Cowboy Enchantment - By Pamela Browning Page 0,27
about your wardrobe?”
“Everything,” Erica declared. “I hate the way I look. I hate navy and charcoal and low-heeled shoes. I want to—” and here she swallowed audibly “—I want to look like someone a cowboy could fall in love with. I want to be cute and charming and curvy. I want—”
“We can take care of the cute and curvy. It’s up to you to be charming.”
“I will be, so help me,” Erica said.
“Stand up.”
Erica stood.
“Turn around.”
Erica turned.
“You have small bones, and that’s to the good. I see on your chart that you want to gain weight, not lose it. That’s excellent. Hips, fine. Bust, needs a bit of oomph, no problem there.”
“Pardon?”
“They have bras for that. To spiff up your usual wardrobe, I’ll order you some blouses in bright colors. I’ll find a jumpsuit to show off your petite figure, scarves to spark a bit of color in your face. And you’d look great in short dresses that emphasize your legs.”
Erica always wore her skirts long, but she had come here for a makeover, and made over she was determined to be. “All right,” she said.
Sue made notations on a color chart. “I can make a few phone calls and have some clothes delivered here today. In the meantime, let’s pay a visit to the ranch’s gift shop. You’ll want to look your best for the dance tonight.”
“No one told me anything about a dance!”
“Your invitation was in the packet of materials you received at registration.”
“Oops! Maybe I should have read all that stuff.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in as we walk over there.”
She and Erica started across the grounds toward the gift shop. “Justine hired a country-and-western band to come from Carson City every Friday night,” Sue told her. “All guests are invited, and all the employees are required to go.”
So Hank would be there!
When she and Sue arrived at the gift shop, Sue immediately led Erica to a rack of square-dance clothes. And after several trips to and from the fitting room, Erica had to admit that the new clothes did something for her. The puffy sleeves of the peasant blouse made her arms look plump and round, the bodice showed her breasts to be especially curvaceous, and as for her hips…well, the bandanna fabric of the skirt moved alluringly when she experimentally swung her hips from side to side. She pulled the elastic neckline low enough to reveal cleavage, and due to a bra that Sue had provided, there was cleavage.
Sue grinned. “Well? If you want to look cute and curvy, these are the clothes.”
“I’ll take all of them,” Erica decided in a fit of recklessness.
“Good,” Sue said with a nod of approval, and she went off to charge the outfits to Erica’s tab.
After promising to have Erica’s new clothes pressed and hung in her closet within hours after they arrived, Sue left her in front of the rec hall, and Erica walked back to Desert Rose pondering this makeover business. By now she knew she looked different. She thought she looked better. But she felt like the same Erica inside.
Two women from one of the other suites in Desert Rose hailed her as she opened her own door. “We’re going for a mud wrap. Want to come with us?”
She recognized both of them from yoga class. Natalie was tiny and pert, Shannon was tall and busty. Both wore big smiles and seemed eager for company.
As unappealing as a mud wrap sounded, Erica figured she might as well sample as many Rancho Encantado activities as possible and agreed to meet them in the courtyard in a few minutes.
After she changed into her robe, she hurried back outside. As she waited beneath the Joshua tree, she spotted the group of student riders as they headed back toward the stable. Hank rode at the front of the group, his red shirt making him easily distinguishable.
“I see you noticed Hunk,” Shannon said when she and Natalie joined her.
In response to Erica’s blank expression, Natalie laughed. “His name’s Hank, but we think Hunk suits him better.”
It was all Erica could do to suppress a smile. Finally she gave up and grinned. “The name fits,” she admitted “Do you know him?”
“Not very well,” Natalie said. “He’s very businesslike and hardly ever cracks a smile.”
“We tried to cheer him up. Lordy, how we tried.” The two exchanged a look and laughed.
Erica supposed she could have brought up the tragedy that had changed Hank’s life, but it didn’t seem appropriate to discuss it. Certainly