Girls of Summer(50)

She lifted another dress off the curtain rod and held it up to her. It was navy blue, short sleeved, with a square, slightly low neckline trimmed with white piping. Summery, nautical, undeniably classy. It fit perfectly, showing off her trim figure, and the hem was slightly flippy, which Juliet loved.

Stepping outside the cubicle, Juliet held up her arms. “Ta-da!”

Before her mother could speak, two women in Lilly Pulitzer dresses and straw hats trimmed with ribbon entered the store. They wandered over to the Ralph Lauren rack and flipped through the hanging clothes, exchanging comments—“Oh, this is darling!” “Oh, you’d look stunning in this!”

Juliet ducked back into her pretty stall. Lifting the dresses her mother had brought over for her to try, she concentrated on trying them on. She couldn’t help but overhear the others.

Her mother said, “May I carry some things to a dressing room for you?”

“Yes, please. Your clothes are darling!” one of the women said.

“Thank you,” Lisa told them.

The two women—Juliet figured out that their names were Zoe and Cynthia—called to each other as they tried on the dresses.

“Oooh, sexy!”

“Maybe too plunging?”

“Excuse me, miss? Could I try this in a size four?” Zoe flung a dress over the curtain rod.

“Of course,” Lisa said. “I’ll see if we have it in that size.”

Juliet tried on an ivory tank dress that would look fabulous if she ever got a tan, but with her winter working-girl pale skin didn’t work.

“Hey,” said Zoe, “have you seen Ryder Hastings? The Boston guy who’s heading up Save the Water? He’s gorgeous, rich, and single!”

   “Yes,” Cynthia said lazily, “he’s on-island. He called me about his environmental group. He is handsome…”

Juliet froze, all her senses focused on that conversation.

“I don’t think it’s called Save the Water. That’s hilarious. I think it’s Ocean Affairs.”

Juliet almost had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from correcting the women.

“Whatever. I think they’re going to have a big fundraising gala in August.”

“I hope they have it somewhere inside. I hate when my heels get stuck in the grass.”

“Want to offer your house for the gala? You might get to know him better then…”

Juliet sat down on the stool, taking deep breaths.

“So these are adorable!” Zoe cooed. “I’ll take them all. Wrap them in tissue, will you?”

“I’m taking these,” Cynthia said.

“Oh, no,” Zoe said, “you’re not getting the same dress I am, are you?”

“Just the one. The others are all different. I’ll check with you every time to be sure I don’t wear it to the same event. Besides, we text each other every day.”

Feeling like a total idiot, Juliet watched through a sliver of space between the curtains as her mother wrapped the dresses in tissue, slipped them into bags, and rang up the sales. Zoe and Cynthia checked their phones and then dropped their platinum credit cards on the counter and signed the receipts.

“Thank you,” Lisa called, as the women left her shop.

Juliet stepped out of her cubicle wearing the navy dress. “What do you think?”

“Oh, darling! You look absolutely elegant.”

“Right, that would be me,” Juliet said, but she was flattered. She knew her mother wouldn’t let her buy anything that was wrong for her. “I’ll take it.”

   “I’ll give you the family discount,” Lisa told her.

“Good, because your stuff is expensive,” Juliet said.

“Did you hear my customers talking about Ocean Matters?” Lisa asked, as she delicately folded the dress in tissue.

“Ocean Affairs,” Juliet snorted. Then she straightened, hit by a thought. “Of course everyone will get the name wrong until I get the website built. I’ve got to go back and talk with Beth.” She picked up her pretty lemon-colored bag with Sail on it in navy blue. “Thanks, Mom!”

Juliet strode down the brick sidewalk, swinging her bag and buzzing with excitement about her new dress. Oh, God, she was such a girl. She could understand statistics and write code, but she was so totally a girl.

And she kind of liked it.

She reached Beth’s office on Easy Street. The door was open, and the office had been set up so that it looked professional and welcoming.

Beth was at a table, eating her salad. “Your brother left about ten minutes ago,” she said.

“It’s you I want to talk to.” Juliet pulled out a folding chair and sat across from Beth, carefully setting her bag on the floor. “We need to get the website up as soon as possible. Can we discuss its design, colors, and so on? We can always add and change, but we’ve got to get it up. I just heard someone call it Ocean Affairs.”

Beth laughed. “I know. We do have to get busy. Theo was so helpful with the furniture—” She saw Juliet’s impatient scowl. “So now, let’s get going on the website.”

“I want to use GoDaddy, because it’s the fastest,” Juliet told her. “But I need to know what you want the general appearance to be. Colors. Logo? Contact box.”