“Thought we could go out and have some fun.You look like you need it.”
“I do?”I ran my hand over my short hair, wondering if something was out of place.
Rylyn busied herself at a display case as Halle stepped closer to the counter and lowered her voice.
“And I know you want to talk about…” She nodded to the shop across the street.
Owen.Why was everyone so interested in my love life?
“I don’t.”
She grinned.“Sure.Come out with me.I’m heading to Neon Cowboy after my last showing.First round on me.”
Hesitation crawled through me.I glanced down at my chic capris, strappy sandals and gauzy peasant top.So not Neon Cowboy attire.
“I don’t know.I don’t have anything to wear.”
Halle snorted.“Wear your big city clothes.Those guys won’t know what hit them when you walk in.”
“If I walk in like this, I’m going to look like a Vogue intern who got lost on the way to Coachella.”
“I know but it’ll be fun to watch.”She grinned again.“What do you say?We have some catching up to do.”
I cut a glance to Rylyn still fussing with a vase and clearly listening.I thought of the scrap of paper in my pocket.My grimoire outing with Owen tomorrow.The possibility of Sunday dinner with his parents.
And it was all so overwhelming.
Halle was right.I needed a distraction.I needed some fun.I needed to blow off steam.
“All right.We close up in an hour.I’ll meet you there.”
“That’s perfect!See you there.”
And then Halle was heading out of the shop before I had a chance to change my mind.
I quickly busied myself with the last receipts of the day, but Rylyn was watching me intently.Finally, I looked up.
“What?”
The girl smirked.“Neon Cowboy?”
“What about it?”
She shrugged, giving me a once-over.“Nothing.I wouldn’t have figured you for a honky-tonk.”
I laughed.Perhaps not since I’d returned home with a Manhattan wardrobe.But maybe, since I was here to stay, it was time to embrace that small town girl again.
After closing the flower shop, I returned home to change.
I couldn’t wear my big city clothes—as Halle put it—to Neon Cowboy.I’d stick out like a Vegas showgirl at a church potluck.I opted for a faded pair of jeans, a loose-fitting top with flowing sleeves, and my worn sneakers.
Before I left town, I’d donated all my boots because I swore I was never coming back and wouldn’t need them.
The universe, clearly, decided to play trickster.
I tucked the scrap of paper I found in my wallet for safekeeping.Seemed like the best place for it and not lying around at the house.
I drove my aunt’s oversized Cadillac to the outskirts of town where the weathered sign for Neon Cowboy flickered in red and blue—what else?—neon.The parking lot was already full of muddy pickup trucks and dusty SUVs.The music thumped through the walls and for a moment, I sat staring at the aging exterior that hadn’t changed a bit since the last time I saw it.
