My Favorite Mistake Read Free Page B

panic immediately set in—I had two pimples from last week’s peanut M&M’s binge, and my nails were a wreck. It would be next to impossible to get a manicure at the last minute on Saturday.
    I jumped up and whirled into action. After a shower, I dialed the cel phone of my friend Kenzie Mansfield Long, who was the most stylish person I knew; although I wasn’t sure if she’d have service in the rural area of the state where she lived on weekends.
    “Hel o?” she sang into the receiver.
    “Hi, it’s Denise. I was taking a chance on reaching you—you have service now?”
    “A tower just went up on the next ridge. Jar Hol ow official y has cel ular service.”
    “Did Sam arrange that just for you?” I asked with a laugh. Her doting veterinarian husband was doing everything in his power to make country living more bearable for his city-
    bred wife, à la Lisa in Green Acres.
    “The service isn’t just for me,” Kenzie protested. “It’s for the entire town. And it helps me and Sam to stay in touch when we’re apart during the week.”
    At the mischievous note in my friend’s voice, I had the feeling that phone sex supplemented the couple’s seemingly insatiable lust for each other. Kenzie’s—or should I say
    Sam’s —homemade dildo cast from the real, um, thing was infamous among our circle of friends. After seeing it, I could barely make eye contact with the man. In fact, it was that darn dildo that had resurrected my fantasies of Redford. He had been an amazing specimen of virility and, um…dimension.
    Okay, the man was hung like a stal ion…not that I’d ever seen a stal ion’s penis, but word on the street was that the equine species was gifted in that department. The fact that Redford’s family in Kentucky was in the horse business had burned the association even deeper into my depraved brain.
    No, I wasn’t jealous of Kenzie’s relationship with Sam…most of the time. I had known great, mind-blowing lust with Redford, but our relationship had burned out as quickly as a cheap candle. Barry, on the other hand, was no dynamo in bed, but he had staying power in other areas.
    His IRA account was a whopper.
    “How was the ‘running of the brides’?” Kenzie asked, breaking into my strange musings. “Did Cindy find a gown?”
    “Yes,” I said, then decided to ’fess up before Cindy told on me. “And I, um, bought a gown, too.”
    There was silence on the other end, then, “Barry proposed? ”
    “No,” I said quickly, feeling like an idiot. “But I thought, you know, if ever….wel …the dress was dirt cheap,” I finished lamely.
    “Ah,” Kenzie said. “A bargain—now I understand. Wel , one of these days, Barry is bound to come around. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, you know.”
    “Subject change. I cal ed because I have a style emergency.” I explained about the honors dinner and my desire to wow El en Brant and her pocketbook with my stunning sense
    of fashion. “Any suggestions?”
    “You could wear your wedding gown,” Kenzie said, then cracked up laughing.
    “I’m hanging up.”
    “I’m kidding. Gee, lighten up.” Then she snapped her fingers. “I saw the cutest striped dress in the window of Benderlee’s, and I remember thinking it would look smashing on you.”
    “Wil it smash the credit line on my VISA card?”
    “Probably, but think of it as an investment.” She laughed. “Knowing you, you’l think of a way to write the dress off on your taxes as a business expense.”
    “Ha, ha.”
    “I’m not kidding—I can’t believe how much Sam and I are getting back on our taxes this year, thanks to you. If you ever decide to go into tax preparation, I want to invest.”
    I laughed. “Thanks.”
    “And go to Nordstrom’s for shoes. Ask for Lito, tel him I sent you.”
    My shoulders fel . “Okay.”
    “And tel me you’re not going to wear your hair in a ponytail.”
    I squinted. “I’m not going to wear my hair in a ponytail?”
    “For