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chef and that I’d like for her to give me some cooking lessons some day when she wasn’t tied up with work at her own inn. But for now, with nothing else pressing, the two younger gals decided to accompany me.
    The young blond woman I’d seen working the desk the day before was alone in the office ringing up a teenage boy’s potato chips, Coke, and postcards. She smiled at the young man and wished him a fun day at the rodeo before turning her attention to us. I told her our names and in return, she introduced herself as Kylie Rue and said she’d only been working at the campground for a few weeks.
    “You must be a quick learner, Kylie,” I said. “You appear to be very professional for a gal who looks like she should still be in high school.”
    “I’m not that young, I’m afraid,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be twenty-nine on my next birthday, which is the day after Christmas. That kind of sucks in a way, but I certainly clean up in gifts in late December.”
    “I’ll bet you do. We’re the same age, girlfriend. Except I’ll be thirty in mid-August, so I’m still an elder to you, since my birthday is just about three weeks away,” Wendy said to Kylie.
    “Time seems to pass quicker and quicker the older I get. I’ll be thirty before I know it,” the office helper said.
    Kylie had a youthful and bubbly disposition, and it amused me the way she talked about her age. I put my hand on top of hers, and said, “Don’t rush it, sweetie. Your birthday is still five months away. When you’re my age, you’ll be saying you just turned fifty-one until the day before your fifty-second birthday. Are you from around here? I detect a faint touch of a southern accent in your voice.”
    “Yes, you’re right, Ms. Starr,” she replied. “I just moved out here from Longwood, Florida, but I’m originally from Tennessee. I was fortunate to land this job so quickly.”
    “Really?” I asked. “What did you do in Florida?”
    “I went to cosmetology school and got a job at The Hair Affair Salon, but after several years of dealing with disgruntled old women… um, no offense, Ms. Starr, I’d had enough and decided to move out here. I wanted a change and to experience new places, starting with Wyoming. I hadn’t anticipated being so homesick, though. I’m adopted, but I couldn’t love my mom and dad any more than I would if they were my biological parents. I miss them even more than I thought I would, but I’m hoping I’ll get over that eventually. And, Ms. Starr, I apologize again for the disgruntled old women comment. That was a little insensitive of me.”
    “Please call me Lexie, dear. And I wasn’t offended about your comment until you told me not to be.” Including me in the category of disgruntled old women really was kind of discouraging. I didn’t feel terribly old, and I certainly didn’t see myself as disgruntled. “Trust me, Kylie, I may seem ancient to youngsters like yourself, but I’m at least a decade younger than dirt, and as gruntled as they come.”
    I could see her mulling over the question of whether “gruntled” was a real word, or not, when I continued. “Why were the old ladies so disgruntled?”
    “They blamed me when I couldn’t make them look like Halle Berry or Jennifer Lopez. They’d show me a photo and say, ‘I’d like to get the Rachel hairstyle,’ and then totally blow a gasket when they didn’t look exactly like Jennifer Aniston when I was finished. Jeez Louise, I might barely make a hundred bucks on a good day. I’m not sure I could even make Jennifer Aniston look like Jennifer Aniston.”
    “I’m sure you’re more talented than you give yourself credit for,” Wendy said. “But your job must have been challenging at times. That’s why I like working with cadavers. They never complain, and I haven’t ever witnessed one blowing a gasket. And I’m smart enough to leave the hair styling to the funeral home to take care of, because if you don’t make a