Page 77 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

Katie set the curling iron down. “Forget what Chase did to me, you didn’t like him before.” She turned her attention to all of the women, “All I’ve heard over the last few weeks is how I’m too good for him. That he wasn’t worth my spit, but he is a good man. He’s an artist, went to college on a scholarship, and is funny and charming. He has overcome a lot to become a successful man. Chase is a great guy, and when you say I can do better, it just makes me feel like an idiot. You judge him just like you do anyone who hasn’t lived here their whole life or doesn’t fit with your sense of normal.”

Just that moment, Becca walked through the door and Katie pointed. “And Becca. She’s been here almost two months and it wasn’t until she dragged me into her store that I really got to know her. She makes the cutest clothes, in all sizes, and she tells it like it is. No bullshit. She is awesome, and none of you have bothered to get to know her or look at her clothes. Oh, except for the ones who loved the clothes I bought. Then it’s okay, because Katie likes them. Katie, who is all sweet and doormat-y and will just let you say whatever you want. Just because my mother raised me to be polite and respectful, you act like I shouldn’t ever make mistakes.”

Becca interjected, “Ummm, I don’t know what I walked into, but . . .”

Katie waved her hand and continued. “We put people in these little boxes of preconceived notions and we don’t like it when they don’t fit. We need to stop acting like our shit doesn’t stink, because we’ve all fucked up at one point, even you, Mrs. Andrews.”

The place exploded with applause, and Jenny Andrews shouted, “Mama, I don’t know why you hate Chase so much. Daddy told me about that tattoo you got in Panama City when you were in college.”

Mrs. Andrews’s face turned red as she shouted, “Jenny Lynn!”

Jenny shrugged from the pedicure chair and responded, “What? You try to make the rest of the town feel bad because we aren’t as perfect as you, but wanna know what else Daddy told me?”

Mrs. Andrews gritted out between clenched teeth, “Don’t . . . you . . . dare.”

“Mama smoked weed at a Hank Junior concert!”

The women of the salon let out gasps of surprise but quieted down when Mrs. Andrews’s companion raised her hand. “I followed around a very hot band and had a torrid affair with their drummer. Before my marriage, of course.” She mouthed the name of the band, and the majority of the women, minus Jenny and her friends, were impressed.

“I like girls,” Becca called out, grinning.

“Me too!” Kitty said, and Becca looked at her with interest.

One by one, each woman made a confession, and Katie was laughing and cheering along with everyone else. When everyone had spoken, Katie said to Mrs. Andrews, “Come on, Mrs. Andrews, your daughter confessed for you. Is there anything else you might like to share?”

Mrs. Andrews looked at Katie, as if trying to see inside her brain for what ace she had up her sleeve. When Katie’s face remained placid, she looked around at the others and mumbled something too quiet for anyone to hear.

“What?” her daughter yelled.

Mrs. Andrews glared and shouted, “I’ve been inside Sweet Tart’s Boutique’s black-curtained room.”

The room fell silent before whistles and cheers met her announcement, and she smiled slightly. Mrs. Andrews?

??s brown eyes caught Katie’s and she nodded.

It was the best apology she was going to get from the stubborn rag.

Becca yelled over the noise, “Anyone who comes in today for a purchase will get a ‘naughty confessions discount’ of fifteen percent off! Hell, let’s make it twenty!” When the cheers rose up again, Becca waved her hands for everyone to quiet down and asked, “So Katie, what’s your confession?”

I’m the biggest idiot in the world when it comes to men.

Katie looked around at the expectant faces and said, “I recently got a tattoo.”

The whole place burst with excitement and Katie smiled. Sometimes living in a small town wasn’t so bad. At least you had a community that cared about you, even if some people had a backward way of showing it.

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

FOUR DAYS AFTER his mother’s funeral, Chase and Buzz left the lawyer’s office, and Chase felt like he could sleep for days, he was so exhausted. The emotional drain of getting to know his mother for the first time, really, and discovering all her secrets had taken its toll.

Buzz squeezed his shoulder and said, “I know your mother wasn’t always right when it came to you, but she was proud of you.”

“I just wished she’d told me instead of everybody else,” Chase said as he walked to Buzz’s car. He opened the door and sat in the front seat of the cherry-red convertible, leaning his head back with a sigh.

Buzz shook his head as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Women do crazy things when they love someone, just like men do stupid things. I guess you’ll learn that when you find a woman to love.”

Chase’s thoughts drifted to Katie and he said, “I already did, but I messed it up.”

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