They Thought My Mate Chose Her novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Fifth Street
We opened the door at eight.
By eight fifteen, Kitto had a pencil behind each ear and one in his teeth.
"One at a time," he said around it. "Fittings to the left. Pickups to the right. Gossip in the back with the oldest widow, she's taking appointments."
The bride from Lake Linden was first.
She'd cancelled her fitting the morning after Tressa's photos.
She stood at my counter with her dress in a bag and her face pink.
"I'm sorry," she said. "About before."
"Is the wedding still on?"
"January."
"Then get on the box," I said. "Let's see what we've got."
Behind her were the two pack wives who'd taken their husbands' suits back with the pins still in.
They'd brought the suits back, with the pins still in.
Behind them was the man from the hardware store with a sport coat over his arm.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
"I said a stupid thing in the hall," he said.
"You said an honest thing in the hall. Sleeves?"
"Sleeves."
Then there were girls.
Girls I'd hemmed prom dresses for, and girls I didn't know at all, from Houghton and Hancock and further.
Every one of them wanted to see the gown.
It stood in the front window on my mother's dress form, red to the knee and charcoal below.
The whole street could look at it.
"Can you make me one?" a girl from Hancock asked, with her nose almost on the glass.
"Not that one," I said. "One of yours."
At ten, the senior elder came in out of the cold with a stack of envelopes.
He didn't take a number.
He walked down the shop to the long table at the back, where the widows were sewing, and handed them out one by one.
The oldest widow opened hers with her shears.
Keep reading free with an account. Start They Thought My Mate Chose Her from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend