Rebel Wolf (Wilde Brothers Ranch #5) - Scarlett Grove Page 0,13

looked down at her lap, pursing her lips. “No,” she ground out.

“Cassidy, I know you like I know the back of my hand.”

“Mother, please.”

“Okay, sweetheart. I won't press it. You can have your secrets. But would you reconsider maybe staying here? There are so many opportunities in Fate Rock. It's growing. It's changing. A fashion designer like you could really make a name for herself as a local artist. We have so many tourists here in the summer. And Denver is only a few hundred miles away. There are so many opportunities if you would just open your mind. You know, the sewing room is still here, if you want to work.”

“I know, Mom.”

“Why don't you come with me and take a look? Maybe you'll get some inspiration.” Cassidy's mom stood and offered Cassidy her hand.

She took it, and the two of them left her room, walked down the stairs, then outside. In the hot afternoon sun, she squinted over at the stairs that led to the loft above the garage. Her mom waited for her to follow, and they walked over the gravel driveway and climbed the stairs.

Inside, her mother turned on the lights, and a big room with a sloping ceiling burst to life. Two skylights let in natural light and a window at the far end looked out onto the pastures past the driveway. Rows and rows of shelves were full of colorful fabric. Male and female forms and two sewing machines threaded with different colors of thread sat beside a massive cutting table in the center of the room, which held all of the tools she would need to create any pattern or design.

Her mother had taught her about patterns. It had been in this room that she had created her first original design. She let out a deep sigh as she walked farther into the room. Her fingers slid over the fabrics. Her mother had been collecting them for decades. There were some special vintage prints in that workroom just waiting to be turned into something amazing.

Together, Cassidy and her mother had created so many beautiful things. Her mother's passion was for quilt making. She'd won blue ribbons every year at the county fair. But Cassidy had always been more interested in clothing design.

Together, the two of them had spent hours in the evening working on their projects in the peace and solitude of their workshop. Cassidy had always wondered why her mother hadn't taken her hobby a step further and started her own business. It would have been a means of escape from life on the ranch. But that was a question for another day.

She pulled out a bolt of fabric, a pretty deep-sky-blue silk. Silk was notoriously hard to sew but draped so beautifully over the form. She set it on the cutting table and pulled out a sketchpad and a pencil from the cup holder. Her mother sat down at the sewing machine, and the sound of the fabric moving under the needle purred through the air. Cassidy sketched some fluid lines on the sketchpad, thinking about what she would like to wear on her next date with Gunner Wilde.

She knew it could never happen, but it was a lovely fantasy, and as long as she was there, she might as well work. She saw no harm in it.

She pulled the fabric off the cardboard and draped it over the dress form, imagining what it would look like on her own body. She imagined what Gunner's eyes would look like when he saw her, and in a flash of inspiration, she began to sketch with furious abandon.

She glanced over at her mom, who looked up over her reading glasses, a slight smirk on her face. Cassidy rolled her eyes and looked back at her work. For all her mother's flaws, she certainly knew her daughter well, and Cassidy loved her for it.

6

Cassidy was up until late in the night working on her dress. Crickets chirped outside and an owl hooted in the distance as she tailored it to absolute perfection. And when she looked at herself in the sewing room's full-length mirror, she smiled and brushed back a stray strand of hair.

The dress had a neck that skimmed perfectly over the rise of her breasts, a tight waist, and a flared skirt that hit just over the knee. It had pretty ruffled sleeves and was a perfect summer party dress.

At first, she had thought about going slinky and seductive, but instead she'd