Julia admonished herself for the thought. Money doesn’t make people happy. She’s probably miserable and lonely. Why else would she come to the shop alone when someone like her could have whatever she wanted delivered?
Turning her attention back to the mirror, Julia held her hair up and studied it from the side. No, I’ll feel like I’m going to prom. Simple is better. She sternly looked at herself in the mirror again. Not that I’m going. She let her hair drop, then brought her hands up to undo the zipper, but it was caught.
Oh, great.
She tried again without success.
Maybe I can get it over my head without unzipping it.
The material fit her too snuggly.
In resignation she opened the dressing-room door and stepped out. Giving in to an inner impish impulse, she walked over to the older woman, who had maintained her health into what looked like her late seventies. She stopped in front of her, turned, and spoke over her shoulder to her. “Do you mind unzipping me?”
The woman’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
Kill them with kindness. That was her father’s motto—and honestly, sometimes it was fun to do. She pretended not to understand that the older woman found the request distasteful. “The zipper is stuck. Could you give it a little pull?”
“Do I look like I work here?” the woman asked in a tone a queen might use in the presence of one of her filthiest subjects.
Then a bit of her no-nonsense mother came out. Turning around to face the woman, Julia said bluntly, “No. I’ve found the people who work here to be quite pleasant.”
“Unbelievable. They will let anyone shop here now, won’t they? I’ve never, in all of my life, met anyone so without class.”
With a sweet smile, Julia said, “I have. I heard you talking to the clerk. You know what? I don’t care how much money you have, you shouldn’t treat people that way. She probably makes just over minimum wage plus commission, so she has to kiss your ass, but I don’t. You weren’t nice to her, but you should have been. I feel sorry for you if you can’t see that.”
A slow red spread up the woman’s face. She opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap.
The clerk returned and, with a shaking hand, handed a glass to the older woman, who accepted it and said, “Thank you.” A show of manners that seemed to surprise the clerk. Then she said, “You may want to help this young lady out of her dress. She’s trapped.”
The clerk said in a rush, “It’ll only take a moment.”
With an expression Julia couldn’t decipher, the older woman said, “Take your time.”
Julia returned to the dressing room, followed by the young clerk. Once inside, the woman made quick work of untangling the material that had wedged inside the zipper. Then she met Julia’s eyes in the mirror and said, “I heard what you said to her. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to tell her off, but I need this job.”
“My father always says that people treat others the way they feel on the inside. She can’t be a happy woman.”
From across the floor, Mrs. Rockport said, “Until just now I had no idea that the dressing rooms were not soundproof.”
Julia and the clerk hunched over in a shared guilty laugh they fought to contain.
The clerk said, in a much softer tone than she’d used before, “She heard us. I am so fired.”
If there was one thing working in her father’s showroom had taught Julia, it was how to calm a disgruntled customer. “I’ll fix this,” she whispered.
Changing hastily back into her jeans and blouse, Julia squared her shoulders and went to face the woman, hoping to smooth some ruffled feathers. The clerk would likely spend the rest of the day hiding in the changing room if it didn’t work. She walked directly over to the woman and said, “Don’t be upset with the clerk. This was my fault. My mouth gets ahead of my brain sometimes. That was unforgivably rude of me. I apologize.”
Settling somewhat, Mrs. Rockport said, “Everyone has an off day. I, myself, woke up in a foul mood.”
Julia hid her grin but couldn’t hold her tongue. “It didn’t show at all.”
The woman narrowed her eyes, then let out a bark of a laugh. “You have spunk, don’t you? I was like you when I was younger. Outspoken long before it was fashionable to be so.”
Julia’s face split in a genuine smile. “I can see you as a firecracker.”
“Oh, I was. My father feared I’d never settle down.” She looked wistful as old memories brought a small smile to her face, but the moment was short-lived. “I did, of course. Everyone does.” She sat down as if suddenly tired, then said, “So, tell me about the man you’re buying that dress for.”
“I’m not buying it,” Julia said in a rush. “I could never afford something like that.”
The woman looked her over shrewdly. “So, he’s buying it for you?”
“Maybe,” Julia said and plopped down on the seat next to the woman who a moment ago had been an adversary. “I shouldn’t let him. Really, if I had any sense, I wouldn’t even see him again.” Without waiting for a response from the older woman, Julia said, “He’s rich and used to getting what he wants. I come from a working-class family. I don’t care which fork is the right one to use at dinner, and he was probably born knowing that sort of thing. All we really have in common is—” Julia stopped and blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you.”
Mrs. Rockport quietly studied her for a moment, then said, “I married my first husband against my father’s wishes. He didn’t come from money. In fact, when I met him he didn’t even have a job. But he had dreams and a smile that could make a foolish decision seem like the only one that made sense.”
Julia turned in her seat. “What happened?”
“We had one magical year, then the Korean War started and he signed up to go. His friends were going and, even though my father would have helped him dodge the draft, he wanted to serve his country.” Her face twisted a bit. “He never came home.”
Julia put her hand on the woman’s and wiped a tear away with her other. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Mrs. Rockport patted her hand and recomposed herself. “It was a long time ago. I married again. He was a good man who loved me very much. He died, too, a few years ago.” She took a deep breath. “You can make all the plans you want, but life has a way of turning out however the hell it wants to, no matter what you do. And in the end, all you have are memories.”
Uncharacteristically, Julia was speechless.
The older woman laced her fingers in thought. “Let your man buy you that dress. Give yourself something to smile about when you’re my age.”
Julia blushed and instinctively touched her necklace. Would everything work out the way it was supposed to, even if she let herself look away long enough to build those memories?
“That’s a beautiful piece you’re wearing,” Mrs. Rockport said.
Julia smiled. “I designed it. The gems aren’t real. When I have my own business one day it will have real stones, but for now that’s just a dream.”
“May I?”
Julia nodded and the woman touched it lightly.