Apparently Jenna had left specific instructions for Penny to “befriend” Autumn and make her feel welcome. That, tied with their “bonding experience,” as Penny had called it yesterday at breakfast, looked like Autumn had a new personal stylist.
Penny stood to her full height, all of maybe five-foot-two, which made Autumn feel like an Amazon warrior around the adorable, cherry-haired woman. “Come on, we’re going through Jenna’s closet,” Penny said, bypassing Autumn and heading towards Jenna’s room.
“I can’t. That would be rude.”
Penny frowned halfway down the hall. “This is what girlfriends do. Jenna is still shorter than you, but we can work with that.”
“Doesn’t Jenna typically dress in business casual attire?”
Penny smiled. “Yeah, but she has some stuff hidden just for this kind of occasion.”
She didn’t know what she was getting into, but with Penny’s persistence and the devilish look she was wearing, Autumn didn’t think she could argue with the town’s golden girl.
“I’d ask Lily, too, but she took Alex camping this week. Worse comes to worst, we can break in and raid her closet, too.”
Surely Penny was kidding. But nothing about her looked to be joking. Especially when she opened the double doors of Jenna’s walk-in closet and did just that: walked in.
Holy hell, the thing was bigger than the studio Autumn had lived in above her old shop. And there was a section near the back dedicated to lingerie alone. Frickin’ newlyweds.
After sliding hangers down to go through the full collection, Penny grabbed a couple of things and tossed them on the bed, then returned for shoes. Boots, rather. But not the kind Autumn wore. They were the cowgirl kind.
“What size are you?”
“8.” Autumn crossed her fingers that Jenna wasn’t the same size.
Please don’t make me wear boots. Please don’t make me wear boots.
“8!” Penny said, holding up a pair. “Here, try these on with this.” She shoved a skirt, the boots, and a frilly top at her and waited.
“Like, right now?”
“Yeah. The BBQ is already getting busy. With the back patio area set up for spring break, it gets packed by seven. Band is there, and the guys are already waiting.”
The guys were waiting? Autumn never thought she’d hear that sentence in relation to herself.
Penny turned her back to Autumn, giving the illusion of privacy. Not that she overly cared. She hustled into the outfit and immediately felt like a life-size doll trying to fit into Barbie’s clothes.
Penny turned back around. “Oh my god.”
Autumn waited, because she didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“Holy crap, how long are your legs?” Penny said. “You look great! The top isn’t really you though.”
Autumn looked down the front of herself. The skirt felt like it barely covered her ass, but it looked longer than it felt. But it was a skirt, so it was bad enough on its own.
She had to admit it though, it wasn’t horrible. The denim was distressed and made to wear in that same trendy way she’d seen other women wear skirts. Paired with the brown cowgirl boots, it wasn’t too bad.
“The top is a bit much though.” It had some kind of swooping ruffle thing going on. Not her style at all.
“I agree,” Penny said, standing back to look her up and down. “Let’s keep it simple. A pink tank top—”
“How about black?”
Penny’s horrified frown made Autumn feel like she’d just spoken in tongues. “With brown boots? No. You can do a soft color, like pink or white.”
“I have a white tank. Will that work?”
Penny nodded. “Yep. And you’ll look hot. Now we just need to fix your hair and we’re in business.”