Page 50 of Country Charm

Once in our college years, we were at brunch, and Georgie was doing a walk of shame; it was a bad one. Her hair was a mess, her eye makeup almost down to her cheekbones and her outfit was the clubbing dress she wore out the night before. I brought extra clothes, Lynn brought makeup removing wipes and moisturizer, and Mary brought a camera.

After Mary snapped a picture, Georgie went to go change and Lynn overheard the waitstaff making fun of Georgie. She had absolutely none of that. She mommed all those servers, grabbed the basket of pastries on the table, and said something along the lines of, “Maybe you should eat some of this shit so your salty attitude might change!” And then she threw one at each of them before storming out. Mary and I sat with our jaws on the floor and then followed her.

When Georgie emerged outside in her new outfit, we brushed her hair, kissed her cheek, and told her we saw mold on the muffins. We haven’t set foot in that restaurant since.

“Okay, I met Hunter a few weeks ago, thanks to our dear Lynn.”

“Booya! I knew it was him! See! Pay up, Mary!” She holds her palm out on the table. Mary rolls her eyes, pulling out her full punch card to her facial spa.

“Is that a free facial?!” I ask reaching for it.

Lynn snatches it out of her hand. “It sure is!”

“Keep talking, I’m the only one who has no fucking clue what’s going on,” Georgie sighs.

“Okay, Okay. So, Lynn pranked me as you all know with the blind date with the country boy. Georgie, I know you were in on that, so you do kind of have an idea of what’s going on.”

I take a breadstick from the basket and fiddle with it for a minute before continuing.

“Well, we had our blind date, and it went so freakin’ good. Then he came back to my place, made out with me, and then left. I wanted more, but he wanted more than a one-night stand. So, in true Cassidy fashion, I sent him on his merry way. Then he started texting me thanks to our little backstabbing cupid over here. We talked a little bit throughout the week, but then I ran into him at the market with Mary. That’s when he asked me out to some Podunk country fair. I schooled him in shooting, and he fucked my brains out.”

“That man looked like he had it in him.” Lynn sighs, resting her chin on her fist.

“He sure did!” Mary agrees.

“Show me a picture!” Georgie says.

I pull out my phone and open our messages. Mary and Lynn watch me with wide eyes as I scroll. I find a recent picture he sent me of him on top of the hill where we made out under the moonlight. A country selfie. He has his hat on and the sky behind him picks up the blue in hiseyes. His wide smile is blinding, and his forearm is visible, strong, and corded with muscles. I turn the phone toward Georgie, but all three girls are squished together to get a look.

“Oh, yes. That man has it in him. I bet you rode that man like a bona fide cowgirl.”

“Not yet.”

“Yet?!” Lynn chimes in.

“So, things went so great at the fair, and after, if you know what I mean. I left feeling weird Sunday, so I texted him.”

Mary was mid-sip and spit the wine in her mouth right back into the glass.

“You texted him, after sleeping with him?”

“Yes, okay! That’s not even the worst part. I accidentally called him when I was masturbating and then I invited him to stay with me this weekend!”

All three girls just stare at me. Lynn has a stupid smile, Mary is slack-jawed, and Georgie is sipping her wine with an arched brow. I’m still fiddling with my breadstick and Georgie takes it away. I pick up my own glass and take a healthy swig. I wait a few beats for them to say something, but no one does.

“Please say something, I’m drowning here.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes.

“Why do you think you’re drowning?” Lynn reaches across the table and rubs my forearm.

“I think I might like this guy. I don’t know what I’m doing. To make everything even worse, he lives so far away. It’s not like he can just give up his family farm and move to the city.”

“I see.” Georgie reaches for my other arm.

Mary gives me a sympathetic look. “Leave it to Cassidyto finally meet a guy she can take seriously and he’s unavailable.”

“Well… I wouldn’t say that,” Lynn chimes. “Is he coming up this weekend?”

“Yes, after the market, to stay the night.”

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