but they are equally long, so I just choose one and wait.
Finally, I make it to the front of the line and do my business as quickly as possible. When I walk back out, I collide head-on with someone a little bit taller than me. “Sorry,” I mumble.
And then someone tugs on my hand. It’s Hannah. “There you are,” she says. “Come on. I want to introduce you to Lee.”
I look over my shoulder to see who it was I ran into, and heading for the exit with a sudden sea of people between us is Tucker Watson, a slight grin on his lips. He is immediately swallowed up by the darkness of the parking lot, but for half a second, our eyes lock.
I just—did I really just see Tucker Watson? Here? “I’ll be there in a minute,” I tell Hannah.
She grasps my hand firmly. “Oh, no you don’t. This place is a mess of people and I’m not about to make Lee wait.”
“But—” Anything I might have said is lost to the buzz of the crowd. My brain won’t stop replaying that single moment on a loop. Tucker Watson. In a gay bar.
Hannah leads me and Clem down a narrow hallway behind the stage, where a tall white man in leather pants, a tank top, and a leather jacket stands guard.
“Hey, Dale,” says Hannah.
The beefcake man known as Dale takes Hannah in a hug, momentarily sweeping her off her feet. “I thought that was you,” he says. “Where’s your whole crew?” he asks.
Hannah blushes and reaches for Clem’s hand. “I wanted to bring my girlfriend—”
Dale holds a hand out for Clem. “Did our little Hannah just say she has a girlfriend? Pleased to make your acquaintance. I’m Dale, the man behind the queen.”
Hannah beams at the phrase our little Hannah. This is all very sweet, but it’s taking every bit of self-control I have not to run back out there and track Tucker down.
Clem curtsies. “Clementine, and this is my twin brother, Waylon.”
Dale turns his attention to me. “Oh, Lee’s going to love you both. Y’all come on in.” Dale pushes the door open and calls out, “Lee, honey, are you decent?”
“Am I ever?” Lee pipes back.
“You’ve got some . . . younger visitors, my dear. Keep it PG-13.”
Lee gives a gruff chuckle. “Y’all enter at your own risk.”
The three of us file in with Hannah leading the way.
Lee gives a shriek at the site of Hannah and pulls her in for a hug. Hannah lets out a goofy laugh and squeezes her eyes shut tight as Lee holds her closely. It’s a good hug. You can tell. I’m jealous. Her presence is enough to make me forget about Tucker for just a moment.
After their reunion, Clem and I both introduce ourselves.
“Oh, y’all have a seat,” Lee says, and the three of us squeeze into a dusty old plaid love seat while Dale perches on Lee’s makeup counter.
“This place is incredible,” I say, looking around at this haven of a dressing room with an entire wall dedicated to wigs from floor to ceiling and another wall reserved for all things costuming, from dresses to sewing machines to bolts of fabric.
“Well,” says Lee, “every girl needs her beauty closet.”
Dale scoffs. “Closet? More like gallery.”
Lee smiles at him dotingly. “Well, it started out as a closet, and then you transformed it.” Lee looks to Hannah. “Now, catch me up on all the happenings. How are my girls doing? Willowdean came around here a while back with that boyfriend of hers.”
Hannah grimaces. “Yeah, they, uh, hit a rough patch.”
“He proposed,” I blurt. “I mean promposed. In front of a whole restaurant of people. It was . . . adorable until it was awful. She sort of walked out without giving an answer. It was a car wreck, but I couldn’t look away.”
Lee’s eyes widen. “Oh my.”
Hannah shakes her head. “I think they’re . . . school’s ending soon. We’re all going our separate ways—”
“That kind of stuff will make you silly,” Dale says.
Lee nods. “Ground shifts around you and you figure out the fastest way to fall is to stand still. But sometimes when we know we need to take a leap, we’re jumping off the wrong cliffs.”
Dale takes Lee’s hand. “They’re good kids, though. Either it works out or it doesn’t. No matter what, none of it is time wasted.”
Lee sizes up me and then Clem. “Twins, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, but then take in the lack of wig and the