dress.
"Gracie Dunham, I swear to goodness, girl, you look amazing. I wish I was that thin. Do you do Keto?"
"No, I don't do Keto," Gracie said. "I need a black dress and some nice shoes."
Jolene's greeting shifted to the opportunity for a sale.
"I heard about your mama. You have my deepest sympathies."
"Thank you," Gracie said. "Now about that dress."
At that point, Jolene did not mess around. A few minutes later, she had Gracie and seven little black dresses inside a dressing room.
"I'll be right out by the checkout counter. If y'all need anything, just let me know."
Gracie didn't bother answering because Jolene was already gone. So, she stripped down to her underwear and started trying on clothes. She had to give it to Jolene for picking out the right sizes. Gracie had lost so much weight, she wouldn't have had a clue that she'd gone from a size ten to a six.
She quickly discarded four of the dresses for being too short. Women with legs as long as Gracie had to be careful about that. She could not go to Delia Dunham's funeral looking like a hootchie-mama.
Finally, she was down to two dresses, and the one she loved best also fit her perfectly. Everywhere. But it was sleeveless, with a scoop neck and back, which also meant most of the scars Delia had put on Gracie's body showed.
At the same time, she didn't see the need to try and hide them since everyone in town not only knew when it had happened but had seen Gracie at different stages of healing afterward. Just because her siblings were ignorant of her life didn't mean they needed their precious feelings protected.
And with that in mind, she chose the one she liked best and came out of the dressing room with it over her arm.
"I'll take this one," she said. Jolene promptly rang it up, then pointed her toward the shoe department.
"I don't know if they'll let me off for Delia's funeral, but give Mamie my love, just in case," Jolene said.
"Thank you for your help," Gracie said, grabbed her bag, and headed for shoes.
It took even less time there, because as soon as she found a pair that were simple and comfortable, she bought them, then left the store.
Her car was an oven inside as she slid into the seat, but when she started it up and turned on the air conditioning, it didn't take long for the car to be comfortable enough to drive.
She was, as she used to tell her mama, starving. And as her mama used to tell her, "No you're not, Gracie Jean. Poor people are starving, but you are not. Go get a drink of water, and dinner will be ready soon."
Gracie's eyes welled. She didn't have water to drink. She didn't have Mama, and she damn sure wasn't cooking a meal in that old farmhouse in this heat. So, she headed back to the Sonic because she could sit and eat in the car, and it would be cool.
As she drove through the familiarity of Sweetwater, she kept wondering where life was taking her next. Wondering if there would be Sonics where she was going. Wondering if she would ever find work. Wondering if, at the age of twenty-nine, she had already missed all the brass rings with her name on them.
She arrived at the drive-in and pulled into the stall to order, still teary and in a snit at the situation life had dealt her. She ordered a bacon burger, fries, and a chocolate malt, and then she sat there waiting with her money in hand.
Everything bothered by today, and then, as if life wasn't through poking her in the eye just to watch her blink, someone knocked on the passenger-side window.
She turned her head and stifled a groan.
Redford Beaudine! She'd graduated high school with him. He no longer looked like the star quarterback he'd once been, but he still thought he was all that, despite five kids and two failed marriages.
He knocked again, and then motioned for her to roll down the window.
She let it down enough to hear him.
"What?"
"I just thought I'd say hi," Red said. "Sorry to hear about your mama. I know you've been cooped up out there on that ranch with her for years. Any time you'd like to go out, I'm your man."
Gracie's eyes narrowed. She couldn't decide if she was pissed or just outright disgusted by his lack of sympathy and manners.
"I wasn't cooped up, Red. I was