges. “My granddaughter left these last time she visited. You two look to be about the same size.”
Hadley slipped on the shoes and then did a quick walk around the small kitchenette. They were about half a size too small, but she wasn’t going to be wearing them for hours. They’d make an appearance for PawPaw’s sake and then get out of there. One dance—max—and that would be it.
“So what do you think?” She did a spin for her fairy godmothers and executed a quick curtsy as they clapped. “Thank you for letting me borrow it. It’s a fabulous dress.”
“It’s not just a dress, you know,” Alice said. “It’s self-determination, control, power. You kids now with your Amazon Prime delivery and Instacarts, you have no idea what it was like to wait weeks for a package to arrive. I held my breath opening it up. I was one of those kids who hated tearing the wrapping paper on my Christmas presents, so imagine that but with the heavy tape they used to seal parcels.”
“You are still like that, Alice,” Cat said before taking a drink of spiked Ensure.
“I timed you on your birthday,” Marion said. “Your quickest unwrap was three minutes.”
“If it bothers you so much, don’t watch next time.” Alice brushed her fingertips across the shoulder of the dress, picking off a piece of lint Hadley would have sworn didn’t really exist. “This dress was everything I wanted to be and couldn’t at the time. Then life happened and I forgot all about it. By the time I remembered, there was no way it would fit me anymore.”
She stepped back, crossed her arms over her rainbow-colored T-shirt, and let out a happy sigh. Hadley might be within the other woman’s line of sight, but it sure didn’t seem like Alice was seeing her.
“Are you sure you’re okay with letting me wear this?”
“Oh, honey.” Alice stepped forward and gave Hadley a quick, surprisingly solid hug. “Dreams are meant to be unwrapped and worn proudly—and I’m glad mine is finally getting its time on the dance floor.”
“Like she needs dreams when she has that tall drink of Cherry Coke,” Cat said with a wink directed at Hadley.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Not everything is about getting a man.”
“No, but it sure is nice to be able to warm your toes on those cold nights,” Cat countered as she threaded a belt through the loops on her tie-dyed shirtwaist dress.
Oh God. This was going somewhere she did not want to go, considering the person warming Cat’s *ahem* toes (along with Marion’s and Alice’s, going by how they’d been talking) was Hadley’s pawpaw. Could she sneak out the door without them noticing? Since they were standing in front of it, probably not, but it just might be worth the effort.
“Just use that electric blanket I got you for your last birthday,” Alice said, pulling on the light rainbow-colored cardigan.
“You are such a dear, but I wasn’t really talking about my toes.” Cat turned and must have seen the embarrassment on Hadley’s face. “Sorry. I lost my filter when I turned seventy-six. Best thing to ever happen.”
“Catherine,” Marion said with an indulgent sigh. “I’ve known you since you were twelve. You never had a filter.”
And Cat didn’t look the least bit upset about it. Hadley had to admit her pawpaw had great taste in girlfriends. These three were a riot, if more than a little TMI.
“Oh my gracious,” Alice said. “Look at the time. Time to hit the bricks, ladies.”
Hadley’s dress was short enough that she’d feel the breeze on her panties when she walked, but she had an extra spring to her step anyway as they walked along one of the paths to the clubhouse. One dance, then she was out of there. Maybe it was the dress and Alice’s sweet advice, but she couldn’t help but feel like everything was going to go perfectly according to plan.
And that lasted right up until they walked into the clubhouse and she spotted Will. If her dress was a bit small, since it was sized for a high-school-age Alice, the T-shirt PawPaw had given Will must have belonged to a middle-school version of her grandpa. “Tight” didn’t begin to cover it. The cotton clung to Will, from his broad shoulders, across the hard plane of his chest, and tapered down to his waist as if it were painted on. If she looked long enough, she’d probably be able to count each