"Fitted?" she said, gazing up at the store's bright red sign. "Since when are you into sportswear?"
Cora who'd shoved the last bite of pretzel into her mouth took a moment to chew, swallow, and lick the salt from her lips. "I'm not. Beau works here." On the tips of her toes, she peered through the crystal-clear window display for him, hoping to catch a peek of his freckled face. 
Eva dusted the sugar from her pretzel off her hands. "Well, where is he?" 
"I don't know." She gave up trying to see past the sports jerseys, baseball caps, and sneakers on display. She took a deep breath, either she got this over with, or gave in to the lingering doubt that she could ruin anyone's life.
"How do I look?"
Eva's gaze flitted over her; her head tilted. "Almost perfect." She picked a piece of lint out of Cora's hair. "That's better."
 "Come on." Cora took Eva's hand, pulling her towards the store's entrance. 
Eva pulled away right outside the door. "Wait, wait. You told him you were coming, right?"
"Nope." 
Eva grinned wider than Cora ever thought was possible. "He doesn't know you're here. Look at you. I didn't think you'd have the nerve." She nudged Cora's shoulder.
"I doubt he'll mind," she said, unsure. She rubbed her arm. It didn't hurt but Eva's words had hit a tender spot. After three years of being best friends she hadn't managed to fool her into thinking she was capable of even the slightest deviant deed. "We're here now," she said, shrugging. "We might as well pop-in and say hi." 
"You're full of surprises, Cora Emerson," Eva said, shaking her head. She followed Cora into the store. The latest rap music blared from the speakers. The store had that new shoe kind of smell, which Cora found pleasing. Beau wasn't behind any of the registers or out on the floor. She pretended to be busy sifting through a rack of men's football jerseys. 
"Are you sure he's even working today? I don't see him." Eva took off her glasses and cleaned them on her coat as if that would make him suddenly appear.
Cora hadn't finished browsing through the rack of jerseys. "I don't know. Let's have a look around." There were less than a dozen people in the store, most of them were men and none were Beau. While Eva hung back, Cora wandered towards the registers, bobbing her head to the music. There wasn't much to see. The customers of the little shop were either checking out the year's newest kicks or trying on baseball caps.
 There were black leather seats situated around the shop. Eva had taken up residence on one next to a man trying on a pair of white and black sneakers. Cora pretended to be interested, a casual browser, though if anyone had asked, she would have only been able to name one sports team. Nothing in the store caught her attention and she thought the music was much too loud, distracting from her mission. 
"Do you need something, miss?"
Cora whirled to see a skinny, tall guy with a rather large curly fro smiling down at her. She dropped her hand from the jersey she'd been inspecting, thinking of no one in particular who would like such an item. All her male relatives were dead.  "Umm. No. I was just looking," she said, pushing a coil of hair away from her face. 
"We're having a sale today?" he said. "Ten percent off men's and women's jerseys. Were you looking for anything specific?" He grinned, eager to help.
"No. Not really," she said. 
"Okay, just let one of us know if you change your mind." 
"I will."
 What she really wanted was to work up enough nerve to ask if Beau Campbell worked there, but before she could get out the words the boy had turned away, talking to someone she couldn't see from behind his back.