Page 31 of Breaking All The Rules
“No,” Austin hastily assured. The last thing the only computer fix-it person in town needed was a dozen bogus calls out to the ranch just so his mother could ingratiate herself. “She’s new to town.”
Of course, there was only one person new to town, and it took his mother about 2.5 seconds to connect the dots. “Oh.” Her eyes lit up. “The mystery woman? The one living above Déjà Brew?”
Austin sighed, resigned to his fate. What the hell, if he ever did convince Beatrice to go on a date with him, it’d be around town fast enough anyway. “Yes.”
“The one with the cats?”
He laughed. “No cats.”
“I heard she was a spy,” Jill said.
“It doesn’t really matter as long as she’s fondue you.”
Clay groaned. “Jeez, Dad, enough already.”
“What’s her name?” Margaret asked.
“Beatrice.” Even saying her name caused a little hitch in Austin’s breath.
“Like the princess?”
“Well, yes.” Austin blinked at his mother’s choice of words. “Like the princess.”
She took a few excited steps toward him. “What else? Where’s she from? What does she do? What does she look like?”
Apart from not being any of his mother’s business, Austin didn’t think telling her Beatrice was fond of sweats, day-of-the-week underpants, beer for breakfast, and not brushing her hair would endear the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. And as the only other woman in his life who mattered, he really wanted his mom to like Beatrice.
Because he really, really liked Beatrice.
Maybe it would go somewhere, maybe it wouldn’t. All he knew was he couldn’t wait to see her again and give her this old fondue set. One step at a time. They had time, after all. She was sticking around for a while.
“Mom…it’s a fondue set.”
“Okay, okay.” His mother held up her hands. “I get it. You’ve only just met and you’re taking it easy—”
Brian snorted out a laugh, interrupting. “Taking it cheesy,” he uttered delightfully under his breath.
Unfazed by the continued puns, his mom plowed on. “We’ll speak of it no more. But if it becomes more than a fondue set, I hope you’ll bring her out here to meet us.”
“It’s a fondue set,” he repeated.
His mother nodded, but her eyes sparkled mischievously, and Austin could tell she was tickled pink by the news. “Of course.” She tapped her nose twice and winked. “Now”—she undid her apron—“let’s eat lunch, shall we?”
“Hallelujah,” his dad said. “Praise Cheeses.”
CHAPTER NINE
Bea was old enough to know that big changes could be achieved in a few hours. A baby could be born, a new advertising account could be won or lost, a friendship could start. But she’d never thought a few hours alone could bring about such change in her.
Sure. She was still the same person. Still the same height, still the same square-shaped face, green eyes, and pointy chin. Still bigger in the hips than she was in the boobs. The almost permanent little V etched between her brows was still in situ. But when she looked in the mirror—which she couldn’t stop doing—she was transformed.
A vibrant corona of fire-engine-red hair floated around her head, taking her face from pleasant-but-nothing-to-write-home-about to, well… If she’d been looking at someone else, Bea would have said stylishly attractive.
The way Marley had kept the length but cut choppy layers in around her head so it was able to swing on multiple levels and gave the impression of fullness was genius. Bea had always feared layers getting away from her, but she could see how they created an optical illusion of volume. And the color…well. The color was spectacular, highlighting her green eyes and giving her a vibe that was both sassy and ass-kicky.
She might not feel either of those things, but this color reminded her she could be.
Marley had told her to pop in every day if she wanted to have a quick wash and a blowout. It seemed like a preposterous thing to do. She’d never had the time to go to a hair salon every day to have a blowout. But she did now, and she certainly had the means, and if this was the result, then Bea was totally on board with the idea.
