"Ooohh," Francine purred contently, as she caressed the length of the shaft. She'd decided as a college student that she would never settle for less than the best that she could get, and thus far she never had.

"Does it feel as good as it looks?" Amanda's whispered question broke the spell, so Francine quickly put down the luxury leather boot, and turned to face her shopping companion.

"Of course it does, in a store like this; all the leather goods feel absolutely wonderful. The clientele won't settle for anything less than top notch quality and style." She turned her attention from an awed Amanda, back to the dark brown knee length boots. Eyeing them critically, she reached out and adjusted the turn down cuff at the top of the shaft, and then fingered the antique gold equestrian finding at the ankle.

"Are you going to try them on," Amanda asked, as she finally reached out to touch the boot herself. "Wow, I've never felt leather of this quality, let alone owned any."

"I'm not going to buy them." Francine once again turned from the pair in question, and allowed her eyes to roam the other boots that were on display. "It may surprise you to discover that I don't buy everything that I might like to own; even I have a budget."

"I didn't mean to suggest-"

"That I'm a clothes-horse…I am and I'm not ashamed of it. I have a well-honed sense of personal style and people admire me for it," she stated more loudly than she had intended. Amanda took a step back; surprised by Francine's outburst and slightly embarrassed as other shoppers looked in their direction.

"Francine, I don't know what I said-"

"Please, don't apologize." The usually unflappable blonde actually looked uncomfortable with the attention that she'd drawn to herself. "You didn't say anything wrong; I was being thin-skinned. I'm sorry I jumped on you." Amanda sensed her sincerity as she looked at her downcast blue eyes.

"Don't worry about it…we all have moments like that." She wanted to reach out and offer a fleeting offer of physical comfort but she didn't dare.

"You don't," Francine challenged. She glared icily at the one shopper who was clearly eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Don't' kid yourself…after a really bad day at work, I'm more short-tempered with Mother and the boys than I normally would be. And if you think that Lee is to blame for all the fights that we've had over the years you're wrong. He's been blind-sided by my moods more times than I care to admit." That revelation broke the tension between them and they shared a comfortable laugh. Tilting her head to the side, Amanda looked at Francine tentatively.

"I probably shouldn't ask you this, but I just can't help myself…those boots are fabulous and you're clearly drawn to them, so why don't you want to buy them?"

"Those boots are top quality and they're a gloriously rich shade of brown, but they aren't striking enough, they don't scream 'look at me'."

"Do they have to," Amanda queried thoughtfully. "Wouldn't they be more of an asset to your wardrobe if they complemented the things that you already own? They would elevate whatever you wear them with, instead of demanding that you dress around them." She braced herself for her friend's haughty reply and was surprised when she didn't offer one.

"I hadn't thought about them that way," she trailed off as she began to mentally consider possible outfits. Satisfied that she'd made her point, Amanda wandered across the store's wide aisle to a display of cashmere sweaters in an array of rich fall hues. After looking at various styles for several minutes, she picked up a mustard colored cowl neck sweater and held it up to herself.

"I'll buy the boots, if you buy the sweater," Francine suggested conspiratorially, as she came up beside her.

"It's beautiful, but I can't buy it, have you seen the price? My budget is a lot more limited than yours." She regretfully carefully refolded the sweater and placed it back on the mahogany table from which she'd picked it up.

"Your budget recently changed dramatically," Francine challenged.

"I'm making more as a full agent than I was when I was working as a civilian auxiliary, but I have-"

"You have a brand 'new' husband," Francine interjected, "who makes a very good living. Lee isn't going to move into your house and not start contributing to keeping it running. Trust me, Amanda, your middle class values won't be completely corrupted if you treat yourself to one amazing cashmere sweater. Take the one that you were looking at and the emerald green one, and try them on." When Amanda hesitated, Francine continued, "As the senior agent, I'm making that an order," she whispered.

"First it was a question of who gets the bed and now it's this…I can't wait until I rack up some seniority. You win, even if I don't buy one, I'd love to see it on me." Francine pointed out the fitting room and agreed to meet her by the boot display. After trying on the original pair of boots and several others, she was approached by the saleswoman from the sweater department.

"Your companion asked me to tell you that she spotted two women who she thinks might fit the parts that you've been trying to cast. She didn't want them to get away; so she decided to go after them. She said she'll meet you back at your hotel as soon as she can." Francine thanked the saleswoman for relaying the message, and then looked heavenward. Please let this be a false alarm…ah hell…she always manages to stumble into the middle of the real thing.

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Author's note: I'd like to offer a shout-out to Lanie Sullivan for beta-reading this chapter quickly and with no advance request.