“Atta girl,” Tucker murmured. Looked like Gillian Thacker was ready to take on just about anything.
His gaze snagged on the peep-toe pump. He thought about her pretty ankles. He thought about those fishnet hose. For the rest of the day and a good part of the night, he couldn’t stop thinking about Gillian Thacker—with the tune of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” drifting through his mind.
Chapter Ten
On February fourteenth, three days before what was to have been her wedding day, Gillian dawdled in the stockroom at the store feeling grumpy.
Curse Cupid and his stupid bow. If she ever came across the little diaper-wearing cherub, she swore she’d grab the weapon from his chubby little hands and put him out of her misery. Whoever invented Valentine’s Day needed to be sliced with cardstock paper cuts from head to toe and then buried under a mountain of chocolate and flower petals.
She didn’t want to be here at Bliss. She’d rather be almost anywhere else but here. When she’d opened her eyes this morning, she’d seriously considered coming down with the bubonic plague. Tragically, she couldn’t do that to her mother. Valentine’s Day was one of Bliss Salon’s busiest days of the year. Brides who weren’t getting married or engaged on Valentine’s Day loved to pick February fourteenth to choose their wedding gowns. So, Gillian had come in to work, and now she was surrounded by satin and lace and giggling bridesmaids and teary-eyed MOBs and giddy brides high on romance.
It all made Gillian nauseous.
She knew she needed to pull herself up by Tucker’s damned bootstraps again, to put on her big-girl panties and go out there and sell the fantasy.
“Gillian?” her mother called from the stockroom doorway. “Are you having trouble finding that petticoat?”
“Sorry, I got distracted.”
“Hurry, please. We’ve screeched to a standstill in the dressing room.”
“Sorry,” she repeated. “I’ll be right there.” Weighed down with guilt, she scanned the shelves, located the box, and removed a crinoline, which she carried back to the dressing room.
From one appointment to the next, Gillian tried to hide her grumpiness. Apparently, she didn’t do a very good job of it because her mother’s exasperation grew more evident with every hour that passed. Shortly before the two o’clock brides were due to arrive, Aunt Cathy swept into the shop and declared she’d come to help. Barbara handed Gillian her jacket and said, “Go. We’ve got this. You’re doing more harm than good today.”
Gillian’s spirits sank even lower. “I’m a terrible daughter.”
“No, you’re not, but you are useless to me today. I understand why you’re in a blue mood, but we owe it to our brides to do better. Since we didn’t change our calendar after your breakup, we are already scheduled to be closed for the next three days, so go home and do what you need to do to get your head on straight.”
“I’m really sorry. Maybe I should tackle some of the paperwork that’s been piling—”
“No,” Barbara interrupted. “Go. It’ll be better next week, I’m sure. Life will look brighter when you get past Saturday.”
“I hope so,” Gillian muttered. First her aunt, and then her mother gave her a hug and shooed her toward the door.
Gillian ducked back into the storeroom to grab her purse and happened to glance out the window as she turned to leave. Her gaze fell on Tucker’s window, and she hesitated. They hadn’t spoken since the day she’d decorated the display window. She’d left the courtyard that morning feeling strong and determined, the way he’d described her. The feeling had lingered, but with the arrival of Valentine’s Day and with her aborted wedding day on its heels, strength and determination had dissolved like cotton candy in a puddle of rain. As a result, she’d let her mother down. That only made her feel worse.
Maybe she needed another dose of Tucker to jerk her out of this gloom.
She couldn’t go barging into the Enchanted Canyon Wilderness School and ask him to make her feel better. Knowing Tucker, he’d have some suggestive proposal on how to help. Not that she really believed his flattery and talk about a crush, soothing though it had been. He was a nice guy. He’d taken pity on her and turned on the flirt.
It had worked. She’d like it to work again. She needed an excuse to pay a visit.
Her gaze drifted over his display window, and an idea occurred. It was missing something. A veil. His mannequin needed a veil. She knew the perfect one for his model too.
Purse in hand, she headed back downstairs, darted into the stockroom, grabbed the veil she had in mind, then headed out of Bliss. She hurried across the courtyard, moving faster than she had all day. A bell chimed as she opened the door to Tucker’s school. Moments later, he descended the stairs from the second level, and upon seeing Gillian, smiled. “Hello, gorgeous. This is a nice surprise.”
“I brought you something.” She handed him a small plastic bag emblazoned with the Bliss Salon logo.
“A present!” He peered inside the bag, and his brows arched in surprise. “Net?”
“A veil.” My veil. “Your mannequin isn’t finished.”
“Ah.” He pulled it from the bag. “Want to help me with it? I admit I’m not experienced with wedding veils.”
It was a simple, little flyaway bit of tulle that had been perfect for her dress. As Gillian carried it to the window, curiosity about his lack-of-experience comment caused her to ask, “Does that mean you’ve never been married?”
“Never even come close. Military life is hard on families. Wasn’t a mission I wanted to tackle.”
Gillian placed the wedding veil on the mannequin, fluffed the tulle, then stood back, and studied the result. “Perfect. Don’t you think?”
When he didn’t respond, she glanced over her shoulder and caught him staring speculatively at her slacks. It should have annoyed her. Instead, she secretly preened. “Well?”
“Hmm?”
“The window!”
“Ah. Yeah, much better.”
She rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure he hadn’t looked at it. Turning around, she folded her arms, and his gaze finally lifted to hers. “A couple of our brides today mentioned the windows. They’re a hit.”
“I expected they would be.” He paused a moment, then added, “Noticed lots of traffic at your place today.”
“Valentine’s Day is always one of the busiest days of the year for us.”
“I’m surprised you had time to steal away and bring me window fluff.”
“Window fluff?” She smiled crookedly at the term. She couldn’t argue with it. “I actually am done for the day. My mom gave me the boot. Apparently, all the Valentine’s Day nonsense has made me a bit grumpy.”
She couldn’t believe she was admitting this to him, but then again, she’d already shown him her fishnets, hadn’t she? How much more embarrassed could she get?
Besides, Tucker McBride had a way about him that simply made her feel better. Maybe it was the honest admiration in his gaze. Perhaps it was his gentle teasing. She didn’t know. Today, she wasn’t going to analyze, but simply accept.