Anna's Dress: a heart-wrenching second chance romance story that will make you believe in true love

by London Casey

  “So take it.”

  “This place would collapse in a month.”

  “So what? Fuck it. We’re old. We’re going to die eventually.”

  “What the hell is this, Winston?”

  He took a deep drag of his cigarette and then started talking. “I’m going to tell you something.” Smoke puffed from his mouth as he spoke. “Your uncle almost lost this place a few times. This is all he has left in life. Those that left. Those that died. He trusted someone one time to help around here and you know what? That motherfucker took all the money.”

  “What? Who?”

  “Doesn’t matter who,” Winston said. “That fucker robbed your uncle. Right in front of his face. I caught him too. Caused a problem between me and your uncle. Almost didn’t make it through it. He wised up though.”

  “Called the cops?”

  Winston laughed. “Ah, Evan, you don’t get it.”

  “Get what?”

  Winston put the cigarette in his mouth. There was something about the old guys when they put their cigarettes in their mouths they looked thirty years younger. And cooler, like they belonged in a cowboy movie.

  “Guys like me and your uncle don’t call the cops. Understand?”

  The cigarette bounced between his lips.

  I ran a hand through my hair. “Please don’t tell me there’s a dead body somewhere hidden around here.”

  Winston grinned. He plucked the cigarette from his mouth. “Here’s what I’ll tell you. That son of a bitch never stole again. And I stuck by your uncle’s side after he fired everyone else. So him bringing you on board is a real show of faith. Letting you run the business. Letting you grow the business. You want to see the books? The money? Good luck. But I promise you, your uncle doesn’t spend a dime.”

  “I would never suggest that, Winston. I’m here. That’s all I’ve got right now.”

  “Because you’re finally distracted. Aren’t’cha?”

  “Piss off, old man,” I said and walked away.

  Winston laughed.

  I knew what he was talking about. He was talking about me and Adena. My daily routine had been to work, clean up, and drive to meet up with Adena. She was all I thought about. During work, after work, in the middle of the night when I was alone in my bed. I was breaking all the promises I made to myself. I made to others.

  The truth in the story was that I didn’t mess up Adena’s life. Someone else did. In my heart I could have saved her from so much pain and I didn’t.

  I walked into the front of the shop and Uncle Davey reached for the counter and forced himself to stand. He had the same grumpy look on his face as always.

  “You get that check?” he asked.

  “Of course I did,” I said. “Right here.” I slapped it to the desk.

  Uncle Davey grabbed for it.

  I nodded.

  I understood it now.

  He was worried about the money. And I guess rightfully so.

  He put the check down and looked at me. “Get it to the fucking bank, Evan.”

  I grabbed the check and nodded. “I know, Uncle Davey. Nothing to worry about. Jimmy said he’s sending us more work too.”

  “Hey, that’s a good thing,” Uncle Davey said. “Now cash that fucking check, Evan.”

  “Right,” I said.

  I smiled.

  “What’s so fucking funny?” he asked.

  “Nothing. Thanks for letting me work here. I don’t know if I’ve ever thanked you or not.”

  Uncle Davey stared at me like I sprouted a second head.

  I left the shop, fucking check in hand.

  I looked at the time and smiled.

  The shop, Uncle Davey, Jimmy, Winston, money, history, family, whatever… it all slipped out of my mind.

  I only thought of one thing.

  Dena.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  (The Good Check & the Good Eclair)

  NOW

  (Adena)

  I opened the front door to the bakery and paused. The only other time I ever walked through the front door was the day I asked for a job.

  Amy was behind the counter, organizing baked goods. She saw me through the glass and quickly stood up, straightening her body, her eyes going wide with shock.

  I showed my hands. “I come in peace, Amy.”

  “Right,” she said. “I mean, hey. Hi. What’s… up?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Mary Anne around?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can I talk to her?”

  “What for?” Amy asked.

  “Really?”

  “Sorry. It’s just… last time…”

  “I know,” I said. “I shouldn’t have been back. I should have just stayed in the back. Or ignored everyone. Or just stayed home.”

  “Are you okay?” Amy asked. “I mean, with everything…”

  “I’m doing okay,” I said. “Thanks. “I just wanted to talk to her. And, well, I owe you an apology too. For that day. What happened. That was unfair to put you in that position. You tried to do the right thing as a good person and friend. I ignored you and I’m sure you took the brunt of whatever happened that day.”

  “Well, to be honest, it wasn’t all that bad. That lady you threw the eclair at tried to cause a stir online. Mary Anne jabbed back a little, which was risky. But then people started to say she deserved it. Soon it became this event of people posting what they wanted to throw at her.”

  “Oh. Wow.”

  “The power of social media,” Amy said with a grin.

  “So, about Mary Anne…”

  “Right. I’ll go get her.”

  Amy went into the back. I stared down at the glass case. All the delicious baked goods. I mentally thought about how I would have arranged everything. See, it was all about presentation. A feast for the eyes and then the stomach. To me, Mary Anne had too many big items on top. The top shelf should have been for the smaller stuff. The quick sales. The snack type stuff. And then lead down to the bigger items. The cakes, pies, whatever.

  But, hey, it wasn’t my bakery, right?

  “Well, there she is,” Mary Anne said, emerging from the back. “Figured you’d be trying out for a baseball team. Considering that ninety-mile-an-hour fastball with the eclair heard around the world.”

  “Funny,” I said. “I wanted to apologize for that.”

  “No need.”

  “I wanted to give you something.” I reached into my pocket and took out the check Mary Anne gave me. “I don’t… not that I don’t want it. It’s just…”

  “You don’t want it,” Mary Anne said.

  “I mean, I could really use this. But it’s not fair.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Mary Anne put her hands to the counter. “Look. I know your bakery didn’t work out. I gave you the job here because you’re good at what you do. I’m sorry about your sister. I wanted to extend my condolences. Figured you could use the time off.”

  “Do I have a job here?” I asked.

  “If you show up,” Mary Anne said.

  “I’m giving this check back because I’m not going to show up, Mary Anne. I’m sorry.”

  “For how long?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I don't want to take your money and then take off.”

  Mary Anne folded her arms. She took a deep breath and sighed. “Right. Well, here’s the way I see it. That check was your accrued vacation time. You never missed a day, Adena. You never got sick. You were always here, no matter the hell your sister caused you. I have to respect that. So you’re going to keep that check. As far as the other thing… okay.”

  “Okay?” I asked.

  “Okay.”

  “So that means…”

  Mary Anne crouched and a few seconds later popped up from behind the counter. She got a piece of tape and handed me a sign.

  “Hang that up on the way out,” she said.

  I looked down. It was a HELP WA
NTED sign.

  I looked at Mary Anne but I didn’t say anything else. There wasn’t anything else to say.

  I left the bakery but not before sticking the sign in the front window. That meant I was now simply a customer. And it also meant I had no job.

  Yet it didn’t worry me one bit.

  Why?

  Before it could sink in, Evan called me…

  “I’m pretty sure I lost my job today. For good.”

  I was naked, hovering over Evan’s chiseled body. His hands held my hips tight, pulling at me, wanting me.

  “What?” he asked, smiling.

  “I don’t know why I just said that. Shit. I’m ruining this.”

  “You’re not ruining a thing,” he said.

  His hands eased up my body. I loved how rough his hands were yet his touch was gentle. He cupped under my breasts and slowly eased his thumbs across my nipples.

  I dug my nails into his shoulders and sighed. “Evan…”

  “So… tell me what happened.”

  “What?” I asked. “We’re about to…”

  I gently bucked my hips forward and felt his thickness touch me. I shivered. My body craved him. A deep need that hated me for what I had said to pause our moment.

  “Dena, I want to hear about it.”

  “Fuck.”

  Evan let out an evil laugh.

  He leaned forward and slid his arms to my back. Next thing I knew, we were at the opposite end of the bed. My head resting at the foot of the bed. On top of the covers. Our legs wrapped tight together. I felt the swell of his cock against my inner thigh, pulsing, ready to go.

  My body was on fire.

  Evan balanced himself on his left elbow, his right hand touching my cheek. He slowly drew a line down my face and paused at my neck.

  “Go on, sweetheart,” he whispered.

  “Evan…”

  “Nope.”

  I growled. “The lady that owns the bakery gave me a week’s pay after… you know… the funeral and stuff…”

  “Okay,” Evan whispered.

  He moved his finger down to my chest. Slowly, he began to circle around my left nipple.

  I groaned. “So… I ended up throwing an eclair at someone.”

  “You what?” Evan asked.

  His finger kept moving.

  “That’s a longer story,” I said.

  “Okay,” he said.

  Inching down, Evan added a second finger and made little circles as he climbed down my stomach.

  “I shouldn’t have been there when it happened,” I said. “I went because it was a distraction. It was my fault. So I left that day. I never cashed the check. I never wanted it.”

  “Of course not,” Evan said. “That’s not your style.”

  His fingers paused at my lower stomach. My inner thighs trembled, waiting for him.

  I looked at Evan. “What are you…”

  “Keep telling me,” he whispered.

  I bit my lip and swallowed hard. “Fine. I went there today to give the check back. She refused to take it. She said as long as I…” Evan started to move down some more. His fingertips were welcomed by my damp warmth. I sucked in a breath. “… as long as I showed up…”

  His fingers eased down, cutting between my sensitive folds with ease. As his fingers curled, the pressure against my core made me shiver.

  “Easy, sweetheart,” Evan teased. “Easy…”

  My left hand grabbed his arm. “I fucking hate you right now.”

  “You started this.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Tell me the rest of the story.”

  “I told her I wasn’t coming back. So she told me to keep the check. Then she handed me a HELP WANTED sign and…”

  Evan moved his fingers up and pressed against my tender nub. My hips bucked and my head fell back. I shut my eyes and felt a tingling warmth surge through my body.

  “That was it then,” Evan whispered. His lips touched my neck. “Now you have no job.”

  His fingers inched down and thrust forward.

  I cried out as his fingers entered me. He was there and then just as fast, he was gone. He moved his hand up and rested against my most sensitive of areas.

  I caught my breath and looked at him.

  “I’m lost, Evan,” I whispered. “I can say that to you because I trust you. I don’t know where anything is going or what I’m doing.”

  “That’s a lie, Dena,” he said. “You know what you’re doing. You’re here with me. We’re stealing back some of the time that was stolen from us. And everything else around us? Fuck it all.”

  I smiled. “Fuck it all.”

  His lips touched mine. He moved over my body and now wasted no time in lowering himself down to me. My hands snuck down and touched his stomach, feeling hard muscle flexing tight as he began to have me.

  I kissed him as I groaned, my body still adjusting to that first shock of pressure. But, oh, what a shock it was to experience.

  His hands traveled down my body to my hips and right back up. Evan grabbed my hands and inched them up over my head. My arms dangled off the edge of the bed. His hands gripped the edge of the bed right as he inched up to his knees. He thrust harder and I could feel him deeper, tempting spots that had been forever untouched.

  He sent me over the edge of climax in record time, which seemed unfair, but who would ever complain about that? Plus, he was so good at it. Knowing when I hit that moment and the way he held there, pumping himself without exiting me, my body aching and clenching as I quickly reached for his back.

  Evan pulled at me, almost sitting me up as his hands held me tight. He eased back until he was sitting at the top of the bed, me now on top of him. He was still inside me. Our bodies connected. And everything was still. At least on the outside. On the inside, my body waged ten wars and seventeen battles. Every single one of them I was losing and was more willing to lose. Each one brought me closer to Evan, going far beyond the physical contact between us.

  His hands spread wide across my back. His stare was threatening to my heart. His right hand slid up into my hair. Curling his hand shut, pulling just enough to make me groan.

  He thrust up at me.

  I moaned.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he whispered.

  He pulled a little harder at my hair, forcing my head back. He ran his lips gently up and down my neck, not kissing me once, just torturing me.

  Using his other hand, he grabbed for one side of my ass and didn’t need to say a word for what he wanted. Pulling, lifting me, then right back down I went.

  After two times I reached back and grabbed his hand.

  I put his hand to my chest and kissed him.

  I curled my lip at him and whispered, “That’s right…”

  Evan tried to smirk but I didn’t give him the chance. I kissed him. And I started to buck my hips, taking all of him, giving all of me.

  Within seconds, I lost my mind.

  Evan’s hands soon felt like he was covering my entire body.

  I had no job. I had no money. I had… what felt like nothing.

  But all I had to do was open my eyes as I felt Evan inside me. And look at him.

  Just like that, I had everything.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  (Just a Little Bit of Fun)

  YEARS AGO

  (Adena)

  I couldn’t find Anna anywhere. Which was my own fault for not putting some kind of tracking device on her. I had spent hours baking everything needed for this wedding. The bride and groom even trusted me with their cake. It was the biggest job I ever took because there were so many people there. More so because I trusted Anna to help me. Her job was simple… organize the dessert area and stand there and offer people food. Explain what was what. I even went as far as to color code everything and wrote out index cards with what each item was.

  It was fool proof.

  But this was Anna…

  I turned to the three tier wedding cake and admired t
he work.

  It was as good as it was going to get. From here it was up to the bride and groom to give their final opinion.

  From the corner of my eye I spotted a handful of people at the dessert table.

  Anna was nowhere in sight.

  I sighed but then slapped a smile on my face. I had an event to take care of. I had a business to run. Plus, Anna was probably out back smoking. The one thing I asked her not to do. Just take one damn night and not smoke. Just stand behind the table. Smile. Enjoy the music. Eat desserts. Whatever. Just… be… here…

  And she wasn’t here.

  I slipped behind the dessert table and introduced myself.

  I explained all the delicious items and the four people each loaded up a small plate and walked away. I gazed around the giant ballroom. Most of the wedding guests were on or near the dance floor.

  I took the chance and snuck away from the table to go find Anna.

  Truthfully, it had been over an hour now since I realized she was missing. This wasn’t just a regular cigarette break. Either Anna had gotten herself into trouble or she just said fuck it and called for a ride to leave.

  I could handle the event on my own, that was fine.

  But I needed to make sure Anna was okay.

  I checked all the logical places, leaving me standing at the men’s restroom out in the main hallway. I put my hand to the door, shaking my head. I hoped to everything I wouldn’t have to explain to anyone why I was in the men’s restroom.

  The second I opened the door, it squeaked.

  Then I heard a giggle.

  Oh, no…

  I lowered my head, defeated.

  “Anna?” I called out.

  Then came the sound of shuffling. Clothes shuffling. Elbows hitting the inside of a bathroom stall. The sound of shoes echoing off the floor.

  It wasn’t hard to figure out which stall Anna was in.

  So that’s what she was doing? Finding some random guy to…

  The door opened and Anna looked a mess. Her hair was a mess. Her face looked a mess. Her clothes looked a mess. She put her hands to the doorway of the bathroom stall and started to laugh.

  “Are you kidding me right now?” I asked.

  “What?”