Page 69 of The House Guest

“But I don’t like aquamarine,” I added. “Soanycolor but that, okay?”

***

That evening at dinner, I gave Casey the rundown on our bridal shop trip—minus the aquamarine freakout, of course.

He wiped his mouth. “I’m so happy you found a dress you like.”

“Well,some of usliked it.” I glared teasingly at Rosie, who was playing with her pasta.

Casey laughed. “What do you mean?”

“Your daughter didn’t appreciate my style.”

He chuckled and tickled her side. “You didn’t like Mommy’s dress?”

She scrunched her nose and shook her head.

“You don’t mean that,” he said.

She giggled.

“Oh, I think she does. She wanted me in a conventional ballgown to match her Disney princesses.”

Casey smiled. “That’ssonot your taste.”

“It’s not.”

“Did Lucy get a dress?”

“Yup. She picked yellow, actually.”

He made a face. “Interesting. Not sure how I feel about that.”

“I know. But I told her she could pick the color.” I sighed. “I’ll get used to it. We also got a dress for Peanut.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot she was getting a dress today, too.” He turned to our daughter. “Tell me about your dress, baby girl.”

She shook her head.

I wiped some spaghetti sauce off her mouth. “You’rebeing silly.”

“It’s so pretty,” she finally said.

“It is.” I nodded. “It’s white with sparkles.”

“Sparkles!” Casey beamed with exaggerated amazement. “I should’ve known. Can’t wait to see how you dirty that up by the end of the night.”

“Oh, you can count on that.” I laughed.

After I washed Rosie’s hands and face, she played in the living room while I returned to the kitchen. As I was stacking the dishwasher, Casey came up behind me and rubbed my back. “Everything okay with you?”

I froze. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, for someone who went dress shopping today, you seem a bit…down. Shouldn’t that have put you in a good mood?”

How could I look my fiancé in the eyes and tell him I was down because the mere mention of a color had sent me into a tailspin over an old boyfriend?

Casey didn’t know too many details about the Dorian Vanderbilt heartbreak. When I met Casey, I told him I’d had a boyfriend back in California and things had ended badly. I never mentioned Dorian’s name; although Casey knew the man I’d dated was Christina’s stepson. Whenever he’d pry, I’d shy away from the details. There were no words to properly describe the betrayal I’d felt when I moved out of the mansion. What happened with Dorian had made me forever doubt my judgment. The one time I’d decided to trust someone had backfired.