She takes my face in her hands. “Baby, youarethat version of her. You just gotta get outta your own way.”
I pull a heavy breath into my lungs and let it fan across my lips. “Right now, I think I just gotta go shopping. You’re right. My clothes don’t work here.”
“Welp, I gotta be at work in an hour. I can drop you off in town on my way, but you’ll have to find a ride back.”
My lips twist in a pout. “I can’t imagine you guys have cabs out here.”
Another gravelly chuckle slides up her throat. “No, can’t say there is. But Jace’ll be at the gym. You find your way there, and he can give you a lift back.”
“I don’t think Jace likes me very much.”
Cindy rolls her eyes and pushes off the couch. “Jace’s bark is way worse than his bite, believe me. Inside that tough exterior is a little boy who misses his daddy.”
A tight knot forms in my belly. I guess I was so consumed with my own loss that I hadn’t considered his. Losing a parent sucks at any age. “May I ask what happened to him?”
“That’s a conversation for another day,” she says with a sigh. “Ima go get ready for my shift, then we’ll head out, okay?”
I nod. “My mom was lucky to have you as a friend.”
She offers a wide grin before walking away.
Alone with my thoughts, I go over the day’s events and plan ways to make tomorrow better.
Clothes: I will buy a few things to acclimate to my surroundings while also finding a way to slip in my own sense of fashion.
Friends: Chris was nice, as were Randy and Mae. I’ll try to have lunch with them again tomorrow.
Scandal: Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.
Jace: … That one is a tough nut to crack. He’s such a jerk, but I need to find a way for us to coexist, or else I will lose my ever-loving mind.
Then there’s Darla. Her name alone is an instant headache. I don’t know what I did to get on her shit list, but high school drama is fickle. Today, I was the talk on everybody’s tongue. By tomorrow, it could be something else. I only hope it shifts sooner rather than later. Parsons School of Design is waiting for me at the end of this race. My trust fund may be gone, but if I’ve learned anything from my mother’s example, it's determination. All I have to do is keep my eyes on the prize.
“You ready?”
Cindy’s voice pulls me from my mental checklist. I look up to find her dressed in jeans and a fitted tee tucked in at the waist, a long braid slithering over her shoulder like a snake.
By the time we’re side by side in her Chevy S10, I’m already feeling better about the situation. She stops in front of an old converted barn.Great Notch Innglows in red neon letters, but the e and the o remain dark making it readGrat Ntch Inn.
“This is where you work?” My gaze treks past the row of motorcycles gleaming in the setting sun.
“Unfortunately,” she replies, but does so with a wry grin. “Damn near twenty years, if you can believe it.” She parks the truck off to the side and hops out. “Now, if you take a walk down that way …” She points her arm down the long, winding road. “You’ll find Boots n’ Bangles. That’s a popular store for the girls around here. When you’re done there …” She raises the other arm to point in the opposite direction. “The gym is just a block or so down this way. You can’t miss it. Stop in and ask for Jace. Tell him I said he’s gotta take you home, alright?”
“Thanks, Cindy. I really appreciate it.”
“Have fun. I know I will,” she replies with a wink, then trots up the stone steps until the giant barn doors pull her inside.
Boots n’ Bangles turns out to be a small glass-front store in the center of a long strip mall, anchored by a local grocery and a hardware store on either end. It’s like a hillbilly barbell, with everything you need in between.
I used to shop at places like Saks and Bloomingdales. Now I'm in a town where the hot place for fashion has ann’in the title.
How is this my life?
I stare out into the wide-open space trying to feel my mom’s presence on the very streets she spent her life running down, but nothing’s there. I don’t know that version of her. The wild child who broke into country clubs just to go swimming. The woman I knew barely had any trace of an accent left unless she got mad or had too much to drink.
My credit card burns a hole in my pocket. With any luck, the banks haven’t turned them off yet, and the statement will just go to my mother, who won’t be paying the bills anytime soon. I’ll buy everything I need in one large purchase and hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass.
The gold bell alerts the clerk to my entry. She looks up from the register. “Welcome to Boots n’ Bangles!”