Page 4 of The One Who Saw Her: Boone

A few whistles came from the peanut gallery. She cleared her throat and waited for silence. Then mumbled, "I accidentally flashed a whole restaurant because my skirt got caught on the chair. I stood, my dress stayed."

"Can you speak up, honey?" Paul Bunyan said.

Vivi cleared her throat and said in a raised whisper, “I accidentally⁠—”

"So we can all hear you," Cowboy said.

Taking a breath, Vivi blurted out, "I accidentally flashed an entire restaurant because my skirt got caught on the chair. I stood, my dress stayed."

Einstein raised his hand. "I'm Spud. I've been married twice, divorced once, and married my last wife’s cousin by accident. Still counts."

"That's, um, very brave of you to admit," Vivi said, keeping a perfectly straight face.

Another hand went up from behind the bar—a young woman in her early twenties wearing an oversized hoodie, pink-highlighted hair, a nose ring, and a glossy pin that read Barista of my own life. "I'm Annabelle."

"Hi, Annabelle," everyone called, like this was an AA meeting.

"Sometimes I sneak chocolate chips into regular drip coffee when no one's looking."

"Riveting," Jo deadpanned. Annabelle went back to wiping down the counter.

"Not as good as mine," said a handsome man in a ballcap. "I once told a woman I loved her, and she left me standing at the altar in Vegas." His eyes found Jo's, and when he finally smiled it was slow and careful—like warmth was something he'd had to relearn. "What's your secret, Blue?"

"I once shanked a guy who asked me to spill my secrets," Jo said, and before Vivi knew what was happening, people all around the bar were spilling secrets to each other.

A small smile tugged at her lips. She'd done this. She'd been bold, taken one big step forward, and it had sparked something. Maybe there was something to this Glow Up app after all.

If only it were that easy to fix her own life.

Cowboy leaned against the bar, one eyebrow quirked. "Want to know my secret?"

Vivi folded her arms. "Pass."

He chuckled in that low rumble that made her cheeks betray her with a faint blush. "Could be fun."

"Fun?" Nothing about sharing a secret with this man sounded fun. Secrets meant intimacy, and the last thing she needed with a man—especially this man—was intimacy. "No thanks."

His mischievous grin widened, the amusement dancing in his eyes impossible to ignore. "Suit yourself, Boots. But don't come screaming at me when you walk out of here with those peach panties stuck to your ass."

With a squeak, Vivi spun around like a dog chasing its tail.

There it was. Her neon peach thong clinging to her backside by static electricity and pure, unadulterated karma.

"Mom, this is a mistake. The website lied. I swear the photos were taken in a parallel universe where ranches are charming and smell like cookies."

"Oh, honey." Gloria's voice came through the video call warm and steady. "It's not a mistake. It's rustic. It has character. You just need to give it a chance."

Vivi's eyebrows shot up. "Character? It looks like someone tried to build a horror movie set and ran out of budget. The ad promised a rustic ranch getaway—and I quote—the perfect place to recalibrate and find inspiration and healing among the sweeping acres of wildflowers and wildlife. There's a judgmental goat, a suspicious patch of mud, and a fence, that if I lean on might trigger the next apocalypse."

She flipped the phone so her mom could take in the full horror.

Gloria laughed the kind of laugh that made Vivi want to scream and smile at the same time. "You've spent your entire life bending yourself into knots to make other people happy. Chasing someone else's dreams, trying to be the solution to every problem. When was the last time you did something just for you?"

Vivi's stomach twisted. She wanted to snap back—I don't have time to figure myself out, I'm busy surviving this place—but the truth gnawed at her. "I don't know."

"Exactly," Gloria said, her voice like a gentle hug. "That's why you're there. Not for the barn, or—whatever that shadow is behind the shed. You're there to figure out who you are when nobody else is around."

Vivi exhaled, eyeing the pile of hay and the suspiciously watchful rooster. "Mom, I feel like my entire identity just got kicked by a mule and left to ferment in the mud."