Gone Country (Rough Riders #14)(55)

Rielle sat up and her mouth dropped open. “Rory?”


“In the flesh. But I have to admit when I decided to come home and surprise you, the last thing I expected was to see you getting a fashion makeover.”


She hurled herself off the bed and hugged her daughter. “What a great surprise! I was just thinking about you and here you are. So how long are you staying?”


“All weekend.” Rory hugged her back, but her focus shifted. “Hey. You must be Sierra. I’m Rory.”


“Hi. Wow. You look exactly like your mom. And she, uh, talks about you all the time.”


Rielle noticed Sierra acted nervous, twisting her fingers in the plastic garbage bag handles.


“Look, I’m sure you guys have stuff to talk about so I’ll go.”


But Rory stepped in front of her and shook her head. “No way. You’re staying. After I snuck into the house, I listened in the hallway and I have to admit I’m impressed that you’ve accomplished something I’ve been trying to do for years.” She mock whispered, “You’ll be my hero if you can get rid of all the tie-dyed clothing.”


Rielle flapped her hand at Rory, but she and Sierra were too busy laughing to notice.


“So the makeup and hair is your doing?” Rory asked Sierra.


“Uh-huh. Ree is gonna teach me to knit and I wanted to teach her something useful. This is the only thing I can do that can be considered a skill.”


“You’re what? Sixteen? Plenty of time to develop other skills.” Rory settled cross-legged on the bed. “Pretend I’m not here and finish what you started.”


Since she so rarely got to see Rory, Rielle wanted to blow off the fashion show. But she wasn’t surprised her thoughtful daughter wouldn’t let Sierra feel left out.


“Okay. Here goes.” Sierra used the pieces Rielle had chosen and put together a dozen different outfits. All casual and unique without being weird. She changed an outfit from professional to funky just by mixing and matching accessories.


With the back and forth between Rory and Sierra, Rielle started to feel like a third wheel, even when she was amused by their fashion banter.


Finally, Rory asked, “What’s in the bag?”


“Stuff I had in my closet I never wear,” Sierra said. “I wasn’t sure if she’d like any of it, or if she’d think it was—”


“Too young for her,” they finished at the same time.


Was she really that predictable?


Rory’s gaze zipped over Sierra. “It’d probably fit me better than her anyway. How tall are you?”


“Five ten.” Sierra fished out a few items at a time, trying each piece with each outfit to see if it’d add impact. A slim fit white rayon blouse went into the keep pile along with a tweed jacket and a butter-yellow-colored turtleneck.


“You sure you want to get rid of this stuff?” Rory asked, fingering an orange sequined tank top.


“Take it if you want it. A hand-me-down is recycling—the responsible, green thing to do.”


Rielle grinned. “Ooh, Rory, she totally has your number.”


“Which is awesome, because I’m gonna be the belle of Laramie in this tank top on New Year’s Eve.” She pawed through the bag. “What else do you have that’s too young for my mom?”


Rory ended up with more clothes from the bag than Rielle did. Her thoughts drifted and she wondered what Gavin would think if he was here, seeing how well their daughters were getting along. She missed him, more than she imagined she would and she didn’t know how to feel about that. She had a sense of unease that Gavin hadn’t thought about her at all since she hadn’t heard from him, but she knew he’d kept in contact with Sierra.


“…with a strap-on.”


Her gaze flew to her daughter’s and both Rory and Sierra laughed.


“You weren’t listening to us at all,” Rory complained.


“Sorry. What?”


Sierra’s gesture encompassed the bed. Then she shook her finger at Rielle. “I’d better not see you heading to town in your gardening clothes. You aren’t a bag lady. You are an entrepreneur. You have several chic outfits to choose from. And you need to own the fact you’re still young and hot.”


Rory laughed. “Yeah, Mom, she’s got your number too.”


“My work here is done for tonight.” Sierra bowed and slipped out of the room.


Rielle hugged Rory again. “I’m so happy to see you.”


“Let’s have a drink and you can tell me all about Gavin Daniels.”


She stiffened. How had Rory known she’d gotten involved with Gavin? “What?”


“Gavin and Sierra. They’ve been living here months. Are you ready to move into my cabin yet?”


Not even close. In that moment, Rielle decided not to tell Rory about her relationship with Gavin. Luckily, her daughter was easily distracted. “You’ll never guess who I ran into at the hardware store last week.”


“Who?”