Close Your Eyes (55 page)

S
he watched herself in the mirror, still
not quite believing that she had decided to attend this party and to wear a costume.
But
the costume
would serve as
her
armor
, she added silently, her eyes going critically over her reflection
. T
he absurdity of the long,
midnight-
blue
dress with cream
-
colored lace at the bodice and around the long, tight sleeves
made
her feel less real and therefore less vulnerable. She
had worn
the dress
once at Halloween, years ago
,
when her university had hosted
a full
-
blown medieval feast. The
tiny pearls
sown
into the honeycomb pattern of the velvet looked very dignified. She let her hair fall loosely to her shoulders, only a single silver hairclip keeping it from her face as it held back the thick curtain of
chocolate-
colored waves.

Meg thought
it
looked very fitting
for the
evening’s
theme
. S
he straightened her bodice, pulling up the laced front. She had lost some weight
in
last month,
and
her
collar bones
stuck
out
obviously
. She couldn’t help it if eating
had become
a
chore
,
s
he
shook her
head in
rebellious
defiance.

Thankfully, the library was very close,
and
the drive to the building
was only
a few minutes. Still, she needed to ask her dad to take her there
because
the heavy dress
made
it impossible to do it herself. He seemed only too happy to be able to do something
.

‘I hope I won’t be the only person actually wearing something historical,
D
ad
,
’
she
told him once they were safely
seated
in the car,
with
her mom’s disapproving face disappearing in the distance. ‘
Can you wait
? If we see everyone looking normal, I
’ll
go back with you and
change
back into my clothes.’

‘Absolutely
.
’ He nodded
good-
naturedly, his eyes serene. ‘But I am sure that it won’t be the case, sweetheart. And for what it’s worth
,
you look absolutely beautiful.’ He patted her hand in a comforting gesture
. The
silence between them
felt
easy.
H
er mother was
high-
strung and nervous,
but
her dad made up for it with his laid
-
back attitude and serenity that she hoped to have inherited
,
if only partially.

In the end,
she
had
worried for nothing
.
In a true
Harper
style, the grounds were decorated with panache,
and
she vaguely recognized
the sound of the music spilling from the illuminated library as
‘
Greensleeves
’ being
played on a lute.
Groups of people stood around chatting.
To Meg’s immense relief,
most of them
wore
historical
costumes. She would have hated to put her dad through more chauffeuring.
Before he pulled away, s
he kissed
her father’s
cheek and promised to call him when she was ready to come home
. She clutched
her
purse with her phone and checkbook in her palm. After all
,
it was a charity event
,
and she hoped to look at least a bit believable if she got involved in some of the bidding.

‘
Meg
, oh my gosh, you’re back
.
’
A
high pitched
voice and a set of slim arms dressed in forest
-
green velvet assaulted her at the same time
,
and she turned around, already knowing what to expect.

Jenna stood there, looking at
Megan
with bright eyes and
a smile
as wide as her round cheeks would
allow
. She looked absolutely
gorgeous
in her dress that ended just high enough to offer
Meg
a glimpse of her golden sandals.

‘Isn’t
this
a riot or what?’ Jenna continued, not really waiting for
an
answer.
She shook her head, causing
a cascade of honey
-
colored curls, even bouncier than
Meg
remembered. ‘I am so happy you made it on time for the party, but you should’ve let me know
you were
back from abroad. I had no clue
you’d
be back, honey.’

‘Unless you burnt the store down
,
everything’s
good
.
’
Meg’s
usual sense of humor came to her rescue
.
‘
You look absolutely wonderful, Jen. And where is Eric?’

‘Changing, of course
.
’
A sigh accompanied Jenna’s answer.
‘He was hoping he could crawl his way out of it by telling me he had to drive us, you know. So I packed his costume
,
and now he is in the loo, changing.’

As
they walked up the stairs into the library,
Megan
did her best to stay interested in her friend’s happy chatter.
She was truly glad to see her, after all.
But her
heart betrayed her in the end, refusing to be sidetracked by the avalanche of local news.
H
er stomach tighten
ed
into a small knot,
and
her steps slow
ed
down as they progressed
.

‘Look, go ahead
.
I will catch
up
with you in a moment,’ she said breathlessly, turning around and making her way to the side of the building. She knew
the library
very well
because she had
spen
t
many long hours doing her research and hanging out with friends
here
over the years. There was a path all around it, shaded by bush
es of lilacs that bloomed each M
ay in a riot of white, lavender
,
and deep purple. The scent was incredible,
and
the hypnotic sweetness amaz
ed
her each and every year.

I’ll
just make a small detour,
she thought
as she
walked
around and enter
ed
through
the back, hopefully as unnoticed as possible. The path under the canopy of old, twisted branches
covered with
heart-
shaped leaves
,
thick and dark
green
,
was pleasantly cool
.

And then she heard a child’s laughter, a couple of them
,
actually. She took a few steps and came face to face with a group of
cheerful
kids swarming around a tall man whose back was facing her as she approached.

‘Can you really walk in
that
thing?’ a little boy
who was
clinging to the man’s leg and looking up with puppy eyes
asked
. ‘
What
if it rains? You’d rust.’

‘I guess it would be useful to have some oil in my pocket at all times, then
.
’
The man lightheartedly lifted the boy
in the air and
spun
around, both of them turning
Meg
’s way. And then the man stilled, carefully lowering the boy back to the ground and watching
Meg
with a smile.

‘You look absolutely stunning in
that
dress,
Meg
.’
Matt
’s voice sounded just a bit hoarse, the playful quality from a second ago gone almost completely. Almost, but not quite
,
she realized as he winked at the boys
who
listened with
wide open
eyes
.
‘I would take this damsel for a spin
,
too, but I can’t really move with you rascals
all over me
.’ The kids giggled,
their
small hands still clinging to his chain mail, the silver little rings interwoven in an intricate pattern.