Chapter 410 You Look Good in Anything
“Old guy?” Courtney stood there for a few moments before she realized that Dawn was referring to Elijah.
Elijah was nearly forty; it was understandable that a young girl who was about eleven or twelve would call him old. However, Dawn had never referred to Courtney in a similar way. She made it seem like Elijah was a whole generation older than Courtney.
She couldn’t stifle her laughter. “Yes, we’re going with him, but we won’t be living together with him. You don’t have to worry.”
“Huh?” Dawn suddenly looked disappointed. “We won’t be living together?”
“What’s wrong?” Courtney didn’t understand as she looked at Dawn with a probing guess. “You look pretty disappointed.”
“How can I not be? He was the first person I saw since getting off that island. He saved me.”
On the day they made their escape from that island and sank into the waters after their bullet-ridden boat capsized, Alexander had been the one to save Courtney. Meanwhile, Dawn had been saved by Elijah, who had jumped into the water at the same time. When Dawn woke up, he was the first person she saw. Over the last few days, Elijah had sent people to take care of her, and he also personally went to the police station during the few times they needed him. It was normal for Dawn to feel attached to Elijah.
Courtney began to grasp the situation. “We may not be living together with him, but the place we’ll be staying won’t be far from his. We can meet up with him often,” she explained.
After hearing that, the disappointment on Dawn’s face eased up a little.
“Okay, don’t overthink it. I’ll get someone to show you around Melrose these few days. Once your adoption papers have been finalized, you can leave this place with us.”
Dawn nodded. After assuring Dawn, Courtney walked over to the door, but she suddenly thought of something then. She turned to look at Dawn. “Before we leave, do you want to see your father?” she asked.
“No.” Dawn wrinkled her forehead before she resolutely elaborated, “He’s not my dad.”
Courtney didn’t chastise Dawn or affirm her. She simply nodded and closed the door.
Out of the twenty-plus people on the island, Fatso was the only one to escape with his life. Currently, he was being held in jail. Once the court had made its decision, he would at the very least be facing a life sentence. There was little chance of him ever leaving the inside of a prison cell for as long as he lived.
On the day of the island escape, Courtney had the feeling that Fatso had been holding his tongue. He seemed to have more he wanted to say to her, but he hadn’t gotten the chance to. Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding between Dawn and Fatso?
Cameron and Gale’s wedding was to be held at the end of the month. It was a little too rushed, but Gale insisted on having it as soon as possible—something about unlucky happenings being more likely to crop up if they delayed the wedding any longer. Gale probably got scared by what had happened before Courtney and Alexander’s wedding.
Inside the Citron Apparel store, Cameron was having a wedding gown fitting while Courtney tried on her bridesmaid dress. The wedding gown was a piece that Cameron had made as a graduation piece; Bill sent it to her six months ago.
“I made this for my graduation ages ago. I’ve put on some weight since then. If I don’t get it altered, the seams might just burst during the wedding.”
Inside the dressing room, two attendants helped Courtney and Cameron to spruce up their hair and smooth out their skirts. Courtney lifted her arms so that the attendant could help her tighten her corset. As she did so, she glanced at Cameron. “So long as you can squeeze into the dress. It’s already been almost half a year since you were unemployed; if you weren’t eating, you were sleeping. Being able to retain such a figure is already pretty great. People who get fat at the sight of food are going to give you a good walloping if they hear you say that.”
“That just won’t do. Anyway, I got to lose weight. I don’t want to look like a short and stout teapot at my own wedding,”
“Why? Are you worried that Gale will be disgusted?”
“Will he even dare to be?”
Seeing how serious Cameron was, Courtney felt relieved.
“By the way, that girl that you brought with you—are you really going to bring her to the States with you?”
“Yeah, I already promised her father.”
“You’re unbelievable—you’re not running a charity or orphanage here. Isn’t two children already enough work for you? I’m warning you now: a twelve-year-old, and one raised in an environment like that, isn’t going to be easy to raise.”
“It’ll be okay.”
“Geez, so, she’s probably registered under Elijah’s name, yeah?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lucky that you haven’t signed the divorce papers with Elijah.” There was an underlying meaning to Cameron’s tone. “Or you probably wouldn’t have been able to carry out the adoption.”
Courtney nodded. “Yes, it’s all thanks to Elijah.”
After the police had confirmed Dawn’s identity, they initially planned to send her to an orphanage. Courtney couldn’t just adopt Dawn right away just because she wanted to either; she still had to follow the adoption process as laid out by the orphanage. And Melrose Orphanage’s adoption process stipulated that the adopting person had to be married, preferably without children.
In the end, Dawn’s adoption was registered under Elijah’s name, and he was also the one who renamed her. She was now Angie Grant, in hopes that she would always have a guardian angel looking after her in her new life.
“It’s nice that Elijah is willing to adopt an older girl like her too.”
“He’s just helping out. Once we’re overseas, she’s going to be living with me.”
“Enough with that; you think I don’t know that you’re going to go to med school?” Cameron smiled. “Are you going to bring all three kids with you while you go to class? Even if you’re willing to do that, Elijah will definitely make the kids stay behind so that you won’t get distracted.”
Courtney was speechless. What Cameron said was definitely something Elijah would do.
“I can see that Elijah is very thoughtful and considerate toward you. Why haven’t you considered living with him?”
Courtney was at a loss as to how to answer her question.
Just then, the attendants finished fussing over their hair and dresses. “Your dresses are ready, Miss Hunter, Miss Miller. Please take a look.”
The curtains of the dressing room were pulled aside from the outside. Cameron held Courtney’s arm. “Do I look pretty?” she asked Gale, who was yawning repeatedly from where he sat on the couch.
“Beautiful.” Gale put down his book. “You look good in anything.”
That deep, loving, passionate gaze was enough to make Courtney break out into goosebumps.
“What about Courtney? How does her bridesmaid’s dress look?”
Gale’s gaze sharpened at that, as though he was faced with some terrifying enemy. “I cannot pass judgment on my wife’s best friend, not if I value my life.”
“I can barely bring myself to ask you that anyway.“ Cameron rolled her eyes as she pulled Courtney over to a mirror for her to see herself. The bridesmaid dress that Courtney was wearing was something that Cameron had personally designed herself. It matched perfectly with the wedding gown that she had on.
“Looks great, huh?”
“It does.” Courtney grinned. “When do any of your designs look awful?”
As she spoke, she heard the attendant speak behind her. “Welcome.”
Gale spoke up as well. “Alex, I’ve been waiting for you since forever. Why did you only come now?”
All at once, the smile on Courtney’s face stiffened.
Of course, it was Cameron and Gale’s wedding. She was Cameron’s best friend, which was why she was the bridesmaid. And Alexander was Gale’s best friend. Naturally, he would be the best man.
Actually, Cameron had told her about this before. Courtney had also thought that she had already mentally prepared herself, but her heart still raced like no tomorrow as she heard Gale and Alexander’s voices behind her.
Letting go of someone was truly not an easy task.
