Happy Trails & Honey Pots (Firefly Island: Southern Nights #2)

23. Zoe

23

ZOE

Sunlight shimmered off the diamond ring etched in the Blush Bridal glass front as I pulled up and parked in front of the store in the Downtown Arts District. My lips pursed as I inhaled a deep breath. The last time I’d been here was for my own wedding dress fitting twelve years ago. Sometimes, it was still strange for me to think I got married when I was only sixteen years old.

If it weren’t for Walter, I wouldn’t have had a wedding dress at all. He’d insisted on me getting one. He called ahead to the store, gave them his credit card, and told Nadia to take me there without me knowing what was going on. When I got home and asked him why he’d done it, he said it was because I was “his girl” now. That was all the explanation he gave.

He’d called me that ever since— his girl. Even though we weren’t blood, Walter had always welcomed me as his own family. It meant a lot, especially since his own daughter had left and my family had disowned me.

I reached over and grabbed my purse from the passenger seat. When I did, I saw that I had a new voicemail from Miles. He’d called earlier when I was at work. I’d sent him to voicemail, but I didn’t think he’d left a message. I played it now.

“Hi, it’s Miles. Can you give me a call back? I needed to run something by you. Thanks, bye.”

In the two weeks he’d been in New Mexico, he’d called or texted every single day. At first, I thought it was just because he felt guilty about our night together or scared that I would change my mind about the movie if he ghosted me.

Even if that were the case, I’d thought about calling him back just to be polite. Every day, I told myself this was going to be the day that I would. I’d pick up my phone to do it and then lose my nerve. I had thanked him for the flowers, but that was at the end of an email asking if the Zoe character could be blonde, so it didn’t really count.

The problem was, he wasn’t just some guy. He was Miles Ford. Since he’d been in town, I saw him everywhere. I saw him on magazine covers at the grocery store. He was on patients' TV screens when I went into rooms to check on them. People were constantly asking me about him because they knew he was playing Austin in the movie.

There was no escaping the magnitude of who he was. It was almost as if I didn’t know that person. I knew Miles, not Miles Ford. It was very difficult for me to reconcile the two people. And it made it hard for me to know what to say to him. Also, I was being a big chicken because I slept with him and wasn’t sure what the etiquette was when one sleeps with a Hollywood star. So yeah, there was that, too.

And to make matters even worse, AJ wanted to invite Miles to his birthday party, which was on the Saturday before they were set to start filming here in Firefly. He’d begged me to let him send him an invitation, and I’d been stalling. The truth was the only reason I didn’t want him to was because I didn’t want Miles to think that I had anything to do with it. I didn’t want to look like a desperate housewife or that I was delusional enough to think that there was actually something between us. I didn’t know if I should just put my pride aside and let AJ send him the invite or if that was even appropriate. Yes, he was technically his co-star, but Miles was a twenty-six-year-old man. Why would he want to go to a twelve-year-old’s birthday party?

Was I overthinking this?

I did have a tendency to do that.

I stepped out of the car into the sunshine and closed my eyes as it warmed my face. My life had gotten complicated, and it was my own fault. If I’d kept things strictly professional, then I wouldn’t feel strange returning phone calls. I wouldn’t have had to try and sift through my reservations over whether or not my son should be allowed to extend an invitation to his hero for his birthday party.

As I opened the door to the shop, I was greeted by Heather Lenox from behind the counter. She inherited the shop from her mom Lydia, who opened Blush Bridal in the forties. Heather was in her sixties now and had helped me find my dress for my courthouse wedding.

My mom refused to go to the judge to grant me permission to get married, even though I needed to be married so I could have medical insurance for the baby. Thankfully, my father agreed to do it. It was the one and only time in his life I’d ever seen him oppose my mother.

“The girls are already in the back.” Heather tilted her head to the side with a wide smile.

“Okay, thanks.”

I was running my usual fifteen minutes late. It boggled my mind that in school, I had never been late for a class, and in my professional life, I had never clocked in a minute past my scheduled shift, but in my personal life, I was constantly running late. It had to be some sort of self-sabotage or psychological issue.

“Hey!” I smiled and waved as I walked in the back.

Ashley and Nadia were both seated on a curved, pressed velvet light pink sofa, sipping out of champagne flutes.

“You made it!” Ashley smiled widely.

“Sorry, I’m late. I needed to take a shower after my shift.”

“Is that Zoe?” Daphne called out from behind a large wooden door that looked like it belonged at the entrance to a castle.

“It is!” I called back.

Nadia scooted over and patted the cushion beside her. “You haven’t missed anything yet.”

“Oh good.” I lowered down as Ashley passed me a glass.

“So, I think I got the job,” Ashley lifted her flute in cheers. “I start next week.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Nadia enthused.

“Yay!” I clapped.

Ashley smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Her grandson,” Ashley stated flatly.

“Her grandson,” Nadia repeated. “What’s wrong with her grandson?”

“You mean apart from having a stick up his ass?” Ashley took a drink.

“So, you’re not a fan,” Nadia stated the obvious.

“I haven’t even met him, and I hate him. He’s making my job miserable.”

“You haven’t even started yet, have you?” I took a sip.

“Exactly.” Ashley lifted her arms as if that was the point.

“So why don’t you just not take it?” Nadia proposed.

“And let Mr. Stick Up His Ass win?” A fire I had never seen before lit in Ashley’s eyes. “Never.”

Nadia and I both exchanged a look. I don’t know what that man had done to get on Ashley’s bad side, but I certainly would never want to be where he was.

“Okay,” Daphne’s voice came from behind the door a second before it opened. “What do you think?”

Lissette, who worked with Heather, walked out first. Daphne was right behind her, and she stepped up on the pedestal in the center of the room. She was met with audible gasps from all three of us.

I covered my mouth with my hand.

Daphne stood in a white, A-line, off-the-shoulder, satin dress with a form-fitting bodice and sweetheart neckline. She looked like a real-life princess.

“You look beautiful!”

“Stunning!”

“So gorgeous!”

“Harlan is going to cry like a baby!” Nadia predicted.

“Do you want to try a veil?” Lissette asked.

Daphne nodded.

As the appointment went on, I did my best to be present as Daphne went on to try on six more styles. After Daphne said yes to the dress, Ashley went into the dressing room to help her out of her final gown, and Nadia scooted over on the couch and whispered to me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I whispered back.

“Have you not heard from Miles?” Nadia persisted.

She was the only person who knew about me and Miles hooking up. She guessed what happened after she came over to borrow a dress, saw the flowers, and then found the card on my nightstand. When confronted with the evidence, I folded and admitted it.

“No, he actually just left me a message.”

“Well, then what’s wrong?”

“AJ wants to invite him to his birthday party.”

“He should.” Nadia co-signed on the plan.

My face scrunched. “Should he?”

“He’s in the movie with him.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Okay, if you hadn’t played hide the sausage with Miles Happy Trails Hottie Ford and AJ wanted to invite him to his birthday party, would you have let him?” Nadia’s brows rose in challenge. It was her checkmate face, the one she gave me when she

knew she’d made a point I couldn’t refute.

I sighed.

“There. It’s settled. Miles Happy Trails Hottie Ford i s invited to AJ’s birthday party.”

Right. So, I guess that means I should probably return his call.