The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen

Stephen’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile. Marvin was not the name of some three-hundred-pound high school boy with the arms of an octopus. Marvin was the name of some pimply, brace-faced bookworm kid. “Don’t even bring Uncle Nate into this.” Stephen shook his head and tried to focus on the matter at hand.

Kimber blinked innocently at him. In an instant his anger disappeared. She needed the guidance of a woman. Obviously, she’d been at a loss, and he quickly put two and two together. Kimber must have befriended Lexi Pendergrass and under that friendship had gotten some seriously bad advice.

He softened his glare and smiled gently. “Listen, I’m not good at this parenting thing. I almost had a heart attack last night.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I still don’t get what possessed you to sneak out,”

Pressing her lips together tightly, Kimber shrugged. “I don’t know. The football team had an overnight game, and I needed to see Marvin and I thought...”

The thought of his niece dating a football player at an away game at a hotel and in that dress—Stephen covered his face with his hands and shuddered. “You thought wearing a dress like that would get his attention?”

“He’s a senior and all the girls around here are throwing themselves at him!” Kimber squeaked.

Any minute now, there would be tears, which Stephen did not handle well. He hated when his girlfriends cried, and buying something sparkly for them did the trick. “Look,” he sighed, “sneaking out to meet him is not the way. I need to meet this Marion.”

“Marvin,” Kimber drawled out with a whine.

“Whatever. I need to meet him first before you start giving yourselves labels.”

Kimber’s brows shot upward with excitement like a kid on Christmas morning. “You can meet him at the fair tomorrow!”

“Who said you could go? You’re still grounded.” Stephen stifled a smile.

“I have to go. Philly’s in the pageant and I need to help.”

He frowned now with the thought of Lexi Pendergrass and her case full of trophies. His anger shifted once again to the dress-shop owner. He still was not through with her.

Chapter 2

Cursing under her breath, Lexi cringed at the ring of the front bumper of her car banging into the meter on Sunshine Boulevard as she misjudged how much room she had for her diagonal parking space. Lexi shared the blame for her lack of parking skills with the eye-catching Sale Pending sign wedged in the boarded-up glass window of Divinity Bakery. Her heart soared and all she wanted to do was run over to Mr. and Mrs. Foxx’s café and thank them. Their sign however wasn’t just turned over to Closed, but an On Vacation notice hung below the sign.

All week, she and the elderly couple had passed each other like two ships in the night. Considering the way things had ended Monday morning, Lexi feared Mr. and Mrs. Foxx had reconsidered selling the store. Now finally, she was inches closer to achieving her goal, having an all-in-one boutique. “Well, damn, girl!”

After reminiscing over her past the previous night, Lexi had decided today to wear a pair of skintight denim jeggings with an old T-shirt knotted to the side.

“Safe to assume the sign is good for us?” Andrew asked, pulling her into his arms and then dipping her backward, causing Lexi to gasp. “Did they call you from the road?”

Lexi straightened herself upright and shook her head. “I only saw the pending sign when I pulled up. I hope they left a message on the machine. Did you hear anything?”

“I haven’t checked yet,” said Andrew.

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; “Uh, no, ma’am. I don’t care what day of the week it is.” The corners of Chantal’s mouth turned upside down as she shook her head back and forth. “You haven’t dressed like this because you’re a businesswoman now, a consultant, the owner of a one-of-a-kind dress shop with a reputation for being the good-luck charm for every girl that comes here for a dress. Everyone knows a dress bought from your shop is guaranteed a placement, if not a title, in any pageant. If one of the sponsors or parents comes in here while you’re dressed for the club, you’re going to lose a lot of credibility with the mothers bringing their kids in for the pageant workshop.”

With Chantal following Lexi into her office and rattling off the agenda for the day, Lexi picked out more appropriate work attire from the closet. She chose a red A-line skirt and matched it with a scoop-neck red-and-white polka-dot sleeveless blouse.

To generate an interest in pageants in town, Chantal had set up a workshop for two Saturdays a month where kids could learn the art of energetic and confident pageant walks. She spent at least thirty minutes of each workshop making the girls practice holding their wrists and hands in a cupcake-like style. Her team, made up of Chantal and Andrew, helped hone talents and emphasize their beauty.

The classes ended up overcrowded with young parents eager to find a venue that would put their kids on track for a reality show.

As a business major at Lexi’s college, Chantal had recognized the full potential of Grits and Gowns by adding pageant coaching. She had approached Lexi and asked her to take Chantal on as an intern to help maximize the boutique. “Roll your eyes if you want, Lexi Pendergrass,” Chantal continued, “but you know I am right. Expanding costs money. So I need you to dress appropriately for the kiddies at the fair trying to win one-on-one time with you.”

Chantal quickly crossed the room and took hold of Lexi’s elbow, steering her toward the dressing rooms. “I’m making sure you don’t ruin your reputation—because of what some jerk said to you,” Chantal scolded. Her eyes darted outside the large glass window. “We have a lot at stake here. Your pageant workshop was so successful. Let’s concentrate on the next few paying classes.”

“Fine.” Lexi sighed at Chantal. “I’ll go upstairs and change.”