I feel like I’m in a dream as I step inside, Ryder right behind me.
If the studio’s exterior was a dream, the studio’s interior is pure girly heaven mixed with a hefty dose of Texas Hill Country charm. A wall of windows at the back overlooks the shimmering Colorado River, while the limestone walls are lined with shelves bearing the most beautiful—and most colorful—array of cowboy boots I’ve ever seen.
Reba plays over the speakers. The air smells like jasmine and orange blossom, a mix that’s elegant but fun at the same time.
Mollie welcomes me with a hug. “Hey there, cowgirl!”
Ava presses a glass of champagne into my hand. “I’m so glad you were able to stay a little longer.”
“This still seems excessive.” I cast a panicked glance in Ryder’s direction.
“You’re excessive, so it works.”
I nod. “Fair point. Y’all really don’t have to?—”
“But we want to. Welcome, Billie,” Mollie continues. “We’re thrilled to have an excuse to show off the new studio. Is your arm okay?” She glances at my sling.
“Arm is better. And this studio—it’s fabulous.” Sipping my champagne, I glance around. “Y’all are really living the dream.”
Wheeler chuckles. “You missed the nightmare that was the first five years of running Bellamy Brooks.”
“Dark days.” Mollie crosses her arms. “But we survived.”
“And now you’re thriving.” Ryder looks at me. “Gives you somethin’ to think about, doesn’t it?”
I take another sip of champagne in an effort to get a grip on my feelings because they’re spinning out right now. The champagne is deliciously cold and just the right amount of sweet, the bubbles dancing over my tongue.
Another sip because I still feel wobbly. “Definitely.”
“Welp.” Ryder digs into his front pocket, the one with the telltale crease in the shape of a rectangle, and pulls out his pocketknife. “I best get gone. Got cowboy things to do.”
I bite my lip. “I’ll be bugging you later.”
“If you can find me.”
“I know my way around these parts.”
He grins. “You do.”
Then he turns and strides out the door.
Mollie grabs my arm and squeezes, her smile lighting up her whole face. “Who are you, and what have you done to Ryder? We need to know because we need you to do more of it. He never,everhas been so?—”
“Happy,” Sally says.
“Horny,” Wheeler adds.
“I have…no idea what is happening.” I watch through the window as Ryder lopes down the steps and climbs into his truck. “One minute, he actually agrees to ride in the ambulance with me, and the next, I’m, well, here.”
Also. I’m kinda dying over the fact that I’m spending time with a girl gang after twenty-four years of hanging out almost exclusively with boys.
Mollie steers me toward the wall of cowboy boots. “When he called me to ask for a pair of boots for you, I about had a heart attack. He only said you ‘did him a solid.’ Care to elaborate?”
I put a hand on my face. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. The only thing I can think of is that I opened up to him about hating my job, and then he opened up to me about, well, a little of everything.”
Ava exchanges a meaningful glance with Wheeler. “This is gonna be juicy.”
“Aw, yeah.” Wheeler rubs her hands together.
