Royal Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

town.  Her sister pulled her dusty pickup truck into a gravel parking lot, stopping in front of a large wooden building.  On the wide front porch above the door was a rope-edged sign.  Leigh Ann's excitement about their shopping trip fled. 
    Shopping at Penny's Paddock and Western Wear could only mean one thing.  They were here to buy blue jeans, boots and hats, things she'd never been allowed to wear before, not pretty new dresses. Leigh Ann had never even been inside a western store before. 
    Jeans are as coarse as the women who wear them .  Her mother's voice in her head sent a little dart of rebelliousness shooting through her.  Leigh Ann opened the truck door, and wind rushed into the cab, lifting the hem of her sundress.  Holding it to her legs, she slid to the ground, then told her sister with a chuckle, "Mama is going to have a fit."
    "Who gives a shit, Leigh Ann.  You are a grown woman, and you need the right clothes for your new job."
    "Can I at least get a pink shirt?" Leigh Ann asked hopefully.
    "We'll see," Rocky replied as she stomped up the steps of the store.
    They stepped inside and Leigh Ann's senses went on high alert as she was assaulted by all kinds of new smells.  Leather, mixed with some rich oil teased her.  It was dark, earthy and delicious.  Leigh Ann inhaled deeply, and savored it.
    A sparkly, rhinestone-studded belt caught her attention.  With a squeal she ran over to the rack and found her size, then looked at the price tag and frowned.  "Um, I don't have any money."  Something she had forgotten in her excitement. Leigh Ann hung the belt back on the peg, but ran her fingers over the pattern.
    "You have money, because I'm paying you for this ring," Rocky told her, holding up her hands when Leigh Ann started to protest.  "We're getting you what you need.  I want you to be successful at this job, Leigh Ann.  And I'm getting your car notes caught up."
    Leigh Ann studied her sister for a second, considered arguing with her, but arguing with Rocky was an exercise in frustration, just like with her mother, so she capitulated.  "Okay, show me what I need then."
    A broad smile crossed her sister's pretty face, as she led her over to a rack of blue jeans.  "Size four right?"
    "Six, I've um...gained weight," Leigh Ann told her with a wobble in her voice.
    "It's about damned time, you were too skinny," Rocky grumbled as she pulled three pairs off the rack and shoved them at her.  "The dressing room is back there, go try those on, and I'll find you some shirts and boots."
    "Boots?" Leigh Ann squeaked.
    "Yes, Leigh Ann...you are wearing boots , not heels to work in the office, now go try the jeans on!"
    Leigh Ann nodded, running her fingers over the surprisingly soft material of the jeans in her arms.  They were a light washed color, and had sparkly rhinestones on the back pockets.  That was the closest she was going to be to rhinestones for a long, long time.  From now on her life would be filled with horses and manure most likely.
    It will all be fine, Leigh Ann , she told herself trying to remain positive as she pushed the curtain aside and stepped into the small stall with the wooden bench.
    Undressing, Leigh Ann slipped off her heels, then pushed her legs into the jeans and shimmied them up until they were at her waist.  Looking down, Leigh Ann noticed that at least three inches separated the button from the hole.  She was never going to get them zipped.  Maybe she had gained more weight than she thought.  Depression settled in her chest, as she flung back the curtain and walked out into the store to look for her sister.
    Over by a rack of shirts, her sister's head was bent as she flipped through them.  Leigh Ann called her name loudly, and Roxanne looked up, but so did the three cowboys on the other side of the rack from her sister.  Their eyes opened wide, and with matching grins, they all said, "Holy shit !" in unison. 
    Roxanne shot the men a look, draped the shirts