A Little Texas by Liz Talley

away from her mother, shrieking about it “not being fair.” He wanted to tell the little girl to get used to it, but that really wasn’t his job. He knew nothing about wearing fluffy skirts and rubber boots. Little girls were alien.
    Just like Kate was.
    He watched the girl run toward him, her boots slapping the newly polished aisle. The mother, holding a pacifier between her teeth, shot a look at the shopping cart where a baby carrier sat before darting after her daughter. The little girl loped past Kate, collided with his knees, and wrapped her arms about his legs.
    Rick looked at Kate in alarm. The little girl, who wore pigtails, turned her face up to him and in a most desperate voice said, “Will you please buy me princess lip gloss?”
    Kate started laughing as the harried mother peeled her daughter from Rick’s legs.
    “Audrey! Tell the man you’re sorry,” the woman said, looking back at the cart she’d left a few yards away. “Now.”
    The girl poked out a lip. “I just wanted the princess—”
    “Now,” the mother said more firmly.
    The girl’s shoulders slumped. He figured she knew when she’d been beat. “Sorry.”
    He patted her on the head. It felt awkward. “That’s okay.”
    “Wow,” Kate said, watching the mother march the child back to the cart. “You have girls throwing themselves at you.”
    “Yeah, but not really the kind I need.”
    Kate’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, I don’t know. Give her fifteen years. She’s pretty cute.”
    “Look, I’ll loan you some toothpaste,” he said, eyeing another mother approaching from the opposite direction. Her cart held two squabbling kids. “I think I’m ready to get out of here.”
    “But you were good with Mae,” she said, cocking her head in a questioning manner.
    “She’s a baby. She can’t talk,” he said, pushing her cart toward the front of the store.
    “Oh, you just don’t like your women to talk. Okay. I’ll remember that. Let me just pay for these and we’ll go before any more children tackle you and take you down.” She swung the clothes in front of him. He didn’t fail to notice she’d bought panties with cherries on them. Damn. Why had he noticed? Now all he’d be thinking about were those hot-pink cherries…and what lay beneath them.
    Hell.

    K ATE STARED AT THE STRIPED walls surrounding the antique iron bed. They felt like bars. Prison bars.
    Then again, she was doing time. At Cottonwood.
    The room was elegantly furnished with a beautiful quilted coverlet in soft blues and greens. The hardwood beneath her feet was softened by a plush Oriental rug that complemented the ivory-and-periwinkle-striped walls. A fireplace anchored the room, bathing the cherry furniture in a soft glow. Dusk fell outside windows framed by tasteful drapes.
    Kate couldn’t help but think she’d rather be anywhere than facing dinner with her sperm-donor father and his deflated wife.
    She spun and checked her image in the mirror. She’d pulled one of the cardigans she’d bought at Target over a white Hugo Boss shirt, pairing it with pants that looked painted on and a pair of soft blue leg warmers. She shoved her feet into a pair of snakeskin flats she’d bought on sale at Nordstrom’s and hooked some Gerard Yosca glass stone earrings in her ears. Thank goodness she always overpacked. She hadn’t had to spend too much at Target after all.
    She took one last glance before blowing a kiss at her reflection and leaving the confines of her room.
    Cottonwood was an enormous house and it took her a few wrong turns before she found the dining room.
    Justus and Vera were already there, seated at a huge table gleaming with crystal glasses and shiny china. Weird. She felt as though she’d fallen into the TV and appeared on the set of Dallas . The theme song played in her head as she pulled a chair from the exact center of the table and sat.
    “Evening,” Vera murmured, her hand quaking as she lifted a glass of wine to her lips.
    “Good evening,