Page 48 of Panty Dropper

“That was…” I didn’t really have words.

“Small town living at its best?” Cheyenne offered.

“Or something like that,” I chuckled.

“Aside from interactions like that,” Cheyenne sighed as she flipped through another rack, “I really do love it here in Firefly. It’s so beautiful, my brothers are here, and most of the people are so warm and welcoming. But the small-town shopping experience…”

“It leaves a little to be desired,” I concluded.

“Yes. It does.”

The only dresses we were finding that were appropriately somber were extremely frumpy, meant for women at least twice Cheyenne’s age. It was a depressing scene. And the ones that weren’t in that category seemed to cater to the spring break crowd and looked to be no more than swimsuit cover ups.

“You know,” I said, “We could always go shopping in my closet. I have plenty of LBDs. One of them might work. Also, I have black pencil skirts and silk button-downs in muted dark shades. They’re not anything special but I think we’re the same size.”

“Seriously? Oh my god, that would be amazing!” she enthused. “I’m kicking myself for not bringing something with me on the trip. I just wasn’t thinking clearly when I packed.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “I think you can be forgiven for that. It’s pretty understandable.”

“Do you by any chance have anything that’s burgundy?”

“Um, I think so. Why?”

“I guess my dad wanted us to wear burgundy. Well, he wanted my brothers to, anyway.”

I could see how conflicted her feelings were. And how out of the loop she still felt.

“Yes. We’ll find something.” I assured her. “Was burgundy his favorite color?’

“No, I don’t think so. Hank said it had something to with a family crest he found on Ancestry dot com.”

As we headed over to my room at the boarding house, I asked, “So, what are your plans? Are you going to be staying in town after the funeral?”

She nodded. “Yes. Billy asked me to stay with him, and I took him up on it. I want to get to know my brothers, and I guess that since I’m part owner of the bar, I should familiarize myself with it, as well. So, yeah, I’m gonna be around for a while.”

“I’m glad,” I said sincerely.

I’d never had any siblings, but I’d always wanted a little sister. Oddly enough, considering the short time we’d known each other, that’s what Cheyenne felt like.

“I really appreciate you letting me borrow something. You have to come over and let me make you dinner sometime as a thank you. I make a mean chicken marsala.”

I smiled and nodded, but inside, all I could think about was that she was living at Billy’s. Which meant we’d be eating at the same table where he’d pulled me onto his lap and kissed me like I was the very air he needed to breathe. There was no way that I could go through a meal, with Billy, at that table and not think about our first kiss…and what had happened after that kiss.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to not think about those things at the funeral tomorrow.

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