Clayton's Made-Over Mrs.. Sandra Steffen

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СКАЧАТЬ gotta face it, sugar.”

      Mel jumped for a second time in a matter of minutes, only to find Jillian, Lisa and DoraLee staring at her from the other side of the counter. “What did you say?” Mel asked.

      DoraLee slanted her a soft smile. “I’m afraid that one of these days you’re gonna have to face the fact that Clayt Carson’s never gonna wake up where you’re concerned.”

      DoraLee knew, too. That, at least, wasn’t so surprising. DoraLee Sullivan, the sole proprietor of the Crazy Horse Saloon, was pushing fifty. She’d had a hard life, and it showed, but she had a knack for keeping the local boys in check no matter how many beers they’d had. She was also the closest thing to a mother Mel had had in a long, long time.

      Leaning closer, Jillian covered Mel’s hand with her own. “If it’s any consolation, I think that future brother-in-law of mine is blind.”

      “That’s right,” Lisa said with a wink that had probably gotten her into a lot of trouble in her day. “If you want, I’ll have Wyatt arrest him.”

      Glancing out the window to where Clayt was crossing the street, Mel said, “I don’t think that will be necessary, Lisa.”

      She watched Clayt as he waited for Roy Everts to chug on by in his rusty, rattletrap of a truck. With a small wave and a smaller nod, he continued to the other side of the street.

      The local folks claimed the only crimes in Jasper Gulch were jaywalking and gossip. There had been that little episode involving a pie thief a few months ago, and Lisa’s car had been missing temporarily. And then there was that horrible color of orange Bonnie Trumble had painted the Clip & Curl. As far as Mel was concerned, Clayt Carson’s cowboy swagger was the biggest crime of all.

      “Aw, sugar,” DoraLee crooned. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’m afraid it’s time you faced the fact that he’s never gonna pop the question you’ve been waiting all your life to hear.”

      Mel sighed. “What would you say if I told you he already has?”

      “He already has what, sugar?”

      DoraLee’s question drew Mel’s gaze from the window. All three women had leaned closer, and all three seemed to see the light at the same time.

      “Do you mean…”

      “…my future brother-in-law…”

      “…asked you to marry him?”

      There wasn’t much Mel could do except nod.

      “How?”

      “When?”

      “Where?”

      Tipping her head toward a spot a little farther down the counter, Mel said, “He sort of popped the question right over there on Friday night.”

      “I had no idea,” Jillian whispered.

      “What did you say?” Lisa asked.

      Mel shifted uncomfortably. “What do you think I said? I have a little pride, after all. I mean, what would you have done if Wyatt or Luke had said they were sort of hoping you’d marry them?”

      Eyeing Mel with knowing brown eyes, Lisa said, “One thing comes to mind, but it isn’t very nice. What did you do?”

      “I left him sitting with the worst cup of coffee he’d ever tasted while I stormed up to my place.”

      “How awful,” Jillian murmured.

      “Yes.” Mel’s lips twisting snidely. “You can see how disappointed he is.”

      “No,” Jillian replied, “I meant for you. How awful for you.”

      Mel sighed all over again. “Is it so wrong to dream of a little romance?”

      DoraLee patted her bleached blond hair with one hand. “Maybe Boomer should give Clayt a few lessons in the romance department.”

      The blossoming relationship between Boomer Brown and DoraLee Sullivan was another thing that had changed in Jasper Gulch, but DoraLee was right. There was nothing romantic about sort of.

      Sighing, Mel whispered, “I want him to notice me. As a woman. As a desirable woman. Just look at me. Pretty silly, huh?”

      “But you’re beautiful,” Jillian admonished.

      “Yeah, right”

      “You are,” Lisa insisted. “I noticed the first time we met.”

      “Your beauty doesn’t flash like a neon sign,” Jillian said quietly. “It’s more subtle than that. Yours is the kind of beauty a person notices a little at a time.”

      DoraLee nodded her head, a tender expression crossing her round face. “Shoot, sugar, I thought you knew that.”

      Mel took her time looking into these three women’s eyes. Smoothing her fingers over the thick strands of hair secured in a loose braid over her shoulder, she said, “I appreciate the votes of confidence, but if I’m so danged beautiful, why hasn’t Clayt ever noticed?”

      The expression in Lisa’s dark eyes changed. She drew Mel away from the cash register and circled around her. Within seconds DoraLee and Jillian were doing the same.

      “Hmm,” Jillian murmured.

      Chin in hand, Lisa said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

      Jillian nodded. “I think it’s time she made him notice, don’t you?”

      Mel eyed them both skeptically. “What do you mean?”

      “How long have you worn your hair in a braid?” Lisa asked.

      Without waiting for Mel to answer Lisa’s question, Jillian asked another. “Has Clayt ever seen you in a dress?”

      Looking to DoraLee for help, Mel said, “He’s seen me in that blue jumper I wear to church.”

      “Mel,” Lisa said, “how would you like to open Clayt Carson’s eyes once and for all?”

      Fingering her hair with one hand, Mel thought about the way Clayt had smoothed Brittany Matthew’s short wispy strands off her cheek. “What would I have to do?”

      Lisa sidled up to her. “The question is what are you willing to do?”

      Mel looked at Lisa, and then at Jillian, but it wasn’t until she’d met DoraLee’s smiling blue eyes that she said, “What do you have in mind?”

      DoraLee rubbed her hands together and laughed out loud. “Ooo-eee. Clayt Carson isn’t going to know-what hit him.”

      “And I know the perfect time and place for the unveiling,” Lisa stated.

      “At our double wedding,” she and Jillian said СКАЧАТЬ