I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online by Dixie Cash

Author:Dixie Cash [Cash, Dixie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary Women, Mystery & Detective, Humorous, General, Literary, Beauty Operators, Women Sleuths, Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2006-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

fifteen

Allison had a habit of arriving at Almost the Rage early enough to inspect the merchandise and neaten the displays before starting the day. Business was definitely on the upswing and she didn’t want to change her luck by varying her pattern. However, with her mom and Frank home from their trip, and knowing that Mom would be in the shop early, she had taken some extra time at home this morning.

Mom and Frank had been gone since Saturday morning on a four-day excursion to view the Hill Country’s fall landscape. She envied but didn’t begrudge the good time her mother was having. Her mom had been through some hard times, and if happiness was within her grasp, Allison wanted her to grab it.

Allison walked through the back entrance of the shop just in time to hear her mother ending a phone call.

“I’ll tell her you called.” A fit of giggling followed. “Now stop that. Okay, bye-bye.”

“Who was that?” Allison asked, making her way to the front of the store. She stopped and straightened some capri pants on hangers.

Her mother assumed a smug expression. “That was a man, calling for you.”

“Tag? Was it Tag?”

Confusion creased Lydia Barker’s brow. “Tag? As in, ‘you’re it’?”

“Ha-ha. Funny. Tag, as in Tag Freeman.”

Her mother’s eyes popped wide. “You know Tag Freeman? Good Lord, he’s a sexy man.”

“Mom!”

“Mom what? Because I said he’s sexy? I may be old, sweetie, but I can still recognize a man that fires the imagination. Frank’s quit taking me to the Double-Kicker because he says he’s tired of watching me drool in the coleslaw. When did you meet him?”

“Sexy, huh? Well, you should have been with me Saturday and Monday nights. He brought me home from dates I had with Quint Matthews.”

“You don’t mean the rodeo champion.”

“Yes, Mother. The one and only.”

“Good Lord. That was him on the phone just now, but he only gave me his first name. I’ve only been gone four days, haven’t I?”

“How was your trip, by the way? How’s Frank?” Allison busied herself readying the till for the day.

“Oh no you don’t, young lady. You’re not getting off that easy. Come over here and tell your mother what’s been going on while I’ve been gone.”

Allison closed the cash-register drawer, walked over to her mom, and gave her a one-armed hug. Then she related the events of the past four days. She omitted the part where she and Tag had kissed in front of his pickup. She didn’t mind giving her mom details, just not all the details.

“What an awful thing for Quint, ending up in the hospital,” her mother said, “but I’m glad Tag was available to bring you home. I can’t help but notice that you haven’t reacted to me telling you Quint called.”

“Oh, I’m excited. Really. Quint’s nothing if not exciting. I just wanted to bring you up to speed first. So what did he say?”

“Just asked if you were here. Then he asked who I was. We discussed the Hill Country. He has a ranch down there.

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