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Chapter Seven
An hour later, they pulled into a spot in front of Milligan’s Mercantile. Kaylee leaned forward to peer through the windshield. The store was huge. It covered half the city block and had a life size replica of a palomino horse on the roof gazing out onto the street.
If the shop windows were any indication, Luke was right about the place having a little bit of everything. One display boasted a summer scene with a trio of bicycles surrounded by fishing and gardening equipment and supplies while the other featured Western apparel—which looked nothing like the outfit the salesgirl in Chicago had talked her into buying.
She and Luke had already picked up salt cubes and dog chow from the feed store, dropped off a deposit at the bank, and mailed a package. Milligan’s was their last stop. But Kaylee had spied a cute coffee shop a few doors down, and she was hoping to convince Luke to let her buy him a latte when they were finished. There was a little chance that Luke was a latte kind of guy, but hey, she’d just eaten a fried bologna sandwich, so maybe she could convince him to try a little steamed milk in his cup of joe.
“I just need a couple of things in here, but I thought you might want to look at cowboy boots,” he told her as they got out of the truck.
She winced.
“Not like those silly ones you wore here. You need a good pair of Ropers.”
“Ropers?”
“That’s the brand. Justin Ropers. They’re good boots, rugged, but also made for comfort. The toebox is wider so it won’t mash up your toes, and you can get a pair that only go up to your midcalf, so they’re easier to get on and off.” He nudged her playfully with his elbow. “Just in case you don’t have me around to help you.”
The thought of shoving her feet into another pair of cowboy boots made her toes curl, and not in the normal romance author sense—after a great kiss. She swallowed, not sure why she was thinking about a great kiss, oranykiss. It might have something to do with the warm spot on her shoulder Luke had just nudged. “I don’t know. I guess it can’t hurt to take a look.”
She stopped in front of the store as he reached to open the door for her, and her eye caught on the colorful poster stapled to the bulletin board outside the shop. “What’s a Summer Celebration?”
“It’s a big event the town throws every summer. They close off Main Street and set up craft booths and have a rodeo and all sorts of stuff. It kicks off with a pancake breakfast and a parade on Friday and ends with a concert and fireworks at the street dance on Saturday night.”
“How fun.” She let out a gasp as she peered closer at the poster. “Did you see who’s playing on Saturday night?”
He leaned closer to read the name then gave her a grin. “Looks like your sister isn’t going to be the only one who’s seen Chase Dalton in concert.”
“I can’t believe he’s going to be here.”
“Apparently he’s from a small town and still plays occasional festivals like this one. I haven’t paid much attention to this year’s event. I forgot it was even this weekend.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Should we….I mean, would you like to go…together? With me, I mean?”
“To the concert or the Summer Celebration?”
She lifted her shoulders. “All of it, I guess. I’ve never been to a rodeoora pancake breakfast.”
“Okay, sure. We can go. Although I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much. The pancakes are lukewarm at best, and the parade is a few floats and a bunch of little kids on their bikes and a few ‘big kids’ on riding lawnmowers. And by big kids, I mean grown men who have too much time on their hands.”
“Riding lawnmowers? In the parade? This I have to see.” She nudged his arm as she walked past him into the store. “I know you’re trying to make it sound less appealing, but you’re making me want to go even more.”
She stopped inside the door, pausing to take in the shop. “I swear it smells like new leather and root beer in here.”
“Yeah, isn’t it great? Bud put in an old-fashioned sarsaparilla station last year. It dispenses three different flavors of root beer and cream soda. You’ll have to try a cup.”
A sarsaparilla station? She felt like she’d just stepped back into the 1950s.
A woman walked out from a back room muttering to herself as she stared at the clipboard in her hand. She raised her head but seemed to look right through them.
“Pearl?” Luke said, his voice soft as he approached the woman. “You okay?”
Kaylee followed and as she got closer, she could see the redness of the woman’s nose and puffiness around her eyes. She was dressed in jeans, moccasins, and a blue and white Western top. The lapels of the shirt didn’t exactly align, like the buttons were off by one, and she had a pencil and two pairs of reading glasses amidst the fluffy silver curls of her hair.
She waved a hand at Luke. “I’m fine. But did you hear that dang fool, Bud, went and fell off the roof yesterday and broke his leg? He’s laid up in the hospital, and I swear I didn’t get but two or three hours of sleep last night for worrying about him.” She fussed with the clipboard. “I don’t think we’ve spent but a few nights apart in all our forty-five years of marriage.”
“If you’re worried about him, why don’t you go over and see him?”
“Because I’ve got too much to do here.”
