Page 19 of Broken Mercy
CHAPTER 7
TALIN
Igraze my fingers over silk, pausing to touch the lacy details, marveling at the intricate patterns. The dress is beautiful, like it was built for me.
“I hate it,” I say, staring grimly in the mirror.
“Tallie, seriously?!” Annie appears at my shoulder, brushing back my hair and fretting at the skirt. “You look incredible, which is exactly how you’ve looked in every single one of these dresses.”
“But I hate it,” I repeat stubbornly.
“Tallie—“
“I can’t, okay?” I turn away from the mirror and hurry toward the changing room. Annie follows but I slam the door in her face, which instantly makes me feel bad. “I know you’re not doing anything wrong. I just hate them all.” I lean my forehead against the cool wall and close my eyes, fighting back tears.
This makes no sense. It didn’t hit me this hard until right now. Seeing myself in a wedding dress, looking like a beautiful princess, only makes this whole nightmare feel real.
“I get it,” Annie says through the door. “But you can’t keep running away. When I got engaged to Leon?—“
“I don’t want to hear about Leon right now,” I snap, much meaner than I meant, but can’t help myself. I take a deep breath and blow it out. “I’m not you.”
“Obviously not, but I know the situation you’re in, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Kick, scream, fight, shout, that’ll only make it worse. Trust me, Tallie, you can either embrace it, or you can let it consume you.”
She’s not wrong. That’s the worst part.
I wait for her footsteps to recede before taking off the dress and dragging on my sweats and t-shirt. I feel better with my own clothes on. I keep thinking about the day Annie first found out about her arrangement to Leon, the way she nonchalantly told me over breakfast, how she only shrugged and acted as though it were no big deal at all, and how freaked out I was about the whole thing. How could she accept it like that? How could she roll her eyes at her entire future wiped away by Papa’s decree?
But that’s always been Annie, able to bend and shift with the prevailing winds.
I thank the sales woman profusely before escaping outside to the sidewalk. Annie stays behind, probably to discuss more options or something. I gulp deep breaths of fresh air, trying to clear my head. The smell of the harbor wafts from the boats. I can see the water from my position at the corner. There’s a little sailingrig, some rowers working together, arms pulling, and a man standing nearby watching me?—
With a very familiar face.
I jolt sideways, squinting into the sunlight. The man steps aside, behind traffic.
“Okay, I got her number, and I think there are some other dresses you can try?—“
“It’s fine,” I say, moving toward where I saw him.
Brenden. I swear to God, it was Brenden, looking like a kid going to his first office job, but definitely him.
I know that face anywhere.
“Tallie? What are you doing?”
“Go back in there and buy me a dress. Any of the dresses we tried on. Whichever you liked the best.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” I look back at her and force myself to smile. “I’m being a bitch, okay? I’m sorry, Annie. This is stressful and I can’t take it the way you can. But you’re right. Buy me a dress. Please?”
Annie’s lips press together in an annoyed line before she breaks out in a massive grin. “You had me atbuy a dressdarling.”
“You’re the best!”
“But where are you going?!”
I hurry away, not looking back. I keep my eyes focused on where I last saw him, crossing the street. And there, up ahead, a flashof white shirt, and that’s his hair, definitely his hair. Thick and messy, but definitely him. I walk faster, picking up my pace.
