Little Black Dress with Bonus Material Read Free

even a practical black one with a lid stamped ZALES. At the moment, she didn’t care which.
    Suddenly, his forearm emerged and rested on the table, his fingers curled in a fist. “I hope you’ll accept this as a token of my affection for you and my investment in the future of our relationship.”
    Okay, that was hardly the most poetic of proposals, but he was an accountant. She couldn’t expect the sensible guy who’d bought her a year’s worth of passes to Mr. Car Wash for Christmas and who’d dubbed Valentine’s Day “a crock” to get down on bended knee in a room filled with roses and strolling violinists, could she? Not everything in life was all sparkle and magic.
    â€œGo on,” Toni prodded, hardly able to breathe as he pressed his “token of affection” into her palm. Right away, she knew she could forget the robin’s-egg blue box, because there was no box at all. It didn’t even feel like a ring: flat and pointed with sharp little ridges. She frowned, dared to look down, and nearly cried with disillusionment.
    â€œIt’s a key,” she said.
    â€œIt’s my key.” Greg blushed from the neck up. “Antonia Ashton, I would be honored if you’d move in with me so we can have a trial run and see if we’re ready to be partners forever in the game of life.”
    He beamed at her as though the obviously practiced words meant something more than her translation: that he wasn’t yet ready to proceed on the path to legally becoming her partner in “the game of life.” Nope. What he wanted was to get the cow for free and move it into his own barn.
    Shit on a stick! Talk about bursting the bubble on her personal fairy tale.
    Toni fingered the key and tried to swallow down the bitter taste in her mouth; but it jammed in her throat like a big ole jawbreaker.
    â€œSweetie, is something wrong?” Greg cocked his head, looking at her like she was demented. “I thought this was what you wanted, that you’d be happy.”
    â€œIt’s just that I—” she started to explain how badly he’d misread her if he thought this was what she wanted, only nothing more emerged but a sigh.
    She nearly wept with relief when her BlackBerry picked that instant to ring, playing “Ode to Joy,” completely mocking her current state of joylessness. Toni stuffed the key into her purse as she reached for her cell.
    â€œYou’re not going to take that now?” Greg protested, but she ignored him, a sense of unease gripping her as she realized the call was from an area code she knew well.
    â€œEngagements by Antonia,” she answered by rote, her voice a practiced calm. “This is Antonia Ashton.”
    â€œOh, Miss Ashton, thank goodness we tracked you down! I’m a nurse at Blue Hills Hospital, and I’m sorry to have to call and give you bad news but something’s happened to your mother,” the voice on the other end prattled, and it only went downhill from there. As Toni listened, the world went silent around her and everything else—Greg and the proposal that never happened—seemed suddenly meaningless. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she said before ending the call with a trembling finger.
    â€œBabe, what’s going on?” Greg asked. “You’re freaking me out.”
    Toni fished around for her coat and pulled it on, grabbed for her bag as she slid away from the table and stood.
    â€œIt’s Evie,” she said and leaned forward to peck his cheek, nearly bumping into the waiter who appeared from the kitchen to deliver their plates. “I have to go.”
    â€œBut your salad . . . ,” Greg was saying as she left him and hurried from the restaurant. She didn’t even put on her gloves before she dashed out into the cold.
    Toni went straight to her apartment and tossed a few things into an overnight bag. She didn’t bother