But Shelly’d had time to plan leaving with Jared. She had taken Hallie’s suitcase and carefully filled it with her own clothes and a lot of Hallie’s. When the plans had changed, Hallie had emptied her suitcase of what Shelly had packed and pulled her own garments from the pile. One item was a plain black sheath dress, silk, with little straps. It had been in the very back of Hallie’s closet, saved for a special occasion that had never come. Right now Hallie was very glad she had the dress. Should she thank Shelly for pulling it out, she wondered, and almost laughed at the idea.
It took her a while to blow-dry her hair and she was almost sad to take away the reminder of Jamie’s washing it. As she worked, she hummed every tune from South Pacific.
When she put the dress on, she was surprised that it was a bit loose. When she’d bought it, it had fit like it was painted on her.
She opened the little jewelry roll that Shelly had filled and found things she hadn’t worn in years. She chose a plain gold chain and matching earrings.
When Jamie politely knocked on her bedroom door, she was ready.
“Wow!” he said. “You look great. Let’s stay in and make out.”
Hallie laughed. “I want dinner with wine, and you don’t look bad yourself.”
“Thanks,” he said and let her go down the stairs before him.
When they were at the front door, she handed him the car keys, her eyes daring him to say no. He’d driven before and he could do it again.
As they pulled out, Hallie said, “Tell me about the wedding. How many of your family are coming?”
“A lot of them. Everyone loves Aunt Jilly. You’ll be introduced to all of them, then you’ll be quizzed on the names. But if you forget every Montgomery, that’s understandable.”
“Poor Montgomerys. But I was more interested in them individually, such as…I know, who’s the smartest?”
“My dad and his brother. But that’s just my opinion and don’t tell either of them I said that.”
“Nicest?”
“Without a doubt, Aunt Jilly.”
“Best looking?”
“My brother Todd,” Jamie said with a little smile.
“Okay,” Hallie said. “Who is the most interesting?”
“That would be Uncle Kit. No question about it. In spite of the fact that he’s a Montgomery, he’s interesting because no one knows much about him, not his job, his personal life, nothing. All very mysterious.”
Kind of like you, Hallie thought but didn’t say. “What do you think he does?”
“He’s a spy. All of us in the family believe that. One time he showed up at Christmas with two teenagers—a boy and a girl—and introduced them as his children. The kids were very sophisticated and accomplished. They could do anything, from sports to brain games. They were quite intimidating.”
“Surely not in a gym. They couldn’t possibly outlift you.”
Jamie smiled. “You have raised my ego to the sky! But alas, it’s my cousin Raine who’s the winner on that score. We never saw the kids after that one Christmas. I think they thought we were barbarians.”
“Even the Montgomerys?”
“Yes. Shocking, isn’t it? You should
see Uncle Kit with my mother. She quizzes him mercilessly, but he never tells her anything. We all believe her Detective Dacre, who is a retired spy, is based on him.”
“Will your uncle Kit be at the wedding?”
“Who knows? Just look for tall, thin, lots of gray hair, and elegant. My mom likes to come up with things to see if he can do them, like archery and fencing and backgammon. He’s never disappointed her yet.”
Hallie laughed. “Your mother!”
“Yeah, I know.” He pulled into the parking lot of the Sea Grille, turned off the engine, and looked at her. “She’ll like you.”