“You know you have to unzip the bags to see what’s inside, right?”
She glanced at me, then started to undo the first bag.
There were lots of Oh wows, This is gorgeous-es and Jiminy Crickets as she unpacked and examined all four dresses.
“Which is your favorite?” she asked. They all seemed nice to me, and Hollie would make anything look gorgeous.
“I like them all. You could video call your sister and ask her opinion.”
She held the navy-blue sequined dress against her body and swung her hips. “I don’t think so.”
“She doesn’t have good taste?” She and her sister shared everything. I would have thought that trying on clothes would be a classic sister bonding activity.
“I don’t want to make her feel bad.”
“Feel bad? Why would she feel bad because you have something nice?”
She hung the dress back on the hanger and took down the black halter-neck Tom Ford. “She’d be completely happy for me. But the Sunshine Trailer Park is a long way away from your Knightsbridge apartment. And I would hate it if she felt a little sorry for herself when we got off the phone. This is . . . a lot.” She swept her hand around, so I wasn’t sure if she meant the gift was a lot or my apartment or London . . . or our relationship.
“Too much?”
She shook her head and slid her hands around my waist. “Of course not. You’re amazing. I’m bursting at the seams to show her these dresses and your apartment, where I’m actually staying. My life is like some kind of fairytale at the moment. But hers isn’t, and she doesn’t need to be reminded of that.”
Hollie was such a beautiful human being that she was prepared to put a lid on her own happiness just in case it created a shadow over her sister. “You’re a good sister.”
“It’s my job,” she said.
I wish David had felt that way. I’d found him with just a Google search, still working back office at a bank. I didn’t know if he was married or if he had children. Maybe if he had, he’d regret what he’d done to me. Maybe he understood the value of family now.
“But you know I’ve made plenty of wrong decisions in my time,” she said. “When I first got the trailer and moved out of my parents’ place, I left Autumn with Mom and Dad.” She shook her head and a curtain of shame fell across her face.
“You were fifteen and your sister was eleven. You were a kid, even if you were old enough to forge your parents’ signature on a lease, from what you’ve told me. There’s nothing to feel bad about.”
“I know. I try to make up for it. And Autumn didn’t hold it against me, which I’m grateful for.”
“Have you ever fallen out?” I asked. Their situation wasn’t enviable, but their relationship certainly was.
“Yeah. We argue a lot when we’re living together.” She took the red Valentino dress off the rack—it had a big, floaty skirt and she twirled around, the fabric lifting as she turned. “I mean, there’s not much space and she’s so messy she drives me crazy. But our differences have only almost broken us once.” She turned away from me and put the dress back on the rail. “I told her I wasn’t going to pay tuition for her if she went to some community college in Idaho.” Her shoulders lifted and her head bowed. “She hated me. But I knew she’d picked the place because her boyfriend was going there. And she had an offer from Oregon State, which is a really good school. And she could still live at home and commute, which would save so much money.”
I nodded, trying to be encouraging. She was clearly just trying to do the best for her sister. “I’m sure she gets it now.”
“I hope. She still brings it up every now and then.” Her voice rose an octave as she said, “It was hard because my parents took her side. I wanted to cave in so many times but I knew that guy would end up dumping her and she’d end up dropping out and she’d have lost her place at Oregon State . . . but I couldn’t say that to her.” She pulled the next dress from the rail. “That red one was really pretty,” she said, sounding like her dog had just been run over.
I didn’t know how to make her feel better. I knew a pretty dress wasn’t going to cut it. “What can I do? I hate to see you sad.”
She sucked in a breath and unhooked the final dress from the rail. “It’s fine. I was looking out for her, trying to do the best I could by her. So, I have to live with that. And this is really pretty,” she said, holding up a long black one.