Page 17 of All the Right Things

“My name is Tracy,” she says, her smile much wider and more genuine than mine. “What brings you in today?”

“Well, I need to find a couple of new outfits. I just got to town, and it seems that all of my stuff has taken a bit of a detour.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Her accent is not quite as thick as Miss Brenda Jenkins, but it’s still there. Realization seems to cross her face suddenly. “Oh! You are our newbie in town! You’re staying over at the Mitchell Ranch, right?”

“Yeah,” I say softly, bracing myself for impact.

But it never comes. Instead, she smiles wider. “Well, it’s great to have you! I love meeting new people. In this small town, seeing the same ol’ people gets old after awhile. As I said, I’m Tracy, and if there’s anything you need, you just let me know, even if it’s just someone to talk to.” She gives me a wink at the end, and I start to relax a little bit.

Maybe there is someone else in this town besides Jonas who isn’t a complete butt.

“Thanks. I’m Andi.”

“Nice to meet you, Andi. What exactly are you looking for today?”

I shrug. “Honestly, I just need something to make it through.” My eyes look around, and it’s a whole lot of things I don’t typically wear. “Do you have anything that isn’t flannel?”

She giggles. “Not a lot, I’m afraid. In a small town like this, you have to cater to the demographic, and that means a lot of flannel and blue jeans, I’m afraid. But let’s look around; maybe we can find you something cute.”

We spend the next couple of hours going through the store as Tracy picks out things for me to try on. I settle on two button-up shirts. Both of which have the flannel pattern but are fun, bright colors. I also get two pairs of boot-cut jeans, and thankfully, Daisy’s Boutique does have some leggings, so I grab a couple of pairs of those as well.

Tracy is lovely, and we laugh and get to know each other the whole time. Back in my old life, I didn’t have an overabundance of female friends, or friends in general, really, so it’s nice having someone to talk to. Getting to know her, I find out she’s owned the store for about four years now. It used to belong to another older woman in town, and Tracy just worked here. But when the owner moved to Texas to be with her daughter, she sold it to Tracy at a great price. Clearly, she’s made it her own.

Everything in the room is bright and fun, just like Tracy.

She picks out another flannel shirt for me to try on, and I wince but try it on anyway.

When in Rome, might as well do as the Romans do.

Chapter Ten

Jonas

“Do you really think I’m going to feed you any of this?” I say to the German Shepherd staring back at me.

Beau is sitting on the floor staring at me as I patty up some burgers. He gives a quiet whine and paws my leg.

Tossing him a small piece of ground beef, I say, “I’m going to have to get on Grandma for spoiling you so much. I swear you gain five pounds every time you stay the night over there. Alright, go on. Get out of here.”

Reluctantly, he saunters off to the other room. I spend the next twenty minutes cooking until I hear the front door click and open.

“Andi, is that you?” I call.

“Yeah,” I hear from the living room. For a few moments, silence fills the air until I hear, “Uh, Jonas…can you come here?”

Setting down the container of salt I’m holding, I follow the sound of her voice to the living room. She’s standing in front of the couch where Beau is sitting, staring at her.

“What is it?” She asks.

I chuckle. “Well, Andi, it’s a dog.”

Her gaze shoots daggers through me. “I know that it’s a dog, Jonas. I just didn’t know that you had a dog.”

“Yeah, sorry, he’s been staying with my mom the past couple of days. Do you not like dogs?”

She looks back at Beau. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one. Never even really been around them.”

How are you not around dogs?

---