She let those words glance off. She couldn’t bear to hear them.

“Well. Whatever about feelings,” Jamie said, taking a breath. “I just want... I just want to look hot.”

“Oh, I think we can do that,” McKenna said, her words a little bit shaky as she opened up her closet. “Yes, I think we can definitely do that.”

By the time McKenna and Beatrix were finished, Jamie thought she might have miscalculated. Because the dress she was wearing clung to her body like it was another layer of skin, and her hair—still not curled at all—was hanging loose and shimmering around her shoulders. And thanks to a quick trip to town, courtesy of Beatrix, Jamie even had lacy underwear on.

She had cleavage. Minimal though it was, it existed.

And she was about to parade it all in front of the town. She’d already spilled her guts to McKenna and Bea and she felt like a wrung-out disaster. Now she felt like a wrung-out disaster that would be very easy to tip over.

“I’m staying home.” She sat down on McKenna’s bed.

“No!” Bea said. “I just put eyeliner on another person’s face. That isn’t easy. I might be blind now.”

Jamie flopped back onto the bed, her arms spread wide. “Well, Evan can be your guide raccoon.”

“You’re a terrible person,” Bea said.

Jamie sighed and sat back up. She looked in the mirror, stunned by the woman looking back at her. She was a stranger. A stranger with very large eyes and glowing skin. Rosy cheeks.

It was like someone had put on a very glossy Jamie suit, and was trying to imitate her motions and facial expressions.

“What?” McKenna asked.

She watched the unfamiliar-familiar mirror face contort. “I just don’t know if I can go out like this.”

“Why not? You are the one who wanted to do it.”

“I know but I feel...like I’m basically going to be walking into the barn naked. And everyone’s going to know that it has to do with Gabe.”

“So what?” McKenna asked.

Bea wrinkled her nose. McKenna gave her a baleful look. “You don’t agree with me, Beatrix?”

“Not especially,” Bea said. “It’s not that easy when you’ve lived somewhere all your life. What people think about you and the way they see you feels more...magnified. People don’t know you well enough to be shocked by you turning up at the Gold Valley Saloon in...a Care Bear costume.”

“I am pretty sure people would be shocked if I turned up in a Care Bear costume.”

“Still not as shocked as they would be if it were Jamie,” Bea pointed out.

“You look amazing,” McKenna said, not taking on anything Bea or Jamie said, rummaging around in her closet and producing a pair of strappy, high-heeled shoes. “And this will complete it.”

Jamie just stared at the shoes dumbly and McKenna sighed, getting down on her knees and putting them on her feet.

“Ready for the ball, ma’am?”

Jamie stood, feeling like she was up on stilts. She took a couple of steps forward, surprised at when her heel hit the ground, versus when she’d expected it to.