A Sticky Situation by Jessie Crockett

there. Knowlton still lived at home with Tansey and he spent his days stuffing roadkill and posing them in lifelike ways. His devotion to Celadon and myselfverged on stalking. His worship of Jade crossed the line into religious ecstasy.
    â€œBesides we’d miss her too much if she was away and then we’d run into Knowlton all the time when we visited.”
    â€œI’m just going to have to put my foot down and tell her Spring is not a life-size doll.”
    â€œThat would be the mature thing to do.” That did it. Reminding Celadon she was the mature one always moved her to action. She pried her fingers off my arm and stepped out onto the sidewalk. I followed her lead and headed for the shop.
    I had to hand it to Jade—the girl had guts and big plans. Staring through the window, I realized I was impressed. I didn’t want to be but I was anyway. The whole place just oozed of class and chic. From the gleaming patina on the wooden bar to the glint on the stainless steel barrels you felt like you were drowning in something a bit too good for real life. And there in the middle of it all was Jade, also a bit too good to be real.
    Her hair was always just that little bit shinier, her eyes a bit brighter, her teeth naturally more even. She was five foot six in her stocking feet and you can bet there was a perfect pedicure hidden under those socks. She spun around to face the window as if feeling my stare and when she saw us, she waved a slim, tanned hand to beckon us in. My hand hadn’t been darker than buttermilk since October.
    I swallowed hard and looked over at Celadon. Herjaw flexed and popped. She threw her shoulders back, reached out without looking for my arm, and dragged me along behind her as she pushed through the door.
    â€œNow how could we throw a proper welcome if we had no idea you were coming?” Celadon said, making a beeline for Jade.
    â€œAnd spoil the surprise? No way!” Jade leaned in and gave Celadon a peck on the cheek. “What do you think?”
    â€œI think you managed to surprise us, all right.” Celadon swiveled her head to take it all in. I could just hear the calculator tape whirling in her head as she totaled up the cost of the high-end materials and the ingredients for the product.
    â€œIsn’t it just beautiful?” Jade looked like she actually wanted to know what we thought. That was a first. As far as I could remember Jade had charted her own course and told others how they should chart theirs.
    One of the most memorable examples of this was one summer when she advised my father to begin waxing his back if he wanted to be allowed to take her to the lake any longer. I seemed to remember her spending a lot of time alone at the house while the rest of us splashed and dove next to my furry father. But here she was ten years later setting up shop in a town full of men who would no more consider waxing their backs than they would flossing their teeth with a chainsaw.
    I had to wonder what exactly had happened to either drive or tug her in our direction. After all, the closest high-end department store was more than thirty milesaway and that was if you considered a place that sold tractors in addition to bras and washing machines high-end.
    If you were in need of an establishment that carried socks that retailed for over twenty dollars per pair you were looking at a much longer hike than that. I asked myself if Jade had suffered from a traumatic brain injury. You know, the kind of thing that wiped out memory and even personality.
    â€œIt’s got tons of eye appeal. It must have been a lot of work getting this set up. Especially since you did it long-distance,” I said. Jade looked so eager for approval I couldn’t just leave her dangling there. And what I said was true. The shop was beautiful. It looked just like the sort of thing she would design. In fact, even if I hadn’t known she was responsible for it I would have had a queasy