Three days later, it was my birthday and I hadn’t seen one sign of Keiran since I had awakened and found his side of the bed empty. I slowly dragged myself from the bed to begin my morning ablutions. I had been in the middle of brushing my teeth when the doorbell rang. I descended the stairs with my toothbrush in hand and found Keenan and Sheldon’s porch overrun with my friends.
“Happy Birthday!!!!” They screamed it so loud, Haven, who Willow held in her arms, woke up with a hitch-pitched cry.
“Well, shit,” Dash muttered and took him from Willow. He brushed past me with his son and sat on the couch.
“You gonna let us in?” Keenan questioned with a lifted brow.
“It’s your house, Sherlock. Why were you outside anyway?”
“Dramatic effect,” he called over his shoulder and disappeared into the kitchen. I looked at all my friends standing around in the living room and giving me weird looks and glancing away just as quickly.
“What?”
“Nothing,” they all answered too quickly. My eyes narrowed, but they wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“Listen, has anyone seen Keiran? He’s not here.” I tried not to let my agitation be known, but waking up on your birthday to find your boyfriend missing after three days of distance was not the way I saw this going down.
“He had something important to take care of,” Dash answered without taking his eyes away from Haven.
“And he couldn’t tell me that? Better yet, it couldn’t wait?” He only shrugged, but he still wouldn’t meet my gaze, so it only pissed me off more.
“We came to take you out to breakfast to get your birthday started.” Sheldon giggled. It sounded forced, and I had the feeling she was only trying to take the heat off Dash.
“I’m not hungry.”
“But we are, so put this on,” Willow stated and passed me a garment bag she took from the coat closet. Inside was a simple white dress that would easily sweep the floor.
“Um…?”
I looked up at Willow feeling odd. It was then I noticed they were all a little dressed up for a simple breakfast.
Even Kennedy wore a baby blue dress with a bow tied around her waist.
“It’s a really nice restaurant,” Dash offered at my bewildered look. Keenan came out of nowhere and nudged me toward the stairs. When I reached Keiran’s old bedroom, I laid the garment bag down with shaking hands.
Something was up. I just couldn’t pinpoint why they were all acting so strange, but I had a feeling Keiran’s disappearance had something to do with it.
I jumped into the shower and turned the hot water on full force. Thirty minutes later, after drying and curling my hair, I returned to the bedroom and stood with a towel wrapped around me as I stared at the white dress that could almost pass for a gown.
I unzipped the bag and carefully lifted it from the plastic. “What the hell was Willow thinking?” I questioned out loud to no one. The strapless gown—because I couldn’t think of it as anything but—was even more beautiful without the clear plastic surrounding it. It was the tiny, pearl-like beading, decorating the bodice that transformed it from simple to elegance.
Inside the bag, I also found a white panty and garter set and thought she had gone too far, but then I reminded myself it was Willow so I would humor her. The doctor warned that it would be a while before her hormone levels returned to normal. In other words, tread carefully.
Once I finished dressing, I used the full-length mirror in the corner and stared at my reflection. Despite how bad I felt about Keiran missing on my birthday, the dress made me feel beautiful and wiped away every negative feeling I’d had since waking up.
That was until I studied how the gown teased the tops of my feet and realized I had no shoes that would go well with the dress. I hurried for the door and opened them, only to find Dash standing there, holding up the familiar nude wedges Keiran bought me for our first Valentine’s date.
“Wha—How did you get these?”
“Magic happens on special days like these. You look beautiful,” he whispered.
“Thank you.” I took the shoes and studied them. They were hardly the best option for the dress. “They don’t really go.”
“He insisted,” Dash simply said and kissed me on my forehead before sauntering away. I slid the shoes on and followed after him. Everyone was waiting downstairs when I made it down. Willow stood a few feet away, and when she saw me, she started crying for some reason. I tried to go to her, but Keenan pulled me in the opposite direction.
“Hormones,” he muttered and led me out the door. I began to feel a nervous flutter as we drove away in separate cars. Keenan and Sheldon drove me while Dash and Willow followed behind with Kennedy and Haven. I looked down, my hands shaking in my lap, and took a deep breath.
God, get it together. It was only breakfast.