Jim didn't see why they had to dress formally to go to a birthday party. "Why can't I just wear one of my suits? I didn't even wear one of those when we got married." Ivy handed him his tuxedo. "Jimmy, please just wear it for me, OK? I bet you'll look handsome."  Knowing that continuing to argue wasn't going to get him anywhere but in trouble he opted to give in to Ivy's request. "You’re going to have to deal with the tie" he called after her as she went into the bathroom.  

Emerging from the bathroom wearing a robe, some 25 minutes later Ivy had her hair dried and pulled back and her makeup on. "See I told you... you do look handsome." Ivy couldn't contain her smile as she looked at him. "So what are you wearing? Jim asked as Ivy adjusted his tie. "A dress," she replied simply as she made her way back to the bathroom. Knowing there was more to it from the way she answered Jim waited. She reemerged wearing a dress he had never seen before. The chocolate brown gown was just a few shades lighter than her hair. "Is that new?"

"You haven’t seen it because I haven’t worn it in a few years. " Seeing confusion on Jim’s face she continued. "Jim, I didn’t wear it because David bought it for me."

Jim sighed deeply but remained silent. "Jimmy it is just a dress. I wore it to a formal event I went to with him. It is appropriate for tonight, that’s all."

"Ivy, what he did."

"I know better than anyone what happened. There is no reason to spend money on a new dress when I have one already. I’m not saying you or I have to like how I got it. But I’m already dressed. It really isn’t a big deal; it’s just a dress. " She hoped she sounded convincing because she was still trying to talk the sense of it to herself. Somehow wearing the gown again made her feel a little vulnerable.

As they drove to Sid and Kate’s house, Jim worried about Ivy. She still wasn’t acting like herself and he sincerely wished she had gone ahead and spent the money on a new dress if it was so important to her to go to this party. He wondered about that too. Just why did Ivy like Sid so

much? It just didn’t really make sense to him.

"Did we get a gift or something?" he asked as the pulled into Sid’s driveway. "Remember that art gallery that was closing in Coffs? I bought one of the pieces. It didn’t pay a quarter of the original price but I thought it was something that might go along with Sid’s aesthetic. Here’s hoping it does anyway."

Ivy could see the concern on Jim’s face. "Jimmy don’t worry I am feeling a little better and it will do me some good to do something other than unpacking and dealing with the store. I gave Ian the cell number so he can reach us if there are any problems. Let’s just be a little sociable ok?"

Waiting for the door to open Jim chastised himself for agreeing to go to the party at all. Ivy looked lovely in her gown but he felt there was more than the dress that was wrong with the whole event. This was going to be a long evening.