Unbroken (23 page)

“Okay.”

“You haven’t asked anyone else to the Children’s Outreach dinner yet, have you?”

“No
.  Why?”

She took a deep breath before answering.  “Because
I need you to take me instead.”

The following afternoon, as she entered
the upscale clothing boutique located just a few blocks from her condo, Britney was immediately approached by a stylishly dressed saleswoman with a wide, welcoming smile.

“Hello and welcome to Belle Femme. 
I’m Hilary.  How may I assist you today?”

“Hello,
Hilary,” Britney replied with an answering smile.  “I’m in need of a dress for an upcoming event.”

“
Something formal?”

“Yes.  The Minneapolis Children’s Outreach Program fundraiser,” Britney replied.

“Ah, I see.  But that’s tomorrow night, is it not?” she asked, her eyebrows shooting upward in surprise.

“
Yes, I’m afraid it was a last minute decision and I haven’t much time to shop.”

“Well, not to worry.  We have a wide selection
of evening gowns to choose from,” she said in an upbeat tone.  “I’m sure that we can find you just the thing.  Come, follow me,” she continued, leading Britney to the rear of the store, her high heels tapping lightly atop the polished marble floor.

Thirty minutes and half a dozen dresses later, Britney exited the fitting room in a full-length, chiffon, off the shoulder gown of sapphire blue.

“Oh my,” Hilary gushed as Britney moved to stand before the wide
, floor to ceiling mirror. “That dress looks amazing on you.”

Looking into the mirror, Britney had to agree.  The dress fit her perfectly, hugging her curves in all the right places. 
Plus, it was elegant and sophisticated, yet still possessed a subtle hint of sexy.  She turned, viewing it from all angles.  Aside from the color, it reminded her of the dress Julia Roberts had worn to the opera in the movie,
Pretty Woman
.  It was perfect.

“You know, I think we have the perfect shoes to go with that dress,” Hilary said excitedly.  “What size do you wear?”

“Seven and a half.”

“Okay, don’t move,” Hilary instructed, before she dashed off to another part of the store.

She returned two minutes later with a pair of strappy blue stilettos dangling from her fingertips.  “These are a size eight, but they run small.”

Eyeing the gorgeous shoes, Britney was more than willing to give them a try.  Luckily, Hilary was right.  Not only did they fit, but they looked perfect with the dress.  She was all set.

When the doorman called at half past six the following evening to let her know that Ian was on his way up, Britney was ready.  Having spent the past hour applying her makeup, styling her hair and donning the gorgeous evening gown, she’d had little time to focus on her nerves, but now, with Ian’s arrival just moments away, Britney felt her heart begin to race in nervous anticipation. “Calm down.  You can do this,” she said aloud.  Fighting to keep her breathing steady, she closed her eyes and pictured Jake’s face.  It helped. 
Yes, she could do this. 

Moments later
, as Ian’s knock sounded at the door, Britney inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled as she walked to the small foyer.  She’d asked him to arrive thirty minutes early, so that they would have a chance to talk.  With her hand trembling ever so slightly, she grasped the door handle and pulled it open.  Meeting the gaze of the man standing on the opposite side of the threshold, she smiled hesitantly.  “Hi, Ian.”

The
answering smile froze on Ian’s face, his eyes going round as saucers as they focused on Britney’s face.  “Britney?”

“Yep, it’s me,” she replied with a
nervous little laugh.

“Wow, you look… wow,” Ian stammered as his eyes moved from her face, his dumbfounded gaze sweeping her from top to bottom.
  “You look amazing.”

“Thank you,” she said, stepping back. 
“You look pretty amazing yourself,” she added.  In his black tuxedo, white dress shirt and perfectly knotted bow tie, he looked like a walking advertisement for GQ Magazine. 

“P
lease, come in.”  Despite working together for the past four years, Ian had never been inside her condo before.  Pushing the door closed behind him, she motioned him forward.  “Let’s go into the living room and sit.”

Ian took a seat on the sofa, following Britney with his eyes as she
sat down next to him.

When she glanced up, she caught him staring.  He still appeared slightly
flabbergasted, but catching her eye, he quickly altered his expression and wrenched his gaze from her face, casting it around the colorful room.

“This place is great,”
Ian said.

Britney smiled in appreciation.  “Thanks.”  He’d probably been expecting drab colors and a room filled with stuf
fy old antique furniture, she mused.

“So what is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Well, I wanted to talk about
me
, actually.”

“You?”

“I need to tell you something, Ian.  I need to tell you who I really am.”

He regarded her in confusion.  “Who you really are?”

She took a deep breath.  “Four years ago, I had my last name legally changed,” she began, “and my social security number too.  You see, Taylor was my grandmother’s maiden name.  The name I was born with, my
real
name, is Britney Marie Ellison.”

“Ellison?”

She nodded.

“Britney Ellison.”  He said the name like he thought he might have heard it before, and was now trying to place it in his memory.  “Why does that name sound familiar?”
he asked, wrinkling his forehead. 

She took a
nother deep breath.  This was it.  “Shortly after I graduated from college, I was abducted by a man named Randall Littrell.”  She watched the expression on Ian’s face slowly change as he put the pieces together in his head.

“Randall Littrell,” he uttered in shock.  “Oh Jesus, Britney.
  I…” He shook his head in disbelief. “Britney, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry to
o, Ian,” she said quietly.  “I should have told you who I was from the beginning, but I just… I wanted to put it all behind me, to start over.”

Ian nodded, though he still looked like he was struggling to take it all in.
  “I can understand that.”

“
I hope you’re not angry with me, for keeping it from you?”

He took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. 
“No, of course not, Britney,” he assured her.  “I only wish I’d known so that I could have done something… I don’t know…helped in some way.”

“You did help me, Ian.  More than you will ever know.” 

He smiled faintly, but then his expression grew puzzled.  “Britney, why are you telling me this now, why tonight?”

“Because… I can’t hide anymore
.  Not if I want to be happy.”

He eyed her questioningly.

“Ian, I need to tell you about my time in Stanley, my time with Jake.”

Walking into the crowded ballroom on Ian’s arm
a little over an hour later, Britney felt as if every eye in the room was focused on her.  They weren’t of course, she knew that, but she felt her heart begin to race nonetheless. 

“Are you okay?” Ian asked, concern evident in his expression.

“Yes.  No.  I don’t know,” she mumbled.

“Do you want to go?”

Did she?
  Yes, of course she did.  She wanted to turn and run out of the ballroom as fast as her legs could carry her.  “No,” she said, taking a slow, deep breath.  “I’ll be alright.” She’d come this far, she couldn’t turn back now.  She had to do this for Jake, but she also had to do it for her.

“Y
ou’re sure?”

She nodded.  “Let’s go.”

Ian placed his hand over hers, patting it reassuringly.

“Do you see Jake?” Britney asked a few minutes later, as they weaved their way through the multitude of elegantly clad men and women.  She knew that he’d be there.  She’d confirmed the reservation herself just six weeks earlier.  In addition, like Ian, he’d donated one of the items for the auction.

“Not yet,” Ian replied, scanning the ballroom. 
“But in a crowd this size he could be anywhere.  Let’s find our seats and then we can head over to view the auction tables and look around.”

Britney nodded in agreement as Ian hailed a passing attendant.

“Your table number, sir?”

“
Two.”

“You’re right up front,” th
e young man replied.  “If you will just follow me.”

As they followed him to their table, Britney continued to search the crowd for any sign of Jake. 
What if he’d decided not to come, she worried, when she failed to spot him.

A
s soon as they reached their assigned table and took their seats, Ian reached for one of the open champagne bottles and filled the two crystal flutes that had been placed next to their place settings.  “Here,” he said, handing her one of the glasses.  “You look like you could use this.”

“Thanks.  I think you’re probably right.”
  She took a drink and then another.  It was delicious.  She looked up then, as another couple was shown to their eight person table.

Ian rose to his feet, extending his hand to the gray-haired gentlemen.

“Ian, it’s good to see you,” the older man greeted him warmly.

“Bruce, Charlotte, this is a surprise.  I wasn’t aware that you’d returned from Greece.”

“We flew in the day before yesterday,” the woman informed him.  “We’re still a bit jetlagged, but we didn’t want to miss the fundraiser.  The Children’s Outreach Program is such a worthy cause.”

“It certainly is,” Ian agreed wholeheartedly.  “Britney,” he said, turning to her, as she rose from her seat.  “I’d like to introduce you
to Bruce and Charlotte Howell.  Bruce, Charlotte, may I present, Miss Britney Taylor.”

“How do you do,” Britney replied,
extending her hand to Mrs. Howell.

Charlotte
took her hand, smiling pleasantly.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Taylor.”

“Yes, a pleasure,” Bruce seconded his wife, his manner
gregarious as he then shook Britney’s hand.

“Br
uce and Charlotte were very close friends of my parents,” Ian explained to Britney, as the older couple moved to take their seats. “If you two will excuse us for a moment, Britney and I are going to take a look at the auction items.”

As they perused the various items up for bids, everything from an antique Rolex watch to the top-of-the-line, platinum and gold decorated set of five-star series Honma golf clubs and the all-expenses paid trip to Pebble Beach that Ian had donated, Britney kept her eye out for any sign of Jake, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Here it is,” Ian said, directing her attention to Jake’s auction item. 

He’d donated an autographed game jersey and stick, season tickets for the Blades upcoming season, and best of all, a private, one on one hockey lesson with him at the Blades practice facility.  Of course she already knew that, for she’d been the one to help put it all together.

“How much do you think it will
go for?” Britney asked.

“It’s hard to say.  There’s so
me big money here tonight and private ice time with Jake McCoy is sure to solicit some pretty high bids.”

That’s exactly what she was afraid of.  “Well, I’ll give it my best,” she said, reaching for one of the white bidding slips. 

“Britney, I’d be glad to cover your bid,” Ian offered. 

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. 
For Ian, who gave millions of dollars a year to charitable organizations, the money would be a mere drop in the bucket.  “Thank you, Ian, but this is something I need to do on my own.”  She’d already decided how much she was going to bid and quickly wrote the dollar amount down along with her name and table number.  It was a large sum, but she luckily could afford it. And Jake was worth every dollar. As she slipped the paper through the slot at the top of the wooden box, she could only hope that it was enough.

When Jake
finally arrived at the entrance to the ballroom, the auction was nearly about to begin.  Thanks to an accident on the expressway, he and Melinda had been stuck in traffic for the past forty minutes.  “We’d better find our seats,” he said to the woman at his side.

“Your name, sir?” a uniformed attendant asked as they stepped over the threshold.

“Jake McCoy.”

The attendant scanned the sheet of paper resting on the wooden stand in front of him.  “Yes, Mr. McCoy, you’re at table number six.”  He raised his hand then, summoning a
nother young man who stood waiting a few steps away.  “If you will just follow Matthew he can show you to your seats.  Dinner is about to be served.”