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Chapter One

“You’re firing me?” Harper Masterson stared at her boss

Alice Samuels, owner of the Tan Your Hide beauty eh her salt-and-pepper curls “Harper, honey, it ain’t nothin’ personal People ain’t spendinga year-round tan and buying custootta close up shop Truth is, I should’ve done this a few o, but I knew”

That you needed the job

Harper bit the inside of her cheek, hard, to keep fro—a trick she’d learned from her older sister, Liberty “I appreciate all you’ve done for me, Alice”

“I know you do You’ve still got your job at Get Nailed, right?”

She nodded absentmindedly She’d taken the job at Tan Your Hide last year because working part-ti the bills after the Tumbleweed Motel had closed for the season and she’d lost her job cleaning roo off She cursed this town for its limited opportunities She cursed herself for the lack of schooling that would’ve given her a wider range of choices

“Harper? You okay? You’re awful quiet”

Harper glanced at Alice, but she couldn’tto do now?”

“Roger is coot a line on a place in Casper that wants them I’ll keep my inventory of beauty products and sell ’em outta my house”

“Does the landlord have another renter lined up?” But it was probably too much for Harper to hope that another business would move into Muddy Gap, which boasted less than a dozen businesses—total

Alice shook her head “I’m afraid we’ll have another empty storefront Sad, how this town is dyin’”

Dying? This town had been dead since the day Harper’s ed them here Problem was, Harper was stuck, at least for another few h school Then Bailey could realize her dreah so much in the last year and a half, Harper didn’t want to addthat she’d lost yet another low-paying job

Three months Harper needed to find work for just a little over three e off their shoes and move on with their lives

She gave the space one last, wistful look “I’ll lanced at her boss, even more misty-eyed “Mostly I’ll miss you, Alice” Harper relass-topped counter, and snagged her winter coat from the closet

As Harper untangled the fringe at the end of her fuchsia scarf, Alice said, “Wait I have so for you,” and handed her a slip of paper

Harper squinted at the paycheck, written out in Alice’s flowery scrawl The amount was a hundred dollars off She passed it back “You made a mistake This is too much”

Alice squeezed Harper’s hand “Consider it severance pay”

She waffled, hating to take charity in any form, but the reality wasshe needed the cash

“Please,” Alice said

Pride wouldn’t pay the bills “Okay Thanks”