Chapter 172: GOING ALL OUT FOR HER BIRTHDAY

Abigail

sped home, fingers tight on the wheel.

By the time I got through the front door, I had already run through a thousand different scenarios in my head.

I barged into the living room.

"What happened?! Annie? What did you need to show me? Is it Meemaw?"

Annette swirled around, her face split into a wide grin as she held up a green, beautiful, beaded dress draped over both of her arms,

"Happy birthday, baby. Let’s go out."

I stared at her in disbelief. My blood pressure had been spiked as hell because of her. I closed the distance between us and smacked her arm.

"Ow!"

"Don’t you ever, ever do that to me again," I cried. "I thought something happened to Meemaw and Gramps. I was terrified."

"Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, alright?" She was still grinning, completely unrepentant. "But look at the dress, babe. Look at it. It’s a freaking emergency."

"Oooh, yeah, it is," I agreed, running my fingers over the green colored bodice. "Did you book a restaurant? Because that dress is fancy."

"Something like that." She pushed it into my arms and steered me toward the bedroom. "Go get dressed."

"Wait," I turned in the doorway. "When is the reservation?"

"Three."

I frowned. "Three in the afternoon?"

"Yes."

"Annette." I folded my arms around the dress. "I get off work at five usually. You know I get off work at five. Why would you book a dinner at three when I wouldn’t even be home by then?"

Her eyes widened, and she shrugged.

"I booked it for seven pm, but since you had a half day, I called and asked if they could move it to three."

My brows shot up. She was such a terrible liar. "I didn’t tell you I had a half day. I don’t remember telling you that-"

"Wear the freaking dress," Annette groaned, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me into the room toward the bathroom. "Gosh! Surprising you is like pulling a tiger’s tooth out. Go. Get. Dressed."

The door closed behind me, and I chuckled. Just what had she planned?

The dress was perfection. It was beaded from the sweater’s neckline down to a few inches above my knees, clinging to my curves like a sexy second skin. It gave way around my knees down to the floor.

Gorgeous did not even begin to cut.

I twirled around beaming at my reflection in the mirror. For the first time all day, I felt like it was actually my birthday.

I did my makeup, a little gold at the corners of my eyes, a deeper red lip, my hair pinned loosely at the nape of my neck with a few pieces left to curl around my face. I found the small gold earrings Meemaw had given me for Christmas and slipped them on, too.

When I came out, Annette was standing in the living room in a deep burgundy wrap dress, gushing all over me.

"All hail her Majesty,"

"Gosh, Annette, this dress must have cost a fortune."

"Oh, don’t worry about it. Wait until he sees you,"

"Who?"

"Uh?" She blinked. "I meant they. They see you."

I narrowed my eyes, and she cursed, shaking her head, muttering something under her breath before grabbing my arm.

"Ready, birthday girl?"

"Ready as I’ll ever be," I chuckled, interlocking my arm with hers.

When we arrived downstairs, there was a Maserati, a black sleek baby waiting outside on the curb. A driver stood by the back door, wearing a chauffeur hat and a black uniform.

"Okay, did you rob a bank?" I stopped on the front step. "You did not seriously get a chauffeur. Babes, all that money!"

"You only turn twenty-five once," She said dryly, tugging me down the stairs. "Abigail, come on. It’s done. Stop worrying about it."

"Annie, what on earth is going on?"

"Get in the car, Abigail. Please?"

I eyed her warily before slipping into the backseat. Annette climbed in after me.

The insides of the car smelled like new leather. I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling too hard.

The city blurred past as I tried to guess where we were headed, but I didn’t recognize the route after the first few turns.

By the third turn, I knew something was going on. How convenient was it that we had a half-day on my birthday?

The dress, the car, and my grandparents’ phones were going straight to voicemail all day like they had both dropped off the earth simultaneously.

My grandparents had never once in my life missed wishing me happy birthday.

I stiffened in my seat when the car slowed down and drove through a set of open iron gates.

Gravel stones on the path crunched under the wheels, and through the window, I caught a glimpse of where we are.

It had to be something out of a fairytale.

There were stone walls draped in climbing roses, the late afternoon light shedding its golden light across the grass.

The car pulled up before a path that was lined with roses on both sides.

"We’re here," Anette drawled excitedly. "Go ahead, I’ll sort the chauffeur.

"I could wait until-"

"Abigail, I love you, but you’re so fucking stubborn," Annette groaned. "Just go already, enjoy the princess treatment, babes. For once. Geez, relax already."

"Fine, fine," I grumbled, sliding out of the car. My gold heels struck against the smooth cobblestones on the garden path.

Cool air whipped against my hair and neck. The path was bordered on both sides by low hedges of roses climbing the walls in deep pink and white, the smell of them seeping through the air. There were even fairy lights woven around the roses.

The cost must have been insane. If Annette did this, she was definitely bankrupt at this rate.

Unless she didn’t?

My heart thudded harder as the path curved and I followed it. It led to a garden area, and what I saw had me stopping in my tracks.

No way!