months of operation their efforts were really beginning to pay off.
“But you haven’t finished your meal,” Mary protested.
“I know, but we need the customers. Come down after Drew goes to sleep,” she added. They’d gotten a baby monitor so as long as Drew couldn’t get out of his bed, they were okay. But Kelly was getting worried about his prowess these days.
“Okay,” Mary agreed.
When Kelly got downstairs, she discovered they were having a run on the prom gowns. She and Lindsay had spent more than they’d intended because they’d found a new supplier with great designs when they’d come to market in Dallas. Today, it looked like their investment was paying off.
When Mary came down, she took over the counter, ringing up customers, leaving Kelly and Lindsay to the actual selling.
The store closed officially at 6:00 p.m., but it was almost six-thirty when Lindsay locked the door behind the last customer. Since Mary had gone back upstairs a couple of hours ago to care for Drew, Lindsay and Kelly were on their own.
“We did over three thousand in sales today,” Kelly exclaimed from behind the counter tallying sales. “I bet we’re even busier on Saturday. We’re getting a lot of good word of mouth.”
Lindsay agreed. “Those gowns you found at market are almost gone. I think we should call the supplier in the morning and have them overnight some more. Today’s Wednesday. We could have them on the racks Saturday.”
Kelly beamed at her partner. “Brilliant idea! I’ll call first thing in the morning. And I’m calling Addie McCracken. She wanted that plum dress and it was too small. I can order a bigger size if she wants it.”
“Great! You have such a memory. I’d forgotten about Addie.” Lindsay paused and then added, “With that great memory of yours, it’s amazing that you forgot to mention Pete’s visit today.”
Kelly froze. That was a subject she had hoped to avoid. She attempted a casual shrug. “What’s to mention? He was looking for you, and I told him where to find you. I hope that was okay?”
“Of course it was okay. So he didn’t upset you?”
Kelly noted how closely Lindsay was watching her. “No, of course not.”
Lindsay heaved a big sigh. “Oh, good, ’cause he needs your help.”
Kelly drew a deep breath. “I don’t think I’d be very good as a cowboy. Sorry.”
“That’s okay, ’cause he doesn’t need you to round up cows. He needs you to go to the movies with him.” Lindsay smiled at her as if she’d already agreed to help Pete.
“Oh, come on, Lindsay. Pete can get a date in a minute’s time. You know how popular he is. The women in town just flock to him.” She was not going to the movies with Pete. Of that she was sure.
“You’re right,” Lindsay agreed.
Kelly released a deep sigh. “Of course I am.”
“But none of them have what you have,” Lindsay added.
“What’s that?” Kelly asked sharply.
“You don’t want to get married,” she replied, her grin triumphant.
Kelly had told her friend her feelings too many times to argue with her now. “True, but I’m not going out with him. He’s not going to use me to break some woman’s heart. He can do that by himself.”
“I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but he can’t. He warned Sheila he just wanted fun, no commitment, but she considered his words a challenge.”
“Of course,” Kelly replied matter-of-factly, understanding at once what Lindsay had had to explain to the men.
“Well, she’s been bragging about how she plans to trap him. If he doesn’t marry her, it will harm his reputation. If he does marry her, he’ll be miserable the rest of his life. The answer is to start dating a woman who doesn’t want marriage. You.”
“I don’t date.” Kelly didn’t bother to protest Lind-say’s plan. Her determined tone, she thought, would do the trick. After all, Lindsay knew her history. She understood why Kelly wanted nothing to do with a man.
“It wouldn’t really be a date,” Lindsay said. “Mostly you’d just appear in public with him. The rest of the time, you’d be watching a movie you’ve been wanting to see—and Pete would have to pay! Wouldn’t that be great? It’d only be a few times. And our entire family would be grateful.” Lindsay shuddered. “Imagine having Sheila as part of your family. How awful!”
“I don’t even know her!” Kelly exclaimed. “Do you want to come have a soda before you go home?”
“Great, but before we go upstairs, will you please help Pete—and me—out?”
Kelly glared at her best friend in the world, angry with her that she was backing Kelly into a corner. How could she refuse? Because of Lindsay, her shop was flourishing, and she and Drew no longer lived in the small trailer home. Her mother was with her and enjoying life, finally. All because of Lindsay.
But she just couldn’t say yes.
“Lindsay, I just can’t. I—it’s—”
Lindsay moved closer to Kelly. “I figured, so I worked out some incentive.”
“Lindsay—” Kelly began to protest, but Lindsay stopped her.
“It’s only fair. And it’s something you’ll love because it helps your mother, too.”
For the first time, Lindsay really had Kelly’s attention. “What are you talking about? How could Pete do something that would help my mother?”
Lindsay smiled. “Well, I thought you might refuse, so I decided you’d be more agreeable if the two of you weren’t alone. So I suggested you double-date.”
“It would certainly make it easier, but I don’t see how that would help my mother.”
Lindsay said nothing.
Kelly stared at her. “Well?”
“The other couple would be Mary…and Rafe.”
“Mother and Rafe?”
“You said you wanted her to date, to have fun. And remember those shy looks between them, when you both came to the ranch for dinner? I thought they would be perfect together. I suggested it to Rafe, without mentioning that I thought he was interested in Mary. It was so cute, Kelly. He ducked his head and said he guessed he could help Pete out, if Mary wouldn’t object.” Lindsay chuckled, pleasure on her face.
Kelly closed her eyes and swallowed.
Looks like she was wrong.
She was going to the movies with Pete Crawford.
Chapter
