I blinked. “Wow. there’s a lot of stuff here.”
Clint chuckled. “Yeah. And we’ve been at it for three hours.”
Cecilia called out. “Except for that break you took!”
I furrowed my brow. “What break?”
He grinned. “I sold more stuff tonight.”
I threw my arms around him and rejoiced with him. Even though things felt more disconnected than ever, I knew they would fall into place the way they needed to. I felt it in my bones. The chaos was slowly coming to a close, this chapter of all of our lives coming to an end.
Finally.
After struggling for weeks.
I jumped into the sorting and packing. Cecilia handed off some used luggage she didn’t want anymore, and I snickered when she handed it to me. Louis Vuitton luggage. A beautiful brown with creamy tan logos emblazoned onto it. Clint ended up tossing all sorts of things into the luggage. Random purses he thought I might like. Sunglasses that looked absolutely ridiculous on me. Jewelry Cecilia didn’t want to lug with her that he thought my mom might enjoy.
There had to be at least two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stuff in one of these suitcases.
“No, no, no. I can’t take any more. This is too much.”
Clint smiled. “Oh, come on. This dress still has the tags on it. And you don’t think this would look great on you?”
I snickered. “I’m flattered you think it might fit.”
Cecilia rubbed my back. “I think it would fit you. The material stretches. It’s supposed to mold to your body. You’re, what? A size twelve?”
I paused. “How did you pinpoint that?”
She winked. “It’s a gift. Hold on.”
I watched her walk into the back of the closet as Clint folded that dress up. He shoved it into one of the suitcases before zipping it up, and I heard him struggling with it. The damn thing was almost bursting at the seams. And I didn’t know what to do with—well—any of this. The jewelry they wanted to give me. The designer sunglasses. The outfits.
I’d never worn stuff like this before.
Nor my mother.
“Here we are. Take a look at this.”
Cecilia came around the corner with the most beautiful dress in her hands. A hunter green dress, with silken fabric that sparkled in the lights of the closet. She held it up, and my eyes followed it. A full-length dress with off-the-shoulder straps and a built-in bra laid into the corset top.
“It’s—it’s beautiful.”
Cecilia smiled. “A ten-twelve. Which I think will fit you just fine.”
She handed it to me, and the first thing that flashed through my mind was ‘prom.’
It was the perfect prom dress.
Before I knew it, I had matching shoes in my hands. Dainty white gold jewelry that matched. Even a clutch purse that went with that dress, and that dress alone. Clint took it all out of my hands and packed it away. They continued filling those bags with things they thought I might like until there was no room left in the luggage. Tears rushed my eyes. I didn’t know what to say, or think, or do.
“Thank—thank you. I don’t—I wouldn't—how do you even wash stuff like this?”
Cecilia smiled. “I’m sure Clint can talk you through that.”
I paused. “Clint?”
He chuckled. “I’m not completely inept in the ways of cleaning expensive clothes. I am my father’s son, after all.”