Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,8
at Cowffeine after we’re done?” she asked.
“Sounds okay.”
She slid out of the car and then stood on the sidewalk as he pulled away, before turning and walking inside the shop. Her grandfather was in control of her money, meager as it was, until she turned eighteen, and she had only a few dollars to spend.
Babette’s was a funky consignment clothing store with fashions and disasters from several decades crammed in together. Cordelia had told her it was the place to go shopping and had taken her there a couple of times.
Babette, an attractive middle-aged woman, looked up from a crossword and then hopped off her stool and came around to Katelyn.
“Kat! How are you?”
“Good,” Katelyn said, tamping down her rush of anxiety. It hurt to come into the store without Cordelia. And not to be able to tell a single soul that Cordelia’s own family had driven her out.
“What can I help you with?”
“I’m just looking for a dress for a night at the theater.”
Babette’s eyebrows shot up. “A play, around here? I haven’t heard of anything.”
Katelyn shook her head as she surveyed the racks, mostly to cover her discomfort. “No, actually, it’s in Little Rock. My grandpa is taking me to see the Cirque du Soleil. The tickets were a birthday present.”
“Well, a belated happy birthday, dear!” She beamed at Katelyn. “I’m sure we can find you something special.”
Katelyn tried to politely wave her off. “I can look on my own.”
“Nonsense. Birthday girls get the royal treatment.”
They moved among the racks and Katelyn felt awkward as Babette kept up a steady stream of chatter, pulling first one, then another dress out for her inspection.
“I’m surprised Cordelia isn’t with you today,” Babette said.
Katelyn inspected the price tag on a blouse she had no interest in buying. “She’s . . . not feeling well.” She didn’t know what else to say. She wondered just how the Fenners planned on explaining her absence to people.
Babette pulled a sad face. “Oh, that’s too bad.”
“I think I’ll try on this one,” Katelyn said, reaching for a little black dress.
“Oh, I bet that will look just lovely on you, dear.”
Katelyn headed back toward the front of the store and stepped into one of the two dressing rooms. She slipped off her jeans and sweater and piled them on the minuscule bench, then took the dress off the hanger. Just then, the bell over the front door chimed and she could hear footsteps.
“Hello, Babette,” an older woman called.
“Well, hello, you two. Do you need any help?”
“Here it is, Mama,” a younger woman said. “This is it.”
“I think we’re set, Babette,” the older woman said.
Katelyn pulled on the dress and tried to look at herself in the mirror in the cramped dressing room. It seemed so strange that she had last been there with Cordelia and it felt weird to be picking out a dress when so much was going wrong. She nearly laughed at the thought — she had said nearly the same thing to her friend when they were trying to pick out Halloween costumes. Cordelia had insisted, though, that the show had to go on.
The door to the other dressing room opened. There was a lot of rustling, and then it closed again.
“What’s wrong with Steve?” the older woman whispered. “He’s a catch.”
“Catch? Mama, please, are you serious?” the younger woman whispered back. “Besides, his daddy will make sure he marries up, you know?”
Katelyn paused. The only Steve she knew in town was Steve Berglund, a werewolf who had been one of Cordelia’s suitors. They couldn’t be talking about him, could they?
The older woman made a snorting sound. “Well, Dan’s big plans for that died when . . . she . . . did.”
Katelyn’s heart stuttered. It was werewolf Steve they were talking about. Steve Berglund's father was named Dan, and he had wanted Steve to marry Cordelia. They were talking about Cordelia as if she were dead. But she wasn’t, only banished. Unless they knew something she didn’t. She moved closer to the wall, listening intently.
“Do you think Mr. Fenner will change his mind?” the younger woman murmured.
“I know you liked her, sissy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. She’s gone.” Her voice rose a little. “And I’m certain Mr. Fenner knows what is best for his family.”
Tears welled and Katelyn shut her eyes tightly, relieved that Cordelia wasn’t really dead — not that they knew — and miserable because she lived in a world now where things like that were