Chapter 19: The Gold Dress

Vicki's POV

I wore the gold dress.

Cass's new one hung in a garment bag on my office door, with the tag still on.

The old dress fit the same as on his birthday.

This time I zipped it myself.

At seven the ballroom doors opened, and a hundred and forty people came in under the chandeliers.

Carson's team from the old company, Cass's parents, his cousins, and his mother in pearls.

Ben's sister waved at me from table four. I waved back.

At table one, my mother sat down in her forty-dollar navy dress, beside the vice president from Denver.

She smiled at me across the room.

Elias stood against the far wall in a dark suit that did not quite fit him.

He didn't come over. He lifted two fingers from his glass, and I nodded once.

The night cook stood at the kitchen doors with his arms folded and a ladle in his belt.

I picked up the microphone at seven thirty.

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Lakefront Grand."

I got through the welcome. I got through the toast.

Then Carson stood up at the head table, and the room went quiet.

He took Cass's hand and drew her up next to him.

She was in white. She pressed her free hand over her mouth and acted surprised.

"I'm not good at the hard part of things," Carson said into his own microphone.

A few people laughed.

"But I know what I want. I've known for a long time."

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