Midnight Promises (38 page)

“Mention the dress to Adelia,” she said. “She knows where I put it. And you can try it on in my office, if the dressing rooms are backed up.”

Karen nodded. “Will do.” Before she approached Adelia, though, she glanced through the racks, blanching at the price tags. Even at half off, most of these clothes were far beyond her budget. Coming here had probably been a bad idea. It was going to be embarrassing to admit to Raylene that she couldn’t afford anything, even at a bargain price.

She was thinking about slipping out, hoping that Raylene wouldn’t notice her departure, but before she could edge toward the door, Adelia spotted her.

“Hi. Raylene told me you might be stopping by. She has the perfect dress on hold for you. Want me to get it out of the back?”

Karen shook her head. “I’m not sure I want to see it,” she admitted candidly. “Everything in here is too expensive, even on sale.”

Adelia nodded in understanding. “When was the last time you actually bought something special for yourself? You buy your kids clothes first, then shop at the discount stores, right?”

Karen nodded, surprisingly unembarrassed by Adelia’s straight talk.

“Then I think you deserve to treat yourself just this once. Well-made clothes never go out of style. In the end they’re less expensive than two or three cheap things that fall apart in the wash.”

Karen grinned at her. “I think I see why Raylene considers herself so lucky to have found you. You’re a very good saleswoman.”

A genuine smile broke across Adelia’s face, for perhaps the first time in Karen’s memory. “Thanks. I have to tell you it feels really wonderful to discover I’m good at something besides getting dinner on the table and carpooling.” She gave Karen a hopeful look. “Does that mean you’ll at least try on the dress? What would it say about me if I couldn’t even persuade my own sister-in-law to try something on?”

Karen hesitated, then shrugged. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt just to try it on.” She knew, though, that it was the first dangerous step toward leaving the store with something she couldn’t afford.

“Great!” Adelia said. “I’ll get it and meet you by the dressing rooms. I think there’s one free, which is something of a miracle today. If not, I’ll put you in Raylene’s office.”

A few minutes later Karen was wearing a dress that had originally cost as much as her weekly take-home pay. Even at half price, buying it was out of the question.

Still, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from turning this way and that in front of the mirror, imagining the day when she could afford even just one special-occasion dress that fit like a dream the way this one did.

“It’s absolutely perfect,” Adelia enthused. “And you may be one of the only people I know who can carry off that shade of sunshine yellow.”

“You don’t think I look like a daffodil?” Karen asked, needing to seize on an excuse to turn down the dress.

“If that means you look sunny, cheerful, springlike and sophisticated, then, yes,” Raylene said, joining them. “It’s as amazing on you as I thought it would be when I saw it.”

“I do love it,” Karen admitted, then sighed. “But I can’t possibly spend this much on a dress. I wish I could. I’m sorry if you missed out on a sale by holding it for me.”

“Not to worry,” Raylene said briskly, giving her hand a squeeze. “You’re not ever to feel pressured into buying something here.”

“Not even by me,” Adelia said. “I’m pushy, but reasonable.”

Raylene laughed. “Excellent traits in a salesperson.” She spotted another customer at the register. “Oops! Duty calls. Be sure to say goodbye before you go,” she told Karen.

After she’d gone, Adelia lingered, her expression thoughtful. “Karen, would you consider letting me buy the dress for you?”

Karen stared at her in shock. “Absolutely not. I don’t want charity from you.”

Adelia frowned. “And isn’t it sad that that’s what you think it would be? It tells me how awful our relationship has been. I want to do this as my way of apologizing for the way I’ve treated you since I first found out that you and Elliott were seeing each other. I was judgmental and rude, even after Mama told me what you’d been through.” She held Karen’s gaze. “I’d like to make amends. Maybe start over.”

Karen regarded her sister-in-law with curiosity. “Why now?”

Adelia shrugged. “I guess I’ve finally seen the error of my ways, that’s all,” she said, a defensive note creeping into her voice.

Karen had the oddest sensation there was more to the generous gesture, but Adelia wasn’t the kind of woman who’d ever admit to anything she wasn’t ready to reveal.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked. “It’s amazingly generous of you.”

Adelia shrugged, her cheeks pink. “Maybe it’ll make up for the drugstore shower gel I’ve been giving you for Christmas the past couple of years.”

Karen laughed. “Did you think you were offending me? I love that stuff. It’s a rare treat.”

Adelia stared at her in disbelief, then began to chuckle. “I think I really do need to get to know you a whole lot better. You’re a glass half-full kind of woman, and I am so not used to that.”

“I haven’t always been,” Karen admitted.

“Even better,” Adelia said. “You can show me how you got there. I know Elliott’s working late at the gym tonight. Want to bring the kids over to my place for dinner?” She gave Karen an encouraging look. “Mama won’t be there.”

Karen hesitated.

Adelia seemed to have read her mind, because a shadow passed over her face. “Neither will Ernesto.”

Karen had a hunch there was a story behind that. She wondered just how revealing Adelia might be. She knew, though, it was an overture she couldn’t afford to pass up. When she’d first met the Cruz family, she’d desperately wanted their acceptance. She thought she was gaining it in tiny increments, but befriending Adelia would amount to a giant leap forward.

“We’d love to,” she told her.

“And you’ll take the dress?” Adelia pressed. “Please.”

“Definitely pushy,” Karen murmured, though she was grinning when she said it. “Just like your brother. It’s how he got me to marry him. He wouldn’t give up.”

“It’s good that he didn’t,” Adelia said, surprising her. “I’m just beginning to see that.”

“A dress, a dinner and a compliment,” Karen summed up. “I’d say we’re making strides.”

Adelia leaned in close. “Don’t tell my sisters just yet. They’ll think I’ve gone over to the dark side. Mama, too.”

Karen chuckled. “Are you having a midlife crisis of some kind?”

Adelia shrugged. “Could be, but I have to say it’s starting to feel good.”

Karen studied the color in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes. “I can see that. Good for you.”

Whatever was going on to bring about this dramatic change, she was happy for Adelia…and for herself. For the first time since her marriage to Elliott, she sensed the real possibility that she could be friends with one of his sisters. She’d known from the beginning just how much he wanted that. It was turning out to be quite a day.

* * *

“Adelia actually invited you and the kids over for dinner?” Elliott said incredulously when he finally arrived home after ten o’clock. His days lately had been exhausting, and he cherished these late-night conversations with his wife. “I don’t know which shocks me more, that she invited you or that you accepted. Had she locked away the knives?”

Karen gave him a chiding look. “It was fine. Everyone behaved very civilly. The kids had a blast in the pool and I had fun with Adelia.”

“And Ernesto?”

“No sign of him. No mention of him, either.” She shook her head. “Something’s going on there, Elliott. Whatever it is, though, Adelia actually seems happy about it.”

He paused while removing his clothes. “She didn’t talk about it?”

“We’re not quite to the stage of sharing intimate little secrets yet,” Karen admitted.

“Then what did you talk about?” he asked, then grinned. “Me?”

“Your name was mentioned from time to time,” she said, clearly amused by his assumption that he was the only topic they had in common. “Mostly, though, we talked about how much fun she’s having working for Raylene, how well her diet and exercise program are going, and school stuff. She’s trying to rope me onto half a dozen committees.”

“Did she have any luck?”

“She talked me into one—baking cupcakes for the fall festival. Don’t tell her, but I’d already promised Daisy I’d do it. Adelia took such joy in thinking she wrangled a commitment from me that I didn’t want to spoil it for her.”

Elliott laughed. “Watch yourself. She’s sneaky when she wants something. Why do you think they put her on so many committees? It’s because she can talk anyone into doing anything. She got me into more trouble as a kid that way.”

“You let your big sister boss you around?” Karen teased. “I can’t imagine it.”

“Imagine it,” he confirmed. “Like I said, Adelia was sneaky.”

He crawled into bed next to his wife, studying her face up close. “You look happy.”

“I am,” she admitted. “I saw a whole other side to your sister today. It made me believe maybe we could be friends.”

“You have no idea what that would mean to me,” Elliott said. “Not just for my sake, but for yours. Having a sister would be good for you.”

“Even a sneaky one?” she asked wryly.

“I’d say so.”

Her expression sobered then. “There’s something I haven’t even told you yet. I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.”

Elliott frowned at her somber tone. “What?”

“She bought a dress for me at Raylene’s. I went by because Raylene said it was perfect for me, but the second I saw the price, I told them I couldn’t afford it, even on sale. Adelia insisted on buying it. She said it was to make up for giving me so much grief. I know I should probably have said no, but she seemed to want to do it so badly. I thought maybe accepting would be the gracious thing to do, a first step, if you know what I mean.”

Elliott’s pride kicked in. His first reaction was to insist she take the dress straight back. It humiliated him to think that his wife thought she couldn’t afford to buy anything she wanted. Worse yet, she’d admitted as much to his sister.

Gazing into her worried expression, though, he couldn’t make himself utter the words. For once he needed to swallow his pride. Adelia had wanted to do something nice for his wife. It was a gesture he needed to applaud, not condemn. And Karen, no slouch herself when it came to pride, had accepted the gesture graciously.

“You want me to take it back, don’t you?” Karen asked when he’d said nothing. “It’s okay. I knew I shouldn’t accept it.”

Despite her quick offer, he saw the disappointment in her eyes. “No, you should keep the dress,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “And I will take you someplace special to wear it.”