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"I know some cheap places in the Garment District," I offered. There was no reason for us to waste money to impress Kenny.
"We're meeting Stella here," Brandy replied as Celeste pulled into a parking garage and parked in a spot. She remained seated in the driver's seat, her head swiveling in all directions. Fiona was sitting next to her in the front passenger seat, and she didn't move to take her seatbelt off either.
"Here she comes," Celeste announced as she looked in the side mirror.
I turned to see a tall Black woman striding confidently toward us in a long black leather coat and black turtleneck sweater. Her natural afro-style hair blew in the wind as she adjusted the oversized golden bag on her shoulder. She looked like she could fit in easily in New York City, a little overdressed for a Sunday afternoon in California.
She hopped in next to me, and I scooted to the middle closer to Brandy. "Hi, girl. I'm Stella." The scent of flowers filled the back seat of the car.
The familiar nerves of meeting someone new sent a shiver through my skin, but she seemed friendly, and the otherwomen were very nice, so I had no reason to fear her. "Hi, I'm Wren."
We shook hands and she greeted Brandy, Celeste, and Fiona.
"Fill me in. What did I miss while I was getting my beauty sleep?"
Oh boy. I wasn't sure if I could go over it all again. Luckily, Brandy spoke first. "She's got a weird magician guy who's causing her trouble, and she has to go to a red, white, and black only formal magic show at his mansion in Brentwood on Valentine's Day."
"Oh, nice." She tilted her chin down and looked me straight in the eye. "And what did Magnum do to you?"
"Nothing." I laughed. Why did she assume he'd done something?
"Last I heard he was off the rails saying paranoid stuff, and you all were gonna check on him." She looked to Fiona.
Fiona nodded. "That's why I'm here, but he seemed stable when I saw him this morning."
They were all worried about Magnum's erratic behavior the past few days, but it was really my fault he was acting suspicious. "He's fine," I said. "He was right to be paranoid. The guy, Kenny, blew up my bakery, and Magnum was there in time to get me out."
"And how do you know Mag?" Stella asked.
"Well, that's kinda a long story." She'd missed everything earlier when Mag made it easy for me by summarizing and leaving out the parts that embarrassed me.
"Spill." She placed a manicured hand on mine.
"I was dating his brother," I admitted.
"Ooh. Mag has a brother?"
"Yes. Two I think, but this one is named Gavin."
"Okay?"
"And Kenny was threatening to make me marry him to pay off my debt, so I said I was marrying Gavin to dissuade him, but Gavin didn't show at the courthouse and Mag was there and he stood in for his brother."
I was talking fast to try to get through it quickly, but she held up her hands. "Hold up, hold up. What do you mean he stood in?"
"He pretended to be Gavin," I admitted.
"Okay, because I was gonna say Magnum would never just step up and marry his brother's girl or any girl. That boy is terrified of marriage."
This was news to me, but the dam had broken and the words just tumbled out. "Well, he didn't seem scared. He just said he'd stand in and sign Gavin's name, but then Kenny saw him and now he thinks Magnum is Gavin, and he sent a note to my bakery with a bomb that he expected us both at the magic show, but I'm dead scared to go because I have to pretend to be married to Magnum, and it's dangerous, and I hate attention on me, and I'm so out of my comfort zone, and it's all completely impossible."
I took a big breath in, and Stella gave my hands a comforting squeeze. The way her eyes warmed made me want to just tell her everything, so I did. "And I can't possibly shop on Rodeo Drive because we were always poor, and it just feels wrong, and I can't imagine I'll be comfortable in a designer dress anyway, but I appreciate all of you trying to help since I'm basically a stranger."
She nodded quickly. "Okay, okay. I hear you. Don't worry. Stella is here now. Your girls are here for you. We got your back." Her head was moving a lot to emphasize her words, and I had to smile at how animated and real she was.
The other women mumbled in the affirmative. "I was raised poor too," Brandy said quietly. "I'm still not comfortable with a lot of the stuff Steel buys, but the truth is that guys like him can afford it and they like making us happy, but if this doesn't make you happy, then we can totally skip it."
Stella hugged me and her hair brushed my face. "How about this? Since we're here, we'll try one store. Just one store and see if there's anything that works for you. If not, we'll head somewhere else. Some outlet stores up here or back down south."
