Kenna turned and watched Will's easy gait as he walked toward them, a smile lighting his face and showing off the adorable dimple on his cheek, his broad shoulders tapered so nicely to a trim waist. And how those jeans fit his legs! Kenna had to shake herself mentally. The man's wife was here and she was still drooling over him!
"Hey, Kenna! I see you met my mom." He came up to Betsy and slung his arm around her shoulder and gave her a peck on the cheek. Betsy all but glowed for her son. "Congrats on the job. I had no doubt you'd get it," he winked at her. "You want to catch dinner tonight to celebrate? I'm sorry I couldn't make it last night. As I'm sure as you heard, we had another accident at the farm."
Was she misreading signals? Maybe he was such a snake that he'd hit on her in front of his mother with his wife yards away. No, he just didn't seem like the type. She was pretty sure it was just meant to be friendly then.
"Sorry, Will. But you have to get in line," June laughed. "I already have a girls' night planned starting with some shopping at Paige's and then we're taking her to dinner at the Blossom Cafe."
"Well, I don't mind being next in line then," he said with an easy smile.
"Oh? How about third in line? The sheik has already asked her to lunch. But, I'm sure you don't mind waiting until after that." Kenna observed that June had a devilish glint in her eye, and if she hadn't been watching closely, she wouldn't have noticed the subtle look between June and Betsy.
"That's right, dear. Kenna is the toast of the town as we used to say," Betsy said. She and June were definitely up to something, Kenna thought. She just didn't know what.
"William! I need you, now!" A shriek came from the Ashton Barn. Everyone turned to see Whitney standing by the barn doors, arms crossed and pushing up her huge, plastically perky boobs. Her foot was tapping to demonstrate her annoyance at being kept waiting.
"Shit!" Will blurted. "Sorry about this. I have to take care of something. I'll see you all later." He turned toward the barn and took off with his pace reflecting his agitation.
"Well, I think this is the perfect time to go see a man about a horse. Come on, Kenna. Let's go spend some money. I'll even let you name the horse. Then it's off to Southern Charms!"
* * *
A couple hours later, Kenna had helped June buy a beautiful filly, and they had discussed names all the way to Paige's shop. Southern Charms was a beautiful old house turned into a boutique. It was a two-story brick building, painted a cheery pale yellow with highlights of white and light pink. Blue accents on the window treatments finished off the welcoming vision. Upon walking into the shop, the bright colors and arrangements had Kenna flitting from one item to the next. Quilted purses trimmed with beautiful ribbons and embroidered initials drew her attention until she saw the hats.
"What are these?" Kenna walked over to a room full of nothing but hats. They ranged from small to large, plain to elaborate, dark colors to near-neon. She picked up a white, wide-brim straw hat, tightly woven, with a black satin ribbon tied around the base of the hat. The ribbon ended on the back in an elaborate bow with the ribbon hanging down almost like a train.
"I love designing hats. Some are for everyday, like this one.” She held up a tan cowboy hat any man would like. “Some are for church,” she said pointing to a small-brimmed hat simply decorated. “And then some are for the Derby,” she said, pointing to a hat beside Kenna. Kenna turned to look at it. It was a massive hat with a brim that started on the left at a normal height and then looked like a rolling wave to where it ended at cheek level. The hat was covered in bright pink silk and decorated with a couple of huge black feathers mixed in with what looked like pearls along the black silk trim. It was outrageously gorgeous, and she could just imagine it with the perfect little black dress.
"So, are hats big for the Derby?" she asked as she eyed some of the more elaborate hats.
"Huge. The bigger, fancier, and more complex, the better," Paige said as she pointed to another hat that had to be over a foot tall with red roses all over it and a horse featured on the front, looking as though it was running to the roses.
"Wow. These are all so cool."
"Come on, girls, let's get down to the cafe and talk. We have a lot of gossip to cover." June walked over to where Paige and Kenna stood looking at hats. "Kenna met Whitney today." June looked pointedly at Paige.
"Eww. Sorry, honey. For that kind of trauma, I say we skip dinner and order a whole bunch of desserts. Let me just race upstairs and get my coat." Paige turned to head up the ornate staircase that sat in the front of the shop.