Allie asksto borrow Topper’s Jeep, and he hands her his keys without hesitation. She drives, Leo navigates, and I practically chew my bottom lip off in the back seat. We pull up to Fern & Fable, step inside and the familiar bell over the door jingles.
“This place is like a fairy tale,” Allie says, taking it all in.
“A fairy tale that sells bedazzled cowgirl boots,” Leo says, making a face as he picks up a boot off the shelf.
Soon, Mary-Kate emerges from behind the counter, looking especially beautiful in her own bedazzled boots.
“Well, well, well,” she says, arching one brow as she surveys the three of us. “You’re back sooner than I thought.”
“Yes, hi,” I chirp before introducing Leo and Allie to her.
“So, what brings y’all in?” Mary-Kate asks.
“She needs some things that’re going to get a man’s attention,” Allie says.
Mary-Kate gives a wicked little hum. “Those are the best kind of things.” She spins slightly, eyes twinkling. “And who, exactly, is the man in question, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Mr. Duke Faraday,” Leo blurts out.
“Oh, honey,” she says, sliding a sundress off the rack with a snap of her wrist.
Allie perks up. “Do you know Duke?”
Mary-Kate smirks and tosses the dress into my arms. “Intimately.”
“Oh?” Allie says, her eyes darting to me.
Mary-Kate shrugs, unfazed. “Didn’t last. I wanted wild. He wanted peace. But damn, that man could kiss.”
My heart slowly starts to slide out of my body. “That’s … um … great, really great.”
She winks. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, sweetheart. He wasn’t my type.”
“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” I say a little too fast. My voice betraysme, so I add, “Why would I be?” and pretend to study a rack of jeans until the fire fades from my cheeks.
“The good news is, I know exactly what you need.” She strolls up and takes the hem of a dress between two fingers. “Now this, this will make that man stupid.”
And once again, she’s piling clothing in my arms and shoving me into a dressing room. I try on each piece with Leo and Allie weighing in this time. I’m changing into a pair of cutoff shorts that look like Jaws had a hand in shredding them when Mary-Kate shoves a red string bikini through the curtain.
“You sell bathing suits?” I ask.
“Yes, ma’am! There’s five hot springs within a twenty-mile radius here, and there’s always a tourist who forgot their suit.”
“I’m sorry, but do you have some dental floss instead?” I ask. “That might give me better coverage than this.”
Mary-Kate sticks her head in the dressing room. “That’s the point, honey.”
As we pile bags into the back of the Jeep, Allie puts her arm around me before I slip into the back seat. “You ready for your entrance, Aphrodite?”
“I feel like I’m going to be more like an awkward Venus flytrap.”
“I have a feeling Duke will be ready to land in your trap and be devoured,” Leo says.
The wind shifts as we head back up the hill toward the ranch, and I catch my reflection in the rearview mirror. My hair’s windswept, cheeks still flushed from trying on half the shop, and yet, for the first time in a long time, I like what I see. Not necessarily because of the clothes, but because I’m starting to feel like myself again. Maybe it’s not only about getting Duke’s attention, but also about showing myself that I remember how I was when I truly wanted someone.
the calm before the steam
DUKE
