Well Played (Well Met #2)(51)

“Oh my God, will you just trust me for five minutes?” I laughed all the way to the dressing area, and once inside I shimmied out of my longtime tavern wench outfit and pulled the sunburst-colored dress over my head. Skirt next, then I shrugged into the bodice and started the work of lacing it up. It was so much easier wearing a costume that laced up the front. I should have done this years ago.

While I was getting dressed, the vendor and Emily were making small talk on the other side of the curtain.

“Wedding’s coming up soon now, isn’t it?”

“Yep!” Emily’s voice was high and chirpy, a sign that nerves were taking over. “A week from today.”

“And everyone’s okay with the wedding day being on Sunday? I mean, obviously it works best for all of us, but your family and everyone? It’s not the most conventional day for a wedding.”

“I’m getting married at a Renaissance faire,” Emily said. “I think conventional left the building a long time ago.”

I had the bodice laced up; now I bent over to adjust everything before I gave it a final tightening up. “Has Simon told you where you’re going on your honeymoon yet?” I tossed the question over the curtain in an effort to change the subject. Maybe reminding her that all of this planning came with a nice vacation at the end would help.

It didn’t help. “Nope!” The chirpiness in her voice only increased. “All I know is that we’re leaving right after the last day of Faire. He said he’ll tell me what to pack a couple days in advance.”

“Wow. That must be killing you.” I tied off the bodice and ran my hands down my sides. The elaborate brocade felt downright decadent after so many years of wearing simple tavern wench clothes.

“You have no idea.” Emily sighed. “But I’m trying to be chill about it, let Simon have his fun.”

“That’s awfully nice of you.” I refastened my brown leather belt around my waist and tied the dragonfly around my neck. “I know how much you like to . . . Wait a second.”

“What?”

I pushed the curtain open to glare at her. I wanted to cross my arms over my chest, but the bodice had hiked up the girls sufficiently enough that they were an obstacle. I settled for putting my hands on my hips. “I’m a project, aren’t I?”

Emily’s eyes went wide. “Holy crap, Stace. That looks amazing. You’re right, I’ll trust you in all wardrobe-related decisions from now on.”

“Don’t change the subject.” I pointed a finger at her in accusation, but I was smiling too much to look truly angry.

“What do you mean?” Her brow furrowed. “A . . . a project?”

“That’s what I said. The wedding’s all planned. You’ve already rearranged the tavern for the summer, so you don’t have anything left to fix up. Except me.” I gestured down at my outfit. “So here you are, fixing me.”

“No,” Emily said. “That’s silly. Why would I . . .” But she closed her mouth with a snap, her eyes wide as realization took hold. “Well, hell. I made you into a project, didn’t I?”

“Sure did.” But as I turned to the full-length mirror, I realized that I didn’t care. I looked great. The brown overskirt made the green in the bodice pop, and once I’d gathered it up on the sides, the marigold in the underdress practically blazed to life against the green and brown. The whole thing looked like the sun setting behind the trees, just the way I’d pictured it in my head.

Behind me in the mirror, Emily smiled. “You look like a wood nymph.”

I made a noncommittal hmm at that and turned to look at my reflection from the side. Bodices didn’t pull in quite as much as corsets, so my shape in this new outfit was a little different. “Do nymphs come this round?”

“If they’re in a Rubens painting, they do.” Her smile widened at me in the mirror, and I had to laugh. “We should get you a pair of wings.”

“Ooh, yes,” said the vendor. She pointed down the lane. “About two spaces down that way, I saw yesterday that she was selling wings. You’d look great.”

I shook my head with a laugh. “I’d take someone’s eye out.” But I liked this outfit. Emily was right; I did look like a wood nymph. Which was fitting, considering how much I loved spending time in these woods every year. This was definitely an outfit worthy of the dragonfly.

I paid for my new outfit while the vendor bundled up my old wench’s clothes and promised to keep them until closing gate. I felt lighter as I started my day, as though I really had donned the wings that Emily had suggested.

We split up to check on our taverns; while Emily peeled off to the tavern by the chess field, I headed up the lane to where the food court section was, to the auxiliary tavern we’d set up last summer. They’d just about finished setting up when I got there, and I was immediately waved away. It was odd to not be needed, and as I turned to go back down the lane again, I realized I didn’t have anywhere to be. It was an unsettling feeling. The front gates had just opened, and I put on my best smile as I greeted patrons, addressing them as lords and ladies and directing them to the shows that started the earliest. It didn’t take long for my smile to feel like the real thing, and for the joy of the day to fully take hold. I was in the woods, after all, and it was Faire season. And I had someone I wanted to say good morning to.