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a place to sit down?” I whispered softly in Ruth’s ear so no one else could hear.
    “Oh, stop your complaining, girl. We’re just about ready to make our grand entrance.” I could hear a smile in her voice. Ruth was really enjoying this. I followed her to a table just outside of a banquet room.
    “Fill out that form,” Ruth said, pointing at a paper on the table.
    “Why?” I whispered, feeling mortified and trying to stay next to Ruth as I watched the young wealthy of Kansas City stream by.
    “We’re going to have a few calling cards printed for you. Corny, I know, but just go with the flow. Fill out the form and hand it to the guy behind the table. He’ll print them for you,” Ruth said as she moved away.
    “What about you?” I said as I struggled to catch up.
    “Mine are printed and right here in my handbag. I keep some on hand for these goofy parties. Here have a look.” She pulled one out and handed it to me.
    The only thing printed on her card was “Miss Ruth Witherspoon” in a funky script on a textured paper with her cell number. I suppose nothing else was needed. Everyone in this elite group knew one another.
    As I retrieved my cards at the far end of the table, Ruth put out her hand. “Let’s see what you’ve put together,” her curiosity peaked.
    “Okay,” I said, handing her one.
    She read, “Hillary, friend of Ruth Witherspoon.” I thought Ruth would never stop laughing.
    As we walked into the ballroom, I gazed across a sea of half covered breasts and black tuxedos. These were the beneficiaries of the 2008 tax cuts, the richest 2%. The girls moved in first. Most of them knew Ruth and were thrilled to see her. After the hellos and questions about school and family, they reached their second reason for swooping over...to check out the new competition, and they all turned toward me.
    I felt like a deer in headlights, but Ruth had been expecting this and was enjoying herself immensely. With a smile she introduced me. “This is Hillary, my best friend from college. She’s the one with all of the brains,” Ruth said it with just enough sarcasm to leave them wondering if I was a physicist or as dumb as a rock.
    Nametags would be nice, I thought, as I struggled to remember everyone. As I looked from face to face, it dawned on me that the girls were very similar to the girls in the dorm bathroom back at school. There definitely was not a farmer in the group.

     
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    RUTH BEGAN to walk away and grabbed my hand with a gentle tug. “We don’t want to spend our night around that group of girls,” she whispered. “They’re the biggest gossips in town. Let me introduce you to my friends.”
    We skirted the edge of the room until we got to a table full of significantly less uptight people.
    “Ruth, come on over here and give me a hug. I haven’t seen you in months!” A big bear of a guy grabbed Ruth as she rounded the end of the banquet table and I watched her curl into his embrace. “How the hell are you?”
    “Wait a minute, I thought you were my girl?” the next guy waiting in line bellowed at Ruth.
    “I’ve missed you too, Clint. How’s your Dad?” Ruth replied, turning into his arms.
    As I took a step to follow her, I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see a tuxedo clad young man, who probably stopped traffic on a regular basis.
    “Hello, my name is Bennett.” He was tall, muscular and heart stopping. He had a look about him that made me think he was always the first male to reach the new girl in the room, but I was flattered anyway.
    “Hi, I’m Hillary a friend of….”
    “Ruth’s,” he finished for me. “I saw you come in and run the gauntlet through the greeting line of girls.”
    “Yes, that was a lot of fun. Do you know them?”
    “All of them, all of my life,” he replied, “some better than others.”
    I gave him my flirtiest smile and began to answer the usual questions. All in all, I liked the guy. He was nice, attentive and he seemed