I found the dress first. I wasn’t looking for anything like that, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it had been made for Kate. It was hanging in a small shop window, and if not for the moon peeking out from behind clouds at the very moment I walked in that street, I might not have noticed it. In the light of the moon, it glowed like silver. I’d never seen Kate wear anything like this – I’d never even seen her wear a dress – but I knew she’d look amazing in it. Not that she needs a dress to look beautiful; I just thought she would like it.

And I knew that Marc would love it on her, too.

At that hour, the store was closed, of course, and I couldn’t exactly come back in the middle of the day, so I scribbled a note and put it in the mail slot, asking the shopkeeper to please hold that dress in the window for me and that I’d come the next night right at nightfall if the owner would please wait for me. Business is slow enough that accommodating potential customers is a priority for most shopkeepers, and when I showed up the next night the shop was still open for me. The shopkeeper was surprised when she saw a man walk in; I guess she’d expected a woman. We haggled a little over the price, but not that much. I had to have that dress, whatever the price. Besides, it was a handmade creation, and well worth the price.

She had shelves of gently used shoes in the back of the shop, and with a bit of work we hunted down a pair in Kate’s size.

“She’s a lucky woman,” she told me when I left.

“No, I’m a lucky man,” I replied.

Me and Marc both, but she didn’t need to hear that.