Dresses
Then she went still.
Gary noticed. “Ma’am?”
Mrs. Howard looked from the dress to me. “Has anyone else brought this in?”
“No.”
Clothing
“Photos of it, maybe?”
The room tilted.
“Has anyone else brought this in?”
“What do you mean, photos?”
“About a month ago, a woman came in with photos of a dress almost exactly like this. Same color, same bodice, same flowers.”
My fingers tightened on the counter. “What did she want?”
“A copy,” Mrs. Howard said. “Exact. Rushed before prom.”
Pregnancy & Maternity
Gary’s voice stayed calm. “Did you make it?”
“What did she want?”
“No. I asked who made the original. She said it didn’t matter.”
“What did she look like?” he asked.
“Tall. Blonde. Mid-forties. Expensive purse. Impatient.”
I didn’t say Shirley’s name.
I didn’t have to.
Parenting
Mrs. Howard touched the lining near the waist. “Your mother signed her work, you know.”
“She said it didn’t matter.”
“What?”
She lifted the fabric.
There, in tiny blue thread, was a K.
Kathy.
I pressed my fingers to it and cried.
Special Occasions
Gary just stood beside me.
She lifted the fabric.
Prom night came anyway.
I almost didn’t go, but I stood in my room wearing the dress. For a second, I saw Mom in my face.
Then I saw myself, tired and angry but still standing.
I touched the tiny blue K inside the lining. “I won’t disappear, Mama.”
Dresses
Downstairs, Dad sat with a newspaper open in his lap.
When he looked up, his face broke. “Delilah. You look just like your mother.”
“I won’t disappear, Mama.”
For a moment, I waited for more.
Then Shirley called from the kitchen, “Let’s hope she doesn’t spend the whole night crying like her.”
Dad flinched.
I looked at him. “Say something.”
Photographic & Digital Arts
He lowered his eyes. “Shirley, please.”
Shirley appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on a towel. “You don’t want to be late.”
“Shirley, please.”
“No,” I said, picking up my clutch. “I don’t.”
When Gary arrived, his smile disappeared the second he saw me.
“Is it too much?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Beautiful.”
People & Society
At prom, I almost breathed normally.
Sarah found us near the punch table. “Delilah, that dress is gorgeous. Is it vintage?”
“Is it too much?”
“My mom made it.”
Her face softened.
Gary handed me punch. “She’d be proud.”
Then the side doors opened for the parent chaperones.
Women’s Clothing
I turned, looking for Dad.
Instead, I saw Shirley.
“She’d be proud.”
My cup slipped from my hand.
Shirley walked in wearing my dress.
