Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [26]
“Were you born here?”
“Yes. Same with Rowdy and Chuck. We’re all Last Resorters.” She giggled. “That sounds funny when you say it that way. My family has been in Nevada for generations. My grandfather actually mined for gold and silver up in Virginia City. I remember the stories he told me when I was a little girl. Not that Virginia City was the only town with a colorful history. We have our own heritage here in Last Resort. A man named Fritz Holzenberger, who owned the Last Resort Silver Mine, founded the town in the 1880s. My granddad almost stayed in Virginia City. He tossed a coin my grandmother handed him and it came up heads, which meant moving to Last Resort, as my grandmother wanted. She was tired of Virginia City. Only later did my grandmother admit that the coin had heads on both sides. She was clever that way. Some might say I take after her. You know, our pasts have a huge influence on who we are today.”
Megan couldn’t argue with that. The problem was that the past she thought she had was disrupted by lies, leaving her off balance and searching for answers. She wasn’t going to find them here in Last Resort, but this was a bit of a breather before she had to face her father back in Las Vegas.
“Did your grandparents tell you stories?” Pepper asked.
“Sometimes. But it turned out that my father told the wildest story of all.” That Megan’s mother was dead when she wasn’t.
“Oh yeah? Is he a writer or something?”
“He’s an accountant. A math whiz.”
“And he told wild stories?”
Megan nodded.
“Wow. I love it. I would never have expected that from a math guy.”
“He surprised me too.” Megan knew her dad liked Thurber’s short stories, but she never would have thought him capable of concocting the story about her mom that he apparently had.
“I never had kids,” Pepper said before pulling a dress from the closet. “What do you think of this?”
Megan took a deep breath and shifted gears. She welcomed the distraction. “It’s beautiful.” The sundress had a full skirt and bold bunches of blue and purple flowers scattered across it.
“I’ll bet you’re what . . . a size ten?”
Megan nodded.
“Then this should fit you. Try it on. Go ahead. I’m glad you’re not one of those super-skinny size-zero women. When I was young, there was no such thing. Women were proud of their curves. Look at Marilyn Monroe.” Pepper pointed to a framed poster of her on the wall from the movie Some Like It Hot.“She had curves in all the right places, to quote Rowdy. A real hourglass figure. So did I, in my heyday.”
“Did you ever meet her in Las Vegas?”
“Sadly, no. Here, take these two while you’re trying that one on. And this one ...”
Before Megan knew it, she had a pile of clothes that Pepper sent her into the large bathroom to try on.
“There’s a full-length mirror in there so you can see yourself,” Pepper said, “but do come out so I can see as well.”
Pepper was right: The outfits all fit. From the beautiful sundress to the pastel baby blue sweater set and plaid skirt to the black pencil dress.
“I want you to have them. And this one.” She held up a 1950s style blue floral print cocktail party dress. “These as well.” She added a lavender lace hourglass cocktail dress and a pink taffeta full skirt shelf-bust cocktail party dress that swirled around her ankles.
Megan adored them all. But to be polite she said, “No, I couldn’t ...”
“You’re right. You need more casual outfits too.” Pepper added a plaid jumper and a black floral cotton full skirt to the pile. “And you must have this one, girl.” She placed an ivory pleated skirt on top before returning to the closet. “This one is special. It’s a landscape skirt. See?” She held out the full skirt, which had an amazing scenic print featuring rolling hills, a farmhouse, gorgeous vibrant flowers and bunches of wheat.
Megan couldn’t resist touching the skirt. It was love at first sight. Ditto for the full-length party dress that Grace Kelly would have worn. Actually, she loved them all. “But I can’t ...