Designs on a Rancher
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LaQuette
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20
One
“Finally.”
Keely Tucker fell backward onto the plush king-size bed in the middle of her lavish hotel room. After spending the last couple of hours at the Texas Cattleman’s Club schmoozing local vendors during a mixer, all she wanted was the peace and quiet of an empty and blessedly silent room.
She lay there, soaking up the silence, wishing she could spend the next few days doing nothing but loafing while watching Netflix. Sadly, she knew there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d actually get to do that.
“With everything you’ve got to do over the next three weeks, it’s cute you think you’ll have time for television, Keely.”
At thirty-one, Keely was stylist to a handful of solid B-list celebrities, a career she’d proudly carved out for herself over the last decade. After tireless work, and the good fortune of ending up on Ariana Ramos’s radar, she was strategically positioned to transition from simply styling celebrities to creating original clothing designs for A-listers.
“You’ve come a long way from making dresses for your big sister’s Cabbage Patch Kids Cornsilk dolls.”
Keely laughed at the thought of her older sister Kyrie’s most treasured childhood toy. It was a ridiculously ugly thing, but so popular, kids from the late ’80s to the early ’90s had to have one.
At that time, the doll was expensive for their parents, who were blue-collar workers living in a low-income housing project, scraping by to make ends meet for their small family. They’d splurged to give her sister that doll and she’d treasured it like it was gold. Unfortunately, after spending twenty-five dollars on one doll, there wasn’t a great deal of money left over for all the accessories that Coleco peddled to children.
Necessity being the mother of invention, Keely’s young self started drawing dresses she imagined her sister’s doll wearing. Their mother, recognizing her little girl’s talent, pulled out her sewing machine and showed Keely how to turn those pencil drawings into real-life clothes.
That doll was the best-dressed toy in all of Marcy Projects and Keely’s very first client. A crucial step that led her to Ariana’s door. Thanks to the actress’s fame, and all the hard work Keely had put in over the years, her small design house, Low-Kee Designs, was about to hit the big time with respect to the fashion industry.
As excited as she was about her dream coming true, it also meant her work life was about to become more demanding, as if it wasn’t high-pressured enough already.
Success wasn’t for the faint of heart or the weary. It mostly boiled down to hard work, dedication and sacrifice. This week she’d sacrificed more sleep and energy than she had to spare as she traveled from one client to the next.
She’d started out in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, before she’d flown to the West Coast to meet with Ariana. After spending a few days in LA to finalize details on the sketches for Ariana’s wedding dress, Keely was taking off from LAX and landing in the small town of Royal, Texas.
Keely sighed, trying to quell the restlessness she felt creeping in from the edges of her mind. City-hopping alone wasn’t as glamorous as one might think. Perpetual exhaustion wasn’t the only result of putting her job first while she stuck to such a rigorous schedule. Loneliness ran a close second as an occupational hazard.
Traveling in multiple time zones in such a short amount of time meant there was no room in her life for the three Fs: fun, flirting and fornication. Case in point was the lost opportunity to accept a dinner invitation from the handsome man one of her friends had worked so hard to set her up with.
Though loneliness was a constant companion, she had to admit things weren’t all bad. As tired as she was from all that travel, a smile bloomed on her lips as she thought of her job. At thirty-one, most people couldn’t say they were living their best work life and poised to reach their professional zenith. She was grateful for that, so she wouldn’t dare let her exhaustion or her desire to connect with another human being on a personal level keep her from living the absolute dream as a stylist-turned-clothing-designer to the stars.
“If you’re gonna make this dream work, you can’t lie about all night, Keely.” She felt around for the phone she’d had in her hand when she dropped like a spent ton of bricks onto the mattress. Just as her fingers curled around it, the device vibrated in her hand.
“Ariana,” Keely greeted her client. “You’re gonna live a long time. I was just thinking about you.”
“I should hope so since you traveled all the way to Royal to finish my wedding gown.” Ariana’s reply made the grin on Keely’s face spread wider. Although the woman was a bona fide Hollywood star, she was still so down-to-earth she could relate to regular folks like Keely. That quality alone made Keely want to create the dress of Ariana’s dreams.
“I literally just walked into my hotel room. I plan to hit the ground running first thing in the morning.”
“Did Jay drop you off?” Ariana’s question made Keely draw a blank.
“Who’s Jay?”
“Jacob Chatman,” Ariana replied. “Tripp and Ex’s friend. Tripp said he asked him to take you back to your hotel.”
Recollection smacked Keely in the middle of her forehead.
“Oh, I told Tripp not to bother. I’m sure his friend is cool and all, but as a city girl, I’m not all that comfortable jumping into a car with someone I don’t know.”
“How did you get back to the hotel, then? I know you came with Milan in her car and she left well after you.”
“I ordered a Lyft,” Keely replied.
“Keely.” Ariana’s voice had a slight note of chastisement in it that made Keely chuckle. “How is jumping into a Lyft any better than accepting a ride from Tripp’s friend?”
Keely let out a small sigh before answering. “Because at least with the Lyft, there’s some documentable record of whose car I’m in. It’s a Brooklyn thing. We don’t trust anyone.”
Ariana’s full and throaty laughter traveled through the line, making Keely’s shoulders shake with amusement too.
“Keely.” Ariana’s voice dropped a note, making Keely sit up and take notice. “I truly want to thank you for coming all the way out here three months before the wedding. It means a lot to me that you’re working so hard to make my dress perfect.”
Warmth bloomed inside Keely’s chest as Ariana put her kind, everyday girl on display. Even a brash city girl like Keely could appreciate the subtle way Ariana made everyone around her feel like a longtime friend.
“Girl, don’t even worry about it. As much money as you’re paying me, I would’ve come down here as soon as you got the ring if you’d wanted me to.”
Keely joined Ariana in a full laugh that nearly brought tears to Keely’s eyes. Once she caught her breath, she continued. “For real, though. I’m really appreciative of this opportunity you’re giving me, Ariana. You could’ve chosen Vera Wang, Alexander McQueen or Oscar de la Renta to make this gown.”
“True,” Ariana replied. “But there was something about your designs that just called to me. Those designers are great. But everyone wears them. Me? I like being different. And your designs are the best kind of different on the market, Keely.”
“You’re damn skippy they are.” While Keely was grateful for the opportunity, she knew her work was stellar and no one could give Ariana the dress she’d created for the woman. All she needed now was to find the perfect final touches for it, and Ariana would be the best-dressed bride of the year.
“If you don’t mind, while I have you on the phone, I’d like to go over a few final—”
Keely’s sentence was interrupted by her hotel room falling into darkness.
“Keely, you were saying?” When Keely didn’t respond, Ariana tried to get her attention again. “Keely, you still there?”
“Yeah, but I’ve got a problem. The power just went out in my hotel room.”
