Read Online Don't Kiss Him Good-Bye by Sandra Byrd - Free Book Online

dress is still here.” She headed over to the rounder, pulled out the Faerie dress, and held it up.
    Penny looked at me. “Dress?”
    “Not for me.” I shook my head. “My friend Penny needs one, though.”
    “Oh yes, sure,” Becky recovered nicely, sliding Faeries back onto the rack. After talking with Penny for a few minutes to get an idea of what kind of style she liked and what kind of shoes she preferred, she ran through the store and gathered up a few dresses, slung them over her arm like puffy bags of multicolored cotton candy, and headed back to the try-on rooms. “Just let me know if you need help!” she called out as Penny disappeared into the room. I sat on one of the chairs outside the try-ons and waited for Penny to appear.
    Meanwhile, I had an incoming text. It was Rhys, wanting to know what I was doing. I started texting back.
    “Ahem.” I heard Penny clear her throat.
    “Oh, sorry,” I said. “Rhys gets mad if I don’t text him back, like, right away.” I pushed Send and turned off my phone.
    A disconcerted look crossed Penny’s face, but it passed quickly. Then she looked down at her dress. “What not to wear?” she asked.
    It was a pink confection that made Penny look like Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz . Definitely a no-go. We both burst into laughter as Penny pretended to have a magic wand. “No fancy dress,” I reminded her.
    The second dress, a deep purple one, was a bit too mature. “Vampire getup,” she said.
    The last dress was perfect. Teal blue and shot through with silver, it had a close-fitted sweetheart bodice and ended midcalf with a little Spanish flounce. “One of a kind,” Becky said. “No one else will be wearing this one!”
    Penny and I looked at each other, and then she turned back to the three-way mirror and spun around before looking at me again. We said it at the same time: “It’s perfect!” Then we jumped up and down and squealed like seven-year-olds.
    Becky agreed to put it on hold till Penny could come back the next day with her mom and pay for it. “The bill can tot up rather quickly,” Becky said.
    “Mum can help me pick out some accessories too,” Penny said. “I know she was looking forward to shopping together.”
    On the way out of the shop, Becky caught my arm. “Thanks for bringing in a friend, Savvy. Every little bit helps.”
    “You’re welcome,” I said. Penny headed out ahead of me, and before I walked out the door, I glanced back one last time at the Faerie dress.

Chapter 24

    We sat at the dinner table with Penny’s mother, father, and older brother. Her oldest brother was away at university.
    “Tell us a bit about your family and how you got to London,” Mrs. Barrowman said.
    I shared about my dad’s job and how he’d been offered a chance to move here for at least a few years, maybe for good, and that we’d decided as a family it would be a fun adventure.
    “And has it?” Penny’s brother asked.
    “Mostly,” I said. “I’m starting to feel like I really fit in here.”
    “Welcome home,” her dad said kindly.
    “Her mum likes to garden.” Penny turned toward her mother. “Just like you!”
    “Well, then,” Mrs. Barrowman said, “perhaps she’d like to come on the second . . . ?”
    I saw Penny catch her mother’s eye and shake her head ever so slightly. Mrs. Barrowman let her voice drop and then picked up another topic. “Pudding, anyone?” She stood to clear the dishes. I knew pudding meant all desserts. There was a general murmur of approval. Penny got up to help her mother clear the dishes but indicated that I should stay in my seat.
    “You’re a guest,” she said. I had the feeling, though, that she wanted to talk with her mom in private, in the kitchen.
    I sat there, a bit deflated. Had her mother just been about to invite my mom to a gardening event, something my mom would love? It sure seemed like it. So why had Penny shushed her?
    I made it through the pudding with a smile