Page 218 of Pumpkin Spice Promises

He hadn’t put me on the horse.

He hadn’t convinced me to stay there.

He hadn’t fixed anything.

He had simply been there while I chose to try.

Chapter 28

CARSON

By six thirty that evening, I had changed my dress four times and seriously considered canceling my date with Beau twice.

The first dress had been black, long enough to cover most of my prosthetic, which defeated the point of wearing a dress at all. The second was too tight. The third made me look like I was headed to Sunday service with Meme. The fourth had been hanging in the back of my closet since before the accident, untouched except for the occasional moment when I’d pushed it aside looking for something else.

It was rust-colored, soft through the waist, with long sleeves and a skirt that stopped several inches above my knees.

I’d forgotten how much I loved it.

I’d also forgotten how much of me it showed.

I stood in front of the mirror and tried to look at the entire woman reflected there instead of allowing my attention to settle immediately on her left leg.

That was harder than it should’ve been.

There had been a time when getting dressed was about whether something made my ass look good…

I missed that woman.

Then again, maybe she wasn’t entirely gone. I turned sideways. My ass did look good.

A knock sounded against my bedroom door. “Are you decent?” Meme called.

“Depends who you ask.”

She opened the door anyway, and her eyes widened. “Oh.”

My stomach immediately tightened. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Meme.”

“You’re so beautiful.” The sincerity in her voice almost made me change.

I looked back toward the mirror. “I feel naked.”

“You’re wearing considerably more clothing than most women your age wear on a Friday night.”

“You know what I mean.”

She came farther into the room and stood beside me.

For once, she didn’t tell me not to be nervous. She didn’t tell me nobody would stare or that my leg didn’t matter.

Meme had always understood something other people struggled with.

“You don’t have to wear a dress.”