Tristan took a piece of paper out of his pocket and read off some of the things his mother had written down. "New curtains, table runners, enough food to feed the entire town....I don't know what she's thinking with all this..." He sighed and put the paper back in his pocket for safe keeping. If he lost that, he was screwed.

The next thing Rebecca said actually caught Tristan off guard. Perhaps his mother's first suggestion of a tour around town would have been beneficial. He chuckled at the thought. "Remind me to never rely on your sense of direction if we're ever lost." It was kind of cute, in a worrying way. "The inn we stayed at is about two towns in the other direction. Besides, the bill was paid the next day when he came by to get his horses."

Tristan straightened himself up as they neared the town closest to his home. The town seemed more lively than usual. No doubt they'd all heard about the party and received invitations.

"Who knows?" Becca said as she sighed,"It seems like overkill to me but what do I know?" She had shrugged when she said that before continuing,"And how often have you ever seen me go anywhere other than with our families? It's not like I would ever have the chance to experience figuring out directions if ever alone in the woods. It hurts a little that you think I would be totally defenseless."

She had situated herself so it didn't look like they were that close as the town came into view. She was second guessing her idea of asking Tristan to go to the party with her,"This will be a pain, finding a dress, hopefully manage to find someone to go with me..." She said, wondering if he would want to go with her anyway.

Tristan raised an eyebrow at Rebecca's defensive comments. He hadn't meant to upset her, but it was true. He did think she would be completely defenseless. Nothing in her life suggested that she was the type of person that would survive if left alone in the woods and it was all because of the fact that she was literally never left alone. There was always someone else with her, and that wasn't a bad thing, but it was the truth.

"Why would you want to find someone to go with you?" Now it was Tristan's turn to be hurt, though he was a master at not showing his true feelings. He'd just assumed that the two of them would go together, or at least each go to the party alone; but together. It honestly sounded better in his head than it ever would coming out of his mouth, but he didn't understand why it seemed she wanted to find someone else.

Becca looked over at him,"Well I would prefer to go with you." She said,"But I didn't know if you would be able to since I know your mother usually has you doing a million different things during the other parties she's thrown in the past." She saw they were still a little away from town before kissing his cheek,"I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I just wasn't sure your mother would let you have time to enjoy the party."

Tristan's cheeks flushed at Rebecca's words. How had she seen through him like that? All these years and he'd been able to hide what he was feeling from her, to the point of her believing the complete opposite. How was he unable to keep his thoughts from her now? Was she starting to understand his processes? Or was she just guessing that he'd been hurt and actually been correct? He cleared his throat slightly as he parked the wagon at the first place, the tailor.

"I wasn't upset...just...curious." Tristan hopped down from the driver's seat of the wagon and walked to the back to hold a hand out for Rebecca. "They can take measurements for your dress here while I load up the curtains and table runners and whatever else mother ordered."

Becca gently took his hand. She looked at him as he helped her down, and blushing lightly,she asked him,"Well if you'll have time go actually go...would you want to go with me to the party?" She was a bit nervous about asking him after unintentionally upsetting him before but he was the only person she really wanted to go to the dance with. Besides, she loved him and there was really no one else she would rather go with.

Tristan smiled gently and nodded to her question. "I will try my best to set aside time to actually enjoy the party." He wanted to kiss her right now, but public displays of affection like that weren't appropriate. Instead, he recomposed himself and took a step back from her; though it pained him to do so. "It looks like the tailors are with Miss Leveiller at the moment. You will probably have to wait a bit unless they can pull someone to help you. I will get as much done around town as I can while you wait."

Charlotte Leveiller was, no doubt, getting a brand new and very extravagant dress; most of her dresses seemed to be that way. Her family could afford it. They were the second most influential family in the entire area; aside from Tristan's family. If Rebecca hadn't been in the picture, she probably would have been the one he would have ended up marrying.

Becca frowned,"Oh no...not Charlotte...." She sighed and looked over at Tristan,"That girl has not liked me since day one. She did nothing but try to have Samantha be her friend insras of mine when we were kids. It was her fault my arm broke that summer 4 years ago. Remember? We all went down to the pier and she "accidently'' pushed me in?"

Becca looked worried about dealing with Charlotte. She had tried to be nice and befriend her, but Charlotte was just rude and mean. Plus she knew Charlotte also wanted Tristan. While that usually would cause Becca some worry, she felt more confident that Tristan loved her like like she loved him.

Tristan couldn't say he'd seen any real animosity from Charlotte towards Rebecca but he wasn't going to claim Rebecca as a liar either. He honestly didn't even realize Rebecca knew Charlotte. He knew their families had done some things together over the years while Rebecca was around, but it wasn't much. Leave it to girls to instantly learn who they hate.

"Don't worry...I doubt she will do anything to you here. She has a public image to uphold. All that stuff happened when we were children. We're not children anymore. I'm sure she's matured." Tristan had never seen the side of Charlotte that Rebecca described, but he was sure that was done on purpose.

Becca shook her head,"I doubt it." She said softly, obviously nervous about even going near the shop now with Charlotte in there,"Maybe I should just alter one of my dresses for the party... The thought of dealing with Charlotte makes me uneasy..." She looked over at him,"Maybe I'll just go with you to get things instead of getting my dress right now. Charlotte might not do anything, but I'm sure she'll say plenty when she gets her chance..." She took a deep breath to calm herself,"I'll meet you here I suppose when I'm done." She looked around and noticed that people were busy doing their own things so she kissed his cheek quickly.