“Cool!” Cullen was almost as excited as his sister. “What brings him into town?”

Chi-Chi tilted her head in the direction of Luna.

“Stop!” Luna protested. “He is on his way back from Louisville. That’s all.”

Cullen chuckled. “So he decided to make a right turn off the interstate?”

“It would appear so.” Chi-Chi nodded.

Luna let out a growl. “Oh, you guys!”

“Thou doth protest too much,” Chi-Chi replied.

Luna stomped her way to the ladies’ room to see what she could do to salvage her appearance. Chi-Chi followed her. Luna was splashing water on her face and glumly stared into the mirror.

“Now, listen to me, woman. You are beautiful. Inside and out. I don’t think the marshal would go out of his way to see you if he didn’t agree with me.”

“Oh, Chi-Chi. I always feel like a schoolgirl around him. Awkward and clumsy.” Luna kept fussing with her hair.

“You are none of those things. Here, let me help you. But first take that thing off.” In her excitement, Luna had forgotten to remove the work apron. Thankfully, that got rid of most of the smell of smoky dust.

In less than a couple of minutes, Chi-Chi braided Luna’s hair so it fell in front of her shoulder. Chi-Chi then pulled out a tube of coral lipstick and dabbed it on Luna’s cheeks and blended it in. “Well, that’s one thing I cannot do on my face, but it works for you.” They both laughed. Chi-Chi handed the tube over to Luna. “Now, on your lips.”

In less than ten minutes, Luna was transformed into what she considered presentable. She sniffed at her clothes. “I still smell like a day’s work is all over me.”

Chi-Chi reached for the lavender air freshener, sprayed a big cloud of it, and waved the mist in Luna’s direction. “He’ll never know it came from a can. Trust me.”

Luna laughed and gave Chi-Chi a big hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

There was a loud rapping at the door. “You ladies finished in there? I called the restaurant. They’re expecting us. Move it!” Cullen feigned impatience.

Luna swung the large door open. “Wow. How in the heck did you do that?” Cullen was taken aback at the instantaneous makeover.

“Chi-Chi has magical skills.” Luna breezed past him. “Let’s go. What are you waiting for?” She was teasing, of course.

The three arrived at the restaurant as Gaines was getting out of his Jeep. He briskly walked toward them, trying to decide what to do first, shake Cullen’s hand or give Luna a hug. “Heys” and “hellos” filled the air. He instinctively opened his arms, and it turned into a group hug. Cullen patted him on the back. “Good to see you, man.”