"Ok. And how y'all paying for this?" she asked.
"Hence the account," I told her. "Wanted to put a card or bank account on file so you could just run it."
"Has to be a card," she told me. "Don't have a way to charge your bank."
So I pulled out my wallet, flipped through my cards, then passed her the one for Southwind. "I also need to put four people on that so they can order, pick up, or whatever."
"Sure." She pushed a form over to me. "Who you wanna let buy? I'm assuming this is for that place up on the hill?"
"Southwind," I told her. "Yes, ma'am. It'll be both of us, Violet Dawson - the owner - and Luke Barrett."
"Luke?" she asked, sounding stunned. "Didn't figure a man like that would get mixed up with that place."
"He does some work for the place," Cy told her. "Job's a job, right?"
Her eyes jumped back to me. "You aren't trying anything with him, are ya? Luke's a good Christian man."
I just groaned, dropping my head to thump it on the counter. "Why does everyone think I'm fucking gay?"
"You ain't?" She sounded honestly surprised.
"No, ma'am. Dated Trina Yates. You know who that is?" I lifted a brow. "Sports Illustrated swimsuit model? Yeah. Still good friends, but I went into selling lingerie and she went to fitness."
"I heard you were gay," she said, her tone making it almost sound like an apology. "We prayed for Southwind last week at church, you know."
"Southwind could use all the prayers you can spare," I told her. "We're trying to do a good thing for the people who really need it. Those poor kids, you know? Some of them don't have a chance without someone willing to step in and give it to them."
"Oh." She glanced over at Cy, then back to me. "I just heard that nothing but trouble comes out of there."
"Well, if Paul Simmons says it, then it's because Violet won't sell her grandmother's house to him. She says this town's a good place to call home. Good people. Kind of place to settle down, you know?"
"She's that fancy one, right?" And the woman gestured to the back of her head like something was exploding. "All the crazy colors in her hair?"
"That's her," I agreed. "Oh, right, and she told me to ask if anyone around here sells Avon. You haven't heard of someone like that, have you?"
The woman seemed confused. "Well, I know that Debbie Muscov used to, but I think she stopped. I can ask around for ya, though."
"Get me a number if you can?" I asked. "Or Violet if you want to call her directly. Either way."
Cy chuckled. "Now she's going to think you're using the stuff, Ash."
I scoffed at that. "I'm just the assistant." I waited for the woman to finish typing in the information from my card, then put it back in my wallet. "You don't happen to know anyone selling a few child-safe horses do you?"
The woman smiled at that. "Well, just about everyone around here will tell you they are. Depends on what you mean by child-safe. If you don't know nothing about horses, I suggest you ask James Curry. He's breeding Quarter Horses, and he'll help you find what you need."
"Perfect. Thank you." I patted the counter and turned, only to pause again. "Hey, about how long until that twine comes in?"
"Next week," she assured me. "We'll call ya."
"Thank you, ma'am."
Then Cy and I headed out. Yet the moment we got in the car, neither of us could hold it in any longer. "Avon?" he asked, laughing a little too hard. "What the fuck, Ash?"
"She likes the bubble bath," I told him. "I just figured that if we're integrating ourselves into the community, there's a chance they'll hate us less. People like it when you have money and want to give it to them."
"You're a dick, you know that, right?" But he didn't look like he cared. "Shit. And you did that with the straightest face I've ever seen."
"Mhm." I backed the car out, taking it slow because everything around here was gravel, gravel, and more gravel. "But she also proved that we need to be careful with Luke."
