Page 61 of A Rancher's Bride
“My treat,” Diane added. She lifted a hand as Kelli tried to protest. “You’d be doing me a favour. We’ll get to spend more time together, and frankly, even though you’re too nice to want to rub it in with Penny, I’m a little baser. I’ve seen the way Luke looks at you on an average day. I want to watch her face when she sees how he responds to you all done up.”
Damn, Luke needed to win an acting award or something if he was pulling off the “hooked on her” thing that hard.
Kelli didn’t say anything about that part, though. She was working up to accept the offer, not because of Penny per se, but because of that frothy gown, and how much her girlfriends had gone out of their way to help her.
Hanna’s brimming cup of happiness in finding Brad—maybe some of that magic had spilled over, because getting to be with Luke this past week was a memory Kelli would always cherish.
She offered Diane a nod. “I’d love to be Cinderella to your fairy godmother, but I’ll warn you now, I’m not very keen on makeup.”
The other woman slid out from the table. She waited for Kelli to join her before wrapping an arm around Kelli’s waist and guiding her from the room. “You let me worry about that. Fairy godmothers have a way with magic.”
The guys had returned, and the four of them spent the rest of the morning and lunch together before Diane whisked Kelli off to be buffed and polished. Her nails were done, and her hair was trimmed. When she protested the fancy up-do Diane ordered, her friend stopped dead, planting her hands on her hips to better give her the evil eye.
“You arenotwearing your hair in braids,” Diane told her firmly. “They are perfect for you and ninety-nine percent of the tasks you do. And if I looked cute in braids, I would use them too, but not tonight. Tonight I’m going to let them tame my curls, so you are getting fancied up as well.”
“I like your hair,” Kelli told her honestly.
Diane tugged one of the long spirals, and they both smiled as it bounced back.
“It’s alive and full of energy. It suits you. I’m just not the fancy type,” Kelli insisted.
Diane’s eyes lit up, but she stayed bossy. “Give me your phone.”
Kelli wasn’t sure what was going on, but she pulled it out and opened it up.
Diane typed rapidly. Kelli assumed it was in search for a hairstyle to suggest, although why she wasn’t using her own phone—
A moment later, the familiar sound of a text message pinged.
Diane read the screen then passed the phone back with a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. “See? We agree.”
Messenger was open and there was a text toandfrom Tansy.
Diane had written first:hey. This is Diane, and I’m with Kelli. She says you’re one of her BFFs, so help me out and tell her she can’t wear braids to the formal dance.
Tansy:Hi, Diane. <3 for taking care of my girl.
Tansy:Hey, Kelli? Don’t be an ass, listen to Diane. You’ll make Hanna cry if you don’t do that dress justice. Also—pictures or it never happened.
Which is why an hour later Kelli was working hard to keep a smile on her face because Diane had gone all-out in charge and then had the guts to refuse to let Kelli watch whatever it was the hairdresser was doing to her.
The gleam in Diane’s eye got brighter and brighter as Kelli struggled to not fidget like a two-year-old.
“That’s perfect,” Diane finally told the hairdresser. “I’ll take her upstairs so I can do her makeup.”
The chair turned back to the mirror, and Kelli spotted her reflection for the first time. She swore softly. “Is that really me?”
Diane stepped behind the chair, her hair pulled back in a sleek bun with a gorgeous brightly coloured half-turban wrapped around it. “Our guys are not going to know what hit them.”
Kelli, lifting her hand to the ringlets hanging on either side of her temples. It wasn’t something she was going to fuss with every day, but it was good to know that she cleaned up nice. “It looks good. Thank you, Diane.”
Her friend held up a finger, her phone in her hand. “Hey, darlin’. We’re done with our primping, but we need to get our makeup and dresses on. You boys dressed up yet?”
Diane had set her phone to speaker, and Jack’s deep tones carried clearly on the air. “Nearly ready. You want me to get him out of here?”
“You read my mind, lovely man. We’ll meet you at the ball.”
A hearty chuckle carried over the line. “What’re you up to, woman?”
