Dress Shopping

“How about this, dad?” little Lucy asked as she draped the small dress over herself. The hem dragged gently across the floor collecting dust made more noticeable by the deep black color of the fabric.

“It’s a bit long, sweetheart. Don’t you think?” Roger Thornton answered with his arms crossed.

“I think we can get it shortened.”

“Maybe, but you’re at that age when you might just sprout an entire foot taller over night. Then we’d have too short a dress. And I’m not having any of that.”

“You’re silly, daddy,” she said as a smile melted across her face as quickly as it disappeared. “We can have it so it’s only shortened temporarily. They don’t have to cut anything, see? They just roll it up a bit and sew it and if I need it longer they can make it longer.”

“How’d you get to be so smart? I didn’t think they taught that in school.”

“They don’t. I learned it from mom.”

Lucy and Roger looked at the dress thoughtfully. Roger wasn’t as good as his daughter at pretending to know what he was looking for.

“Well, I like this dress best. And we know that we can have it tailored. But what do you think?”

“It’s lovely.”

“Just lovely?”

“Very elegant? I’m sure you’ll look beautiful in it once it’s all fixed up and adjusted for your height and everything.”

“Elegant? You make me sound like an old woman. Do I look like an old woman in this?”

“I’m not good at this stuff. You know that, sweetheart. I just meant to say you look very mature. Almost like you’re ready to leave home and start a life on your own without me. I guess, in that sense, I don’t like it. But other than that you look amazing in it; just like your mother.”

Lucy lifted the skirt up to where she thought would be a good length. Her eyes were fixed at the mirror but nothing that was reflected in it. At that moment, she didn’t feel that there was anything in her reflection worth looking at so she just stared at that silver glass for a second or two.

“I’m going to need a new pair of shoes to go with this,” she finally said.

“You have plenty of shoes already.”

“I said ‘new’ shoes,” Lucy insisted, “I’ve got nothing that would look good with this dress. Can we go to the shoe store afterwards?”

“Sure, honey,” Roger sounded exhausted, “But don’t you think your Aunt Edith would be better suited to help you with things like this? I’m not really qualified—”

“You’re doing great, dad,” she said, flashing that smile at him. “Besides, Aunt Edith would hate this dress. You’ve seen how she dresses. It’s late August but she’s still going to make me cover up entirely, all in layers if she has her way. She’d make me pick out another dress and give me one of her old lady shoes.”

“Be nice, Lucy,” Roger said. His voice was exhausted but that seemed to be the first familiar phrase he uttered that morning. “This is hard for everyone, your Aunt Edith included. If you don’t want her to help you that’s fine, but there’s no need to be snarky about it. Worst case scenario: we could always ask someone in the shoe shop of their opinion. I’m sure they know more about shoe fashion than I ever will.”

“That sounds like a fantastic idea! I would have never thought of that, daddy,” Lucy said as she handed her father the dress.

“The only problem is the fact that they might just try and sell us the most expensive pair they’ve got.”

“Don’t be such a sourpuss.”

“Cynic.”

“Cynic?”

“The word you’re looking for is cynic. I’ll stop being a cynic but I won’t stop being a sourpuss. That’s just who I am.”

“Well, sourpuss,” Lucy said. “Let’s get this dress and head down to the shoe store.”

“Okay,” Roger answered, “But remember that we can always come back here tomorrow. I have to go to the airport and pick up Aunt Edith and a few others later tonight. Then later this week I have to drive them all back to the airport.” Roger bent over as he sat, his head between his knees, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. Lucy walked over to her father and rubbed the back of his neck with her small, delicate hands.

“We’ll be okay,” Lucy said, “I know we will.”

“Let’s buy that dress,” Roger responded, “and we’ll rush on over to the shoe store.”

And that’s exactly what they did. Lucy didn’t find a pair of shoes she liked but Roger did manage to head to the airport on time. Lucy insisted on coming along.