Completely Wrecked: A Dramatic Romance Page 6

  Taking a deep breath, she nodded.

  The sisters bustled around her and weren’t the least shy about stripping away her bra so it didn’t show beneath the dress. Then they zipped her up and fussed with her hair, gathering it in a jeweled clip. Gesturing to three-inch heels, they smiled encouragingly.

  Gulping, she stepped into them and turned to face her friends with a carefully blank expression.

  The men stood side by side and stared at her as if they’d never seen her before. She was honestly afraid to look but they took her hands and guided her over to a large three-panel mirror.

  In the shoes, she was the same height as Donovan and three inches taller than Riley. For once, that wasn’t the primary thing she noticed.

  She looked like a woman. Feminine and soft in a way she’d never seen before. She blinked back the instant emotional response to feeling good about her appearance from head to toe for the first time.

  Hers was not a popular beauty but she didn’t expect or want to turn heads.

  All she’d ever wanted was to feel good in her own skin. To accept herself, flaws and all, and mean it when she smiled at her reflection. To feel as though some of the softness of her inner self showed on the outside.

  “Elizabeth. You look fucking gorgeous.” Riley wrapped his arm around her waist and couldn’t stop his big grin. “Donovan, you’re the man.”

  With a smug smile, he replied, “Um, I know that.” Then he turned Elizabeth to him and looked her over. “I think you are so very lovely, Elizabeth. Inside and out.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips. “You’re staying in these clothes and we’re going to eat.”

  Tugging her lower lip between her teeth, she nodded. “Thank you for today.”

  “We’re doing it again so be prepared.” He laughed. “I won’t torture you too much on the first run.” He turned her back to the mirror. “Right now, I want you to soak up the way your spectacular inner beauty is shining through.”

  It was the first time someone who loved her told her such a thing…and she believed it.

  Chapter Six

  Three weeks after Elizabeth’s makeover, she was truly settling in to her new look. She enjoyed the clothes that fit her lean body properly and the haircut that softened her angular face. Donovan and Riley dragged her out again two weeks later for a few running outfits that didn’t sag on her.

  They chose form-fitting shorts and tops made from material that gave her more mobility and kept her cooler. The first time she came downstairs in running shorts and a tank top, Riley’s eyes went huge in his face.

  “Your legs are a mile long.” Glancing at her face, he added, “In case you’re wondering, that’s a good thing. Men are going to want those long legs wrapped tightly around their torsos, Elizabeth.”

  Blushing brightly, she put on her sneaks, gave him a peck on his cheek, and left without a word. With her headphones in and sunglasses on her face, she ran in her own world.

  It was silly to think she was a better runner with a makeover but…she felt as if her strides were more confident now.

  Nana was tickled to see the changes in her. “Look at my sassy girl!”

  Always a loving and affectionate woman, her grandmother saw the growing self-assurance in Elizabeth and nurtured it faithfully. The people she’d known all her life through her grandmother were just as kind. Visiting the soup kitchen or taking Nana to bingo meant compliments from the older crowd of men and women who’d known her since she was a baby.

  Unaccustomed to positive attention about her looks, she usually blushed and thanked them quietly.

  A few weeks after her makeover, Nana insisted that she wanted one, too. “At my age, there’s only so much a woman can do but I’m willing to give it all I’ve got!”

  Pinching Elizabeth’s cheeks, she smiled. “I must meet the woman who put that sparkle in your eyes.”

  The three of them took her into the city to visit BiBi.

  Initially concerned about the older woman’s reaction, BiBi reined in her usual effusiveness. After everything she’d heard about the stylist, Nana noticed almost immediately.

  After she was settled in the chair, she smiled up at the woman and gestured for her to bend over.

  When they were eye to eye, Elizabeth’s grandmother pushed back her sleeve and bared the tattoo on her inner arm. It was a number she’d worn for almost eight decades. Sometimes during her childhood, Elizabeth would watch her rub it absently as she stared out the window, lost in thought.

  It was one of the few sad memories she had of Nana.

  Clearing her throat, she touched the number with the tip of her finger. “I was a young girl during the Holocaust, freed from the camps with my mother…the only relative I had left.” Nana closed her eyes. “I lost my father, my brothers, my aunts and uncles. It was a horrible time.”

  Lifting her head, she stared at BiBi. “The two of us came to the States and made a new life. We started over but we never forgot the hatred we received and we never forgot what we lost. Years later, after I married, I protested racism during the Civil Rights Movement. A man beside me on the street was hit in the head with a brick.”

  Elizabeth wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

  Jewel Clayton was not a woman who dwelt on her sadness, on the harshness and losses in her life.

  That did not mean she didn’t feel them deeply.

  “I burned my bra with Gloria because I am proud to be a woman and my husband wasn’t able to work the clasp anyway.” Despite the seriousness of the conversation, those listening had to laugh and Nana winked. “You’d have thought it was the combination to a vault for goodness’ sake.”

  BiBi leaned against the styling station and stared at the older woman as if she was the most fascinating creature alive.

  “My darling girl and I hand out bottles of water during Gay Pride every year because we love our friends. They are good men and I am proud to know them. I love these boys and wouldn’t change anything about them even if I had a magic wand.”

  Standing up, Nana reached up and patted BiBi’s cheeks gently. “I lost my husband, I lost my children, Elizabeth is my only grandchild, and I am grateful every minute of every day for her presence in my life.” Tugging her down, she pressed a kiss to each toasted coconut cheek.

  “I had to meet the woman who saw her. You helped her in a way I would not have known how to do. You have a kind and compassionate soul, BiBi. I can see it in your eyes. We all have our destiny, our own path to walk. I wish you strength and happiness on yours.”

  Blinking back tears, BiBi whispered, “I see where she gets it…the perfection of her heart. Thank you, Mrs. Clayton.” She wrapped her in a hug that consumed Nana then settled her back in the salon chair with a wink.

  “I’m going to sass you out but good.”

  “Good! Mr. Owens at the corner store has been a widow for three years. I think I’ll make him take me to dinner. He has pretty brown eyes.”

  BiBi took her time with Nana’s hair, adding a gentle color wash and styling it. After her nails were painted, the elderly woman was adorable trying not to mess the polish. Extremely ticklish, she squirmed and giggled through her pedicure so much that BiBi had to help her out of the chair.

  As she shuffled to the restroom, they heard her mumble, “Now the elderly dilemma kicks in…not able to manage my bladder. Mortifying!”

  They were in fits.

  When BiBi was done, Nana invited her to lunch. “I can’t this time, Mrs. Clayton. I rescheduled the day so I had the morning to devote to the woman who raised Elizabeth so well.”

  “Then you will have to come out to Long Island and join us for dinner. Bring a friend if you have one or come by yourself. I’ll make my chicken cacciatore – well, Elizabeth will make it and I’ll be the taste tester.” She smiled. “You’ll love it!”

  The two women hugged and BiBi turned to Elizabeth with her brow arched. “I’ll see you next week?” She nodded. “Bring your grandmother and I’ll repaint her nails.�
� With a laugh, she said, “We’ll give her a couple of weeks before we attempt the toes again.”

  For the rest of that day, Donovan and Riley spoiled Nana rotten – even more than usual – for being the woman she had always been. She made no apologies for her opinions, she didn’t remain silent if she felt something wasn’t right, and she was genuinely kind.

  “Kindness costs nothing,” she always said. “The return on investment is ridiculous though.”

  * * *

  Three days later, Elizabeth sat beside Nana’s bed to read the daily comics aloud.

  The elderly woman liked to laugh herself to sleep for her late afternoon nap, get a good rest, and then stay up late to watch her favorite talk shows.

  While she was reading, Nana reached out to take her hand. Glancing up, she returned the smile on her face.

  “You are absolutely wonderful, inside and out.”

  “So are you, Nana.”

  “Do you know…do you believe how much I love you, Elizabeth?”

  Leaning forward, she crossed her arms on the mattress and kissed the wrinkled cheek she’d kissed a million times in her life. “I know and I believe. You’ve loved me well every day in my memory. You taught me how to love.”

  “You were always such a good student of kindness and love, even when you were a very little girl. It’s important to me that you never forget those lessons. That when you are an old woman, you look back and remember how much I loved you. Will you do that, Elizabeth?”

  Smiling, she nodded and smoothed silken strands of hair from Nana’s cheek.

  “I will never forget, Nana. How different my life would have been without you.”

  “Mine as well. You were the best sort of company, my pretty girl.” In a barely audible voice, she added, “Will you get me that soft blanket in the hall closet?”

  “Of course.”

  Elizabeth was crossing the threshold before everything inside her stilled. Turning back slowly, she returned to Nana’s side. Her eyes were closed and she wore a gentle smile.

  “Nana?”

  The word didn’t carry but she knew her grandmother would not have heard had she shouted. She knelt on the floor and held the hand that had always held hers, a hand that had brushed her hair, dried her tears, and showed her how to do so many important tasks.

  Sobs tore free from her chest and she didn’t hold them back.

  Moments later, she heard Riley crashing up the stairs. Skidding to a stop at the door, he put his hand over his mouth and tears instantly poured down his cheeks.

  Then he was there beside her and they held tight to one another as the trauma, the pain of losing such a woman washed over them.

  The sun was setting when Donovan found them. Pressing his hand over his heart, he shed his tears even as he lifted them from the floor where they were crumpled in grief. He was still crying as he called an ambulance to come to the house.

  Before he leaned over to pull the blanket to Nana’s shoulders, he wiped his face. “You were magnificent. I’m a better man for knowing you. Thank you…for so many things. I’ll watch out for them. You can count on me.”

  Then he led a shaking Riley and a barely functioning Elizabeth from the room.

  * * *

  Nana’s heart was her greatest feature all her life. Her funeral was attended by more people than the small church that held her service could accommodate.

  The pastor had requested the honor of performing her memorial despite the fact that Jewel Clayton wasn’t an official member of any religious organization.

  “Your grandmother lived in this community for more than sixty-five years. She touched so many without ever raising her voice or speaking an unkind word. I would be grateful to perform her services, proud to lay her to rest with the love and dignity she earned over a life well-lived.”

  Donovan handled all the arrangements after going through Nana’s wishes. He hugged them often and guided them through basic tasks with gentle strength.

  Elizabeth did not know how she and her best friend would have survived without him.

  The day of Nana’s funeral, the sky was clear and bright. Elizabeth wanted her grandmother to be proud. She tried so hard not to cry but failed repeatedly that day and many that followed.

  She listened to the stories about the woman who’d raised her, the only family she’d ever known until they adopted Riley into their lives.

  Some of the people and tales she knew, some she didn’t. None of them surprised her but all of them made her heart lighter.

  Riley spoke about a woman with a non-judgmental heart. A woman who gave unconditionally and without expectation of reward or thanks. His voice broke often and when he finally stepped down, he hugged Elizabeth for a long time.

  She stepped behind the podium in a bright green dress that Nana said was the prettiest she’d ever seen. Taking a moment to settle her emotions, she took a deep breath.

  “My grandmother had a keen dislike for identifiers such as race, religion, or sexual orientation. She said labels never caused anything but sadness. It didn’t matter who you were, where you came from, or what you looked like. If you were hungry, you were fed. If you were cold, you were made warm, and if you were hurting, she worked to make you smile.

  “As a small child, I watched Nana gently help, kindly correct, and guide others to believing in themselves. That included me.

  “She loved so deeply, so true, that the person receiving it felt it as a physical presence. I could say so much but anyone who knew her for more than a few minutes already knows the woman Jewel Clayton was and the human she always strived to be.

  “Nana taught me how to live, how to be strong, how to love, and I wish I’d had more time with her. I miss her so much. I know that wherever she ended up, she covered her bases.”

  Gripping the edge of the podium with white knuckles, she said, “Looking out at the people gathered here, it is like a representation of her. A mixture of people from so many walks of life that I imagine would be hard to duplicate outside this moment. Thank you, each of you, for coming today and giving me one more chance to see Nana at work.”

  Moving carefully down the steps, she returned to the pew and stared at Nana’s face in the casket. Turning to BiBi, she whispered, “Thank you for making her look exactly right.”

  Blotting the tears that slipped over her cheeks, the stylist nodded. “That woman, though. She was something else.”

  Elizabeth smiled through the blurriness of her own tears. “She certainly was.”

  * * *

  The rest of the day passed painfully slow and she would never be able to repay Donovan for all he did. She and Riley weren’t much help as they sat together in the small sitting room off the kitchen.

  Eventually, the people who came to pay their respects drifted away and she was grateful.

  She kissed her friends and went to take a long soak. The tears came again as they often would without warning and she let them fall.

  Hours later, as she tried to sleep, the thought that Dylan hadn’t come to Nana’s funeral chased a circle in her mind.

  * * *

  As Nana’s only surviving relative, Elizabeth inherited everything she owned and didn’t care in the slightest.

  Money was just money. Nana hadn’t been wealthy but her husband left her a little when he died. She’d used it to pay off her house and buy a sturdy car. The rest she saved.

  That car was totaled when Elizabeth’s drunk father rammed it into a tree and killed himself and his female passenger. They’d left his infant daughter with a neighbor and Jewel Clayton picked her up in the middle of the night. She’d taken her home and cared for her every day since.

  Her father’s small life insurance policy was put in long-term trust for his only child.

  The year Elizabeth turned six, she and Nana began making quilts together. By the time she was eight, they were shipping them to tourist shops up and down the east coast where people paid hundreds of dollars for something they created because the
y thought it was pretty.

  When technology exploded, they bought a bulky computer and created a website. It wasn’t fancy but it offered people other ways to buy the little things they made as a hobby.

  Elizabeth rescued old books and gave them a second life as pendants and coasters. They were always trying something new that they found at craft fairs.

  Many people had questioned Jewel over the years about Elizabeth not working.

  Unlike most teenagers, she didn’t get a job in high school and continued to spend most of her time with her elderly grandmother through her college years.

  Nana always explained that she wanted her granddaughter to focus on school and growing into a strong woman.

  It was the truth…but not the whole truth.

  No one knew that for more than a decade, Nana employed half a dozen elderly women much like herself – as well as Elizabeth – who created products that shipped all over the world.

  Not even her two best friends had known about the business that operated from Nana’s home. Elizabeth took shipments to the post office before making her daily run. The orders and accounting were all done virtually. The quilts, scarves, and specialty knick-knacks they made together appeared to be nothing more than a hobby to pass the time.

  Riley and Donovan were blown away when they learned of the little enterprise.

  The Clayton women hadn’t lived extravagantly, they never discussed money in public, and they lived in a house that had been paid for since the eighties.

  Anyone who saw the 1987 Cadillac or the long pea coat Nana wore for two decades during the harshest winters would think the Claytons lived frugally because they were poor.

  They lived frugally because they were content.

  As a result, Nana had accumulated a nest egg meant to ensure her granddaughter would not drown in debt from student loans or have to worry about the property taxes on the Long Island home.

  Even after her death, Jewel would take care of Elizabeth – her grandchild, her constant companion, and her business partner – just as she always had.