The Rancher's Baby Proposal

Author:Barbara White Daille
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Ally took a seat at one of the little round tables in SugarPie’s and smiled at Tina. After her friend’s tea and sympathy at the Hitching Post and her own announcement about wanting to learn something new about herself, they had looked at each other and said in one breath, “Shopping trip!”

Now she pleaded, “Don’t let me go crazy over the desserts, chica, or I won’t fit into my new clothes.”

Layne arrived and took their order, then eyed the department store bags Ally had left on an extra chair. “Looks like somebody went a little wild tonight.”

Ally laughed. “No, just the opposite, actually.” When Layne went back to the kitchen, Ally turned to Tina. “No flowers, no flounces, no bright colors. It’s a good thing I didn’t wear any of those clothes home from the store. Mama and Papa wouldn’t have recognized me when I walked in the door.”

“You know that’s not true. And everything you bought looked great on you, especially that green shirt, the way it brings out your eyes.”

“I need it to bring out more than that. I need to find a whole new personality.”

“No, you don’t. Just try being yourself when you’re around Reagan. You’re wonderful just the way you are, and he’ll see that, too.”

“Thanks, chica.” She could always trust her best friend forever to say something to cheer her up. “I hope I knock his socks off, as Jed would put it. But I was talking about myself again.”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “I may have won The Girl Most Likely award in high school, but you and I both know I’ve been playing that role since third grade. It’s like a...well, I was going to say, like a mask, but that doesn’t describe it well enough.” She gestured to the sacks. “It’s more like all these new clothes I bought tonight. I put on my role as easily as I get up and get dressed in the morning. And then at night I go home and take it off with the rest of my clothes. I’ve done that for so long, I don’t even know who I really am any more.

“We were right this morning, Tina. It couldn’t hurt to try something different. If Reagan likes that someone else, great. If he doesn’t...well, I can’t worry about that right now. After all these years, I think it’s more important to try something different for me.”

“Then, Reagan or no Reagan,” Tina said, “this is the perfect chance.”

“I think so. And the clothes are just the beginning.”

“That’s for sure.” Tina laughed. “Our stop at the drugstore was a trip down memory lane, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Ally reached for that smaller sack and set the two items she took from it onto the table. “Look at this. Light pink blush and clear lip gloss and that’s it. My face will be more naked than the day I was born.”

Even as Tina laughed, she shook her head. “Stop, Ally.”

“Okay. But after all, this is the same look I wore in junior high.

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