Underneath It All by Nancy Warren

Author:Nancy Warren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

SMILING AND CHATTING, blow-drying, snipping, perming and streaking, Kate made it through another long day.

They were just closing up, when the owner of the New Image salon took Ruby and Kate aside in the little storage room and slipped envelopes into their hands. “I wanted to give you a little something for your birthday, Kate, but really these are bonuses, so you get one, too, Ruby.

“We’ve done so well this year and you two worked harder than anyone. This is a little thank-you for all your hard work.” Mona Warkentin wasn’t a woman who gave compliments, or gifts, readily, so Ruby and Kate were in shock as they hugged the woman with the upswept platinum-blond hair and stumbled out of the salon.

They piled in Ruby’s car and hastily tore into the envelopes. “How much did you get?” Ruby asked.

“Five hundred bucks.” Kate felt the shock of the windfall. “You?”

“Same.” Ruby looked as surprised as Kate.

“Wow, what are you going to do with yours?”

“The same as you.” Ruby’s white teeth gleamed. “Girl, we are going shopping.”

And so Kate found herself at the mall, being bullied and pushed from clothing store to clothing store and shoved into one eye-popping dress after another.

“But, Ruby, I can’t afford this,” she argued staring at the reflection of herself in a skimpy little skirt and tube top that left little to the imagination. She ought to put the five hundred bucks into her decimated savings account, but right now, her dreams seemed hopelessly unattainable.

“Oh, I wish I had your body,” Ruby groaned. “This morning you couldn’t afford it. Now you have five hundred bucks and you’re not doing anything sensible with it. You are buying yourself a birthday present. A great dress.” She glared at Kate before adding, “And shoes!”

“Oh, all right,” Kate said, unable to resist the temptation. Maybe a shopping spree would cheer her. “This one’s a little flashy, let’s see what else there is.” Combing through the rack, she pulled out a simple green cocktail dress. She knew the minute she tried it on it was the one. A greeny-blue silk sheath with a gauzy shawl that floated a little when she hooked it over her elbows. The dress fit where it touched, flattering her figure and allowing her hair to rule uncontested. “You like it?” she asked Ruby.

A low wolf whistle was the answer.

She turned around once more in the mirror, admiring the way the light caught the silk and turned it iridescent.

She felt good in this dress. A line echoed through her head: Women of taste. That’s what Dean had written in the note with the silk camisole: it was what women of taste wore. So was this dress. Wearing it made Kate feel classy. It was the kind of dress you could wear with real silk lingerie and not feel like the wrong part of the outfit was on the outside.

Of course, this one classy little dress cost as much as she spent on clothing in a whole year, but Ruby was right.

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