The Complete Where Dreams

by M. L. Buchman

  The boat parade had broken up. A few boats lingered, but most were headed back toward their berths. The girls had gone back with the two boys to return the boat to Shilshole Marina a few miles to the north. Not enough seats in the carpool for all of them to stay together, Hogan and Maria had been dropped back at the pier to walk the few blocks up the hill.

  “What did I do to whom? Oh Perrin. Didn’t do anything. I like her.”

  Maria watched Hogan, trying to read those thoughts he kept mostly to himself. You would think after raising Angelo and Russell, she’d be used to reticent men. Of course, Angelo’s father had been anything but reticent, he had talked at length about dreams, plans, and the future. None of which had happened. The moment she was pregnant, he was gone. Perhaps reticent was a good thing. Hogan spoke, but mainly when he had something to say.

  He deserved some peace tonight, he had survived the gauntlet. He’d impossibly befriended Angelo and Russell, clearly tonight they were as thick as thieves and comfortable together. He’d also won Cassidy and Jo’s probationary approval, not an easy task. She’d seen them double-teaming him several times on the boat. They were subtle, handing off questions mixed in idle conversation. Of course, she’d expect no less from two such successful women.

  It was Perrin who surprised her. The evening had begun with Perrin threatening Hogan. Not long after, Maria had seen the two speak for just a few moments. Maria would have paid several secret recipes to overhear that conversation, but couldn’t figure out how to do it. And it was over so abruptly she’d never had a chance to move closer.

  Then Perrin had come over, hugged her, and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to start designing your wedding dress. You’ll look incredible.” She’d given one of her shrug-off laughs and gone after more mulled cider, leaving Maria in such a state of shock she couldn’t speak even when Angelo asked if she was okay.

  Wedding dress? She’d seen the dresses that Perrin had designed for Cassidy and Jo’s weddings and they were stunning. They were getting press for Perrin’s Glorious Garb and Russell had designed a beautiful ad using them. But there was no chance that Maria was ready for a wedding dress. They’d only known each other for… That couldn’t be right.

  “Hogan, what date did you first come to my window?”

  “December first. Why?”

  She didn’t say anything. It was too little time.

  “Oh. December 14th. Our two-week anniversary. And I didn’t get you a present. Bad Hogan. Bad Hogan.” As if that were his new first name.

  “A present?” Her voice was a choked squeak that had nothing to do with reaching the top step and broad landing at the head of the long climb.

  “Well, either I owe you a present, or you’re busy thinking what I’m thinking.”

  “And what’s that?” she was almost afraid to ask.

  He turned her to face him. The moon still shone in the sky above, the brighter stars showing despite the streetlights. Of the whole waterfront, only the Ferris wheel still towered above them, lit red and green in celebration of the season and the boat parade.

  “I’m thinking how impossible it is that I’ve fallen in love in a mere fourteen days.”

  She heard the word come from his lips.

  She knew that it reached her ears, because she heard it.

  But it stalled somewhere before it reached her brain.

  “Love?”

  He nodded, almost sadly. Then he pulled her in and kissed her on the forehead. “I know. We had such a beautiful friendship going on here. It’s a real pain for me to go off and fall in love with you, isn’t it? Throws in all sorts of complications. But true nonetheless.”

  “Complications?” She could barely understand what he was saying. Why did her brain choose that word to whisper? She should be saying— No, she shouldn’t! Absolutely not! She was positively not ready to be saying that.

  “Yes. Now Angelo is going to have to figure out whether or not he really is going to kill me. Russell I think I can play the fellow-sailor card to buy my safety. Actually, he’d probably just sit back while cheering on both sides whichever way it goes. Jo and Cassidy will definitely escalate from tonight’s efforts to a full Spanish Inquisition. Torture with soft pillows, comfy chairs, the whole nine yards of Monty Python. They’re very cute when they think they’re being subtle.”

  “And Perrin?”

  Hogan pulled her into his arms and wrapped her tight and safe against him. He blocked any chances of shakes or terrors that she expected to be feeling. He nuzzled her hair briefly before whispering his response.

  “Perrin. My best guess is that she’ll be your maid of honor, holding the shotgun to my back if necessary.”

  Chapter 11

  Maria didn’t know which way to turn. She couldn’t call the girls. Each of their biases were clear. She certainly couldn’t sit down with her son, and even less so with Russell. She wanted to call Julia Morgan, but she and her husband were somewhere in Australia, at least according to their last postcard. With her husband’s retirement, the two of them had become world travelers.

  It was ridiculous. She knew everyone in Pike Place Market, and had no one to talk to. Except Hogan. But he was the last person she was going to be talking to about Hogan.

  He’d been very patient and kind with her all week. Not demanding that she respond. Not insisting on the words. She couldn’t imagine how it must hurt him. She wanted to say them, but each time she tried, they caught in her heart, bound there as if by chains.

  She had loved and lost. It had gotten her a wonderful son and a wonderful life, but that early pain was still wound tightly deep in her breast.

  At a loss, Maria finally went by Perrin’s store. Her shop was nestled in the ground floor of an old brick building on Second Avenue just a few blocks north of the Market. Hogan told her that this whole area of Bell Town had totally transformed over the last decade. It had been the rundown edge of Seattle’s downtown. Now it was the newest.

  Tall condos had invaded only in a few places. But the old brick facades were cleaned up and in good shape, filled with dozens of small entrepreneurs in every city block. Boutiques, both tiny and larger like Perrin’s, were packed in among food vendors, tiny restaurants, dance clubs, bars, offices of creative design companies… It was an almost dizzying collection of youthful energy.

  She ducked through the glass door of Perrin’s Glorious Garb, a tinkling bell announcing her arrival. Maria always loved coming here, and not just for the amazing clothing. Perrin had taken over an old 1950s diner and turned it into a generous menu of bold options. The place had a light, cheerful feel that was a pleasure all in itself.

  In one red leather booth, all of the tables had been removed to reveal the outfits, sat a trio of women mannequins clad in form-fitting attire. But it wasn’t just some clingy fabric, not if Perrin designed it. The blouses and skirts had sculpted collars that made them appear far more provocative than they actually were if you managed to focus on the minimal amount of skin exposed. They were also in powerful colors that would draw an entire room’s attention on whichever woman wore these.

  She considered how the second one might look on her for a moment. No. Not quite her style. Perrin was right, these were constructed rather than the softer looks that Maria preferred.

  In another booth lounged a pair of bridesmaids with their feet propped comfortably on the opposite bench seat, revealing Perrin’s magnificent skill at draping and her understanding of a woman’s body. They were in a shocking rainbow of color, broad stripes swirling about the mannequin forms. It should have been ugly, even grotesque, yet Maria could almost see herself standing beside three women so clad.

  A clerk and a couple women were chatting comfortably in front of a triple mirror, one blond and slender, the other Jamaican dark and bountifully curved. They were both trying on business suits, though that was perhaps the only phrase that connected the two garments. Wholly different designs and fabrics, but they bore the same clear punch of power. Not “I am a w
oman in a man’s world,” but rather “I am Woman! Watch out!”

  “Maria!” Perrin came out of the back room and rushed over to give her a big hug. She still had her stark white hair, and her face was still unadorned, but she wore an emerald green blouse and skirt that looked like a flapper’s dress, if it had been made for a futuristic science fiction movie out of slick fabrics. She looked incredibly alluring and glamorous. She also looked as if she belonged to a far superior race and had just been beamed down to the Planet Earth.

  “Come! Come!” Perrin dragged her through the doors into the back room. It had been the kitchen and was now set up with stylish raincoats on spatula-wielding mannequins, racks of colorful umbrellas dangled from above rather than copper pots and pans, and shoe-lined pantry shelves. She dragged Maria on through an open walk-in freezer lined with shelves of accessories and into her design space through a swinging door installed through the rear of the steel-clad cubical space.

  “Go back there. Get naked.” Perrin practically shoved her behind a classic Victorian changing screen that blocked off a corner. Its top was draped with half-a-dozen garments tossed negligently over.

  “But—” Her attempt to protest was ignored. Maria had her coat off and was halfway to undoing her blouse before she came to her senses. “No. Wait. I came to talk to you.”

  “That’s fine,” Perrin came around the corner of the screen and finished the job of removing Maria’s blouse. “But I can’t talk until I see this on you. No peeking.”

  Giving in, Maria finished undressing down to her underwear.

  “I have your measurements from that dress I made for you a few months ago. So this should be close. You have such a great figure.”

  Perrin’s running monologue made it impossible for Maria to interrupt, or even get her balance. In moments, she was standing with eyes closed as Perrin slipped a dress over Maria’s head.

  “At first I figured since this would be your first time, I should go all out.”

  “All out on what?” But Perrin ignored her question.

  “Then I thought about you being such a classic beauty that I wanted to showcase that, so I decided simple and elegant. Keep your eyes closed, I just need to do some pinning here. It is the woman we want to really show off.”

  Maria bore up as well as she could, her head spinning wildly. It made it difficult to keep her balance and more than once Perrin had to steady her.

  She had her suspicions as to what the dress was. Then was pretty sure she was right. Perrin had said she’d make a wedding dress for Maria. Well, she wasn’t ready for it, but she knew better than to try and stop Perrin when she was on a roll.

  “Is this what you did for Jo and Cassidy?”

  “You mean accost them in a dark alley and force an amazing dress over their heads with no warning at all?” Perrin mumbled around a mouthful of pins.

  “Yes!” Maria felt terribly lightheaded as Perrin made subtle changes that made the dress shift and cling to her skin.

  “Uh. Guess so. Never thought about it much. Cassidy not so much. She was the first of us to fall in love, I wasn’t really ready for that. It was a real ‘Duh!’ moment for all of us when it finally happened. Jo?”

  Perrin tugged on something that threatened to cut Maria in two, but then eased back off before she had a chance to complain.

  “Absolutely. I mugged her outright. If you ever want to see your daughter-in-law all soft and gooey, it was the day I put her wedding dress on her. She wasn’t even dating Angelo yet, though they were sweet on each other for months, but they hadn’t even figured that out yet. I told her to never underestimate the power of a great dress. It seems that was enough.”

  Maria opened her eyes in surprise. Perrin was inspecting the dress’ bodice critically. When she went to glance down, Perrin put a hand under her chin to stop her.

  “Not yet.”

  Maria focused on watching Perrin’s face as she worked. Critical consideration. An inordinate amount of talent focused on the problem of just what to do with Maria’s chest.

  Perrin tugged a little. “Oh, I know! No peeking!” And she was gone. She returned moments later with a gold chain and a piece of the sheerest fabric Maria had ever seen.

  “I better be wearing more than that.”

  “Yes, you better, or not a single man in the whole place would be able to speak, including the minister. Now be quiet.”

  Maria stood and was quiet. She closed her eyes again, to resist the urge to peek, and enjoyed the slightly pampered feeling of Perrin bustling about her. So, Perrin had known that Jo should be in love, even before she was. Or knew that she was long before Jo knew it. Or… Maria sighed. This was all getting much too deep for her.

  Perrin was like her son in that way. Angelo was a deep chef. His growing success was his combination of an exceptional palate, that she liked to think came from her, and an intense intellectual focus that was all his own. He built layers, depths, whole oceans of flavors that rose and melded into a satisfying whole without either disappointing or overwhelming.

  Perrin did the same thing in fabric and clothing design. Deep design.

  Maria wasn’t deep, she just liked to cook. She liked flavors. Liked the juxtaposition of the unexpected with the tasty. So much of what she did was by intuition and testing, rather than figuring it out beforehand.

  Perhaps that was the problem? Hogan had figured out that he was in love with her. And she’d been trying to figure it out as well. It wasn’t how she cooked. Maybe it wasn’t how she fell in love.

  “Okay. Keep your eyes closed until we get to a mirror.” Perrin’s hands were steadying as she guided Maria forward.

  She barely noticed as Perrin slipped high heels on her feet. Sandals.

  “You can open them now,” Perrin finished positioning her then stepped aside.

  Maria opened her eyes.

  She almost turned around to see who the mirror was reflecting before she realized that she’d been transformed. Her hair, always worn loose to her shoulders, was swirled atop her head. A simple gold chain adorned her neck. Then the dress…

  The dress.

  “Oh wow, Perrin.”

  It was the simplest of dresses. It was “the little black dress” that every woman had in their wardrobe. But there the similarities ended. Every curve, every seam traced a line of Maria’s body. Curves enhanced, waist trimmed. A forty-seven year old body that looked twenty-five. But it didn’t just look younger. It was a twenty-five year old’s shape but with maturity, elegance, even a sophistication that Maria had always known she lacked. The skirt pleated, ever so slightly emphasizing without enhancing womanly hips, as if celebrating the son she had birthed. It swirled just shy of her knees stating, “This woman still has great legs and the confidence to show them.” The strapped-leather sandals were merely the capstone on that statement.

  “But how…” She turned to view her profile. Maria hadn’t looked this good since before she’d gotten pregnant, if then.

  She turned the other way. No clearer how the magic had been done.

  “You have such great lines, I just emphasized them,” Perrin moved in and they looked at her reflection together. “Your neck is your great feature. So, the black dress draws all attention to your beautiful skin. Rather than a plunging neckline, being slightly more covered up will slay Hogan and leave him desperate to see more.”

  Perrin held up the bit of sheer fabric. She’d done something to it. She slid it over Maria’s wrist like a corsage. For some reason that bit of an accent worked, setting off the dark dress, making it clearly a celebration.

  “And watch what happens when he finally slides the ring on.” Perrin took a thin strip of gold ribbon and wrapped it around Maria’s finger.

  It caught the glimmer of the golden necklace and stood out ten times more than it would any other way. A black dress that not only showed off the bride within and acknowledged the woman, but also highlighted and celebrated the sanctity of the marriage vows and the purpose of the weddi
ng.

  “We’ll dress Hogan in a white tux and tails. He’ll fight it, but it will be perfect. When you dance in his arms, it will be beyond perfect.”

  Maria pulled Perrin into her arms.

  “You’re right. It will be.”

  Her instincts had known exactly what they were doing when they’d led her to Perrin’s shop. The answer was there all the time, she just had to see it herself in the smile worn by the woman in the mirror.

  Chapter 12

  Hogan had been bemused by the instruction. So far, he’d been the one to set their plans, showing Maria a new Seattle, the one beyond her normal haunts of Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square. He’d been thinking to take her for drinks and dinner at the Space Needle; the food was good, but the view was spectacular. Or maybe up to the St. James Cathedral for a performance of Handel’s Messiah. It wasn’t St. Patty’s in New York, but it was still pretty spectacular.

  This time, she’d sent him a simple text. “Waterfront Park. Seven p.m.”

  So, here he sat on a park bench staring across the water at the site of their first date, the Seattle Great Wheel. Tonight it was lit like a red and green pinwheel, a giant swirling disk against the night sky.

  It had been a week since he’d told Maria he loved her. It had simply been true, so he’d said it. Really not one of his smoother moves. For the hundredth time since, he wanted to kick himself, but it wouldn’t make it any less true.

  Since his declaration, she had been her usual, amazing self. Mostly. He would occasionally catch her watching him thoughtfully. As if he were a loose cannon that might go off without warning.

  Actually, that wasn’t fair. That was simply what he’d felt like. The most Maria showed was that perhaps she was a little quieter and more thoughtful than usual. But she was still the best companion he’d ever been with.

  They talked, he’d never talked so much in all his life, and had a great time doing it. He was a corporate software engineer, she was an exotic, Italian chef. She was a great beauty and he was, well, Hogan Stanford.