Paradise

Chapter 18 - The Hunt

Logan was right. Lindsey did hook it up for me. When I finally arrived the clothing shop, a tall and slender woman was waiting patiently for me at the door. She had hazel eyes and red, straight hair. She also wore the biggest smile I had ever seen and she had on a floral apron with mixes of purple and pink on it. As soon as we made eye contact from across the parking lot she began frantically waving at me.

"Hello there, are you Avery?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yes. Hi there, and you must be Lindsey?" I asked as I offered my hand to shake hers.

She shook my hand softly as her eyes lit up with excitement, "Yes!" she giggled, as if she was having way too much fun being a part of Logan's plan, "Your boyfriend came by a little earlier and he thought you might look lovely in this dress." She pulled out a gorgeous off white dress from behind the counter. The bottom portion of the dress flowed smoothly as she moved it from side to side and it had a layer of sheer lace on top of the silk like material that made up the dress. It was spaghetti strapped and also had a sweetheart neckline. It was the perfect beach dress.

My jaw must have dropped for Lindsey said, "I know, right? Isn't it beautiful? Here, follow me this way to the fitting rooms so you can try it on. I'm sure you'll look amazing in it, sweetie."

She led me to a fitting room that had a champagne colored curtain as the door. She handed me the dress and said, "I'll be up front if you need me."

I open the curtain to find a bouquet of white roses sitting on a chair that was in the fitting room. Leaning against the roses was another letter written in Logan's handwriting. I opened the sealed envelope and found a small piece of paper just before the actual letter reading:

Avery,

PUT ON THE DRESS FIRST AND THEN READ MY LETTER. It'll help the effect.

-Logan

I followed his wished and put on the dress. I felt like I was about to go do a photo shoot at the beach with this dress on. It fit me so right. I felt like a bohemian, beach princess at the time. After taking one last spin in the dress, I read his second letter:

Avery,

If you're reading this letter then you haven't given up on me yet (yes!). But if this isn't Avery reading this then, um, awkward. Anyways, enough of that, ready for your next clue? I decided to get creative here so bear with me.

Until I met you, I didn't realize I could find happiness again. Now that it's just you and me, I AM grand. AT no point in time do I ever want our adventure to end. A BEAUTY like yourself deserves the world and nothing less. I could have the most expensive cars in the world and a beautiful PALACE but all of that wouldn't matter if I didn't have you.

-Logan

I made my way over to Lindsey at the front counter, "Excuse me, is there a place here in town named 'Beauty Palace?'"

"Yeah, it's about a mile down the street. It isn't too far from here actually."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a beauty salon. I heard they give the best foot rubs in town, it's an awful nice place." She said smiling, showing me her pearly whites.

"Okay, thank you so much for the dress. How much is it?" I asked as I pulled out my wallet.

"It's nothing, sweetheart, don't worry about it. Go on and have a wonderful day with that handsome boyfriend of yours. What he's doing for you is very sweet!"