Christine Rimmer - Cinderella's Big Sky Groom

“My, my,” Danielle muttered under her breath. “Feeling feisty today, aren’t we?”

Lynn shot her friend a quelling glance, then turned on Garrison again. “She’s a lovely child. And one of my two best students—Sara here is the other one.” She glanced at Sara, who granted her a big, proud smile.

Ross Garrison was not smiling. “Miss Taylor. We both know that Jennifer’s been through considerable trauma.”

“Yes. She has. And in my opinion, none of her troubles have damaged her in the least.”

Garrison did not look convinced, but he did allow, “Fine. If you say so.”

“I do.”

“All right.”

“Good.”

Those dark eyes stared into hers again, taking her measure. Lynn stared right back at him. Finally he said, “Listen, I really would like to talk with you in a little more depth about this.”

Danielle chuckled then. “You’ll have to wait your turn, Ross. Lynn’s going to be busy for a while. But you could meet her at the Whitehorn Beauty Salon—say, about five?”

Lynn blinked and whirled on her friend. “The Whitehorn Salon? Wait a minute. You didn’t say anything about taking me there.”

Danielle looked way too pleased with herself. “It was a surprise, remember?”

“But…” Lynn couldn’t help sputtering. “But…the beauty shop? For five hours?”

Danielle waved a hand. “Four and a half, actually. Your appointment’s at twelve-thirty.” She glanced at the clock. “And we’d better get going or we’ll be late.”

“But Danielle—”

The other woman cut her off by speaking to Garrison. “Like I said. Whitehorn Salon. Five o’clock. She’ll be there.”

Lynn sputtered some more. “No. No, wait, I—”

“Five o’clock, then,” said Ross Garrison. And before Lynn could finish objecting, he strode to the door, pushed it open and left in a swirl of brisk autumn air.

The moment the door closed behind the lawyer, Lynn demanded of her friend, “Why did you tell him where to find me?”

“Why not? He just wants to get up to speed about Jenny.”

“Well, I know, but…”

“But what?” There was a very suspicious gleam in Danielle’s eyes. “Are you scared of him, or something?”

“Of course not.”

“Well, I have to say, sparks certainly seemed to be flying between you two.”

“They were not. Not in the least. A man like that is never going to look twice at someone like me.”

“There you go. Underestimating yourself again.”

“I am not. I’m just stating a fact. And I’m not looking twice at him, either. He’s—” She cut herself off as she realized that Sara was standing right there, taking all this in. “Never mind. I just…well, I told him all there is to tell. You heard me.”

“Oh, come on. Let him do his job. He seems…very conscientious. And after Wendell Hargrove, Jenny deserves a lawyer who’s looking out for her interests instead of robbing her blind.”

Sara was still staring up at them. “Mommy. Jenny’s not blind. She can see just fine.”

Danielle smoothed her daughter’s unruly bangs back from her forehead. “It’s just an expression, honey. Jenny had a bad lawyer who took some of her money. But now that bad lawyer’s gone to jail.”

“And that man who just left, he’s a lawyer, too?”

“That’s right. He’s Jenny’s new lawyer.”

“Is he a good lawyer?”

“Yes. I’m sure he is.”

“What’s a lawyer, anyway? And how come, if Jenny’s got one, I don’t?”

Danielle glanced at the clock. “We’ll have to talk about that later. Right now, we need to get going.”

To the Whitehorn Salon, Lynn thought with a considerable degree of dread. “Danielle, I don’t know about this…”

“I do. Did you bring the red dress?”

“Danielle. I really don’t think—”

“Come on. Just answer me. Did you bring the dress?”

Lynn was a little embarrassed about that dress. She’d bought it on a shopping trip to Billings just two weeks before, a shopping trip where she’d intended only to replace a few of the practical skirts and blouses that were now three sizes too large. She hadn’t meant to buy a dress like that. It had cost too much and it wasn’t the kind of thing she’d ever actually wear, anyway.

“Lynn. The dress? Did you bring it?”

“Yes. I brought it.”

“And those red shoes, too?”

Lynn huffed out a breath. The shoes had two-inch heels. Lynn was five-nine in stocking feet. She always wore flats. What in the world had possessed her to buy a pair shoes that would only make her look even taller?

“The shoes, Lynn?” Danielle asked for the second time with clearly diminishing patience.

“Yes, all right, I brought the shoes, too.”

“Good. Get ’em and let’s go. You can ride with me and Sara.”

“I can take my own—”

Danielle grunted. “No way. You’ve got that rabbity look around the eyes. You might just drive on home instead of where I’m taking you.”

“Danielle…”

“Stop arguing. You’re coming with us and you can pick up your Blazer later.”

“But Danielle. To the beauty salon?”

“Yes. To the beauty salon. You’ve lost, what? Twenty-five pounds?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“You should be proud of yourself.”

“I am proud of myself.”

“Good. Because you look great. And for your birthday, I intend to make sure we put the finishing touches on your transformation.”

“I just don’t know about this.”

“Get that dress and those shoes and let’s go.”

Lynn was still trying to protest when Danielle pushed her into the padded stylist’s chair and the salon’s owner, Gracie Donahue, whisked a big purple hairdresser’s cape around her neck.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. This is all just too much….”

“It is not,” said Gracie’s daughter, Kim, with whom Lynn had gone to school—and who was now in town on a visit from San Francisco, where she worked in a very exclusive salon. “I’m in on this, too. And I am the best at what I do. You’re going to look fabulous when we’re through. All the cowboys for miles around will fall in love with you.”

Lynn stared at her own reflection in the mirror. No one to fall in love with there. True, her clean-scrubbed face was slimmer than it used to be. She actually had cheekbones now. But she still looked as ordinary as a loaf of white bread. Also, right at the moment, her brow was furrowed and her mouth all pinched up. “Oh, I don’t like this….” It came out on a whimper.

Kim laughed. “Wait till we’re finished. First, a deep-pore cleansing. Then the mud mask. Manicure. And pedicure. The hair, of course—and full makeup, once your pores have had a chance to settle down from the cleansing and the mask.”

That didn’t sound particularly comforting. “My pores have to settle down?”

“Yes. And they will. We have plenty of time. You’ll walk out of here a new woman.”

“I’m just fine the way I am.” She wished she sounded more convincing.

“Of course you are. But there’s always room for improvement.”

“It’s too much….”

Kim gave a delicate snort. “You already said that.”

Lynn caught Danielle’s eye in the mirror. “You know you can’t afford all this.” Danielle was a single mom on a limited budget. “It will be far too expensive.”

Gracie put her plump hands on Lynn’s shoulders. “Listen.” Lynn stiffened. Gracie’s warm fingers pressed a little more firmly. “I mean it.”

Sara piped up then. “Miss Taylor, you have to sit still if you want to get your surprise. You have to let them make you beautiful, just like Cinderella. Remember? When her fairy godmother came and got out her magic wand and sang the ‘Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo’ song and Cinderella’s hair got so pretty and her raggedy dress turned into a magic ball gown and the little mouses turned into horses and the big pumpkin turned into—”