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“I don’t know what a hipster is,” he said, “but if style and class is the defining quality, then yes.”

“You sure like vests,” she said, counting no less than five in his hands.

“I’m fond of waistcoats, and these are made from excellent quality wool.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you what. Get all the‘waistcoats’you want. But I’m buying you some jeans.”

She took him to an aisle filled with nothing but denim and Montgomery gasped.

“Dungarees,” he exclaimed. “I’ve never owned any.”

“Well, these are fifty percent off today, so take as many as you want.”

But then he paused and frowned a little. “But I have no money. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“It’s my treat,” said Willow. “Go wild.”

“I cannot allow you to buy me things. It’s not right.”

“I just paid for our meal. What’s the difference?”

“That was very generous of you, but food is a necessity and I had no choice to let you pay. I don’t need clothes.”

“You can’t wear the same thing every day. And you’ll need a toothbrush and soap and… oh geez! Underwear.”

“Miss Ravensong!”

“Are you even wearing any underwear? You can’t try the jeans on if you’re going commando.”

Montgomery lowered his voice to a whisper. “I am not without a pair of drawers… as if it’s your business.”

“We’ll have to go to Walmart. Never buy undies at a thrift store. Do you want boxers or briefs?”

His face went completely red. “Good heavens, you’re tenacious.”

“I like messing with you, old man. Let’s have you try this stuff on, and come out of the dressing room to show me each outfit. I want to witness yourPretty Womanmoment.”

Montgomery was either too tired or too full of bacon cheeseburger to argue, so he followed her to the dressing rooms, and tried on each item, emerging to model the clothing with several variations.

She thought he looked quite dapper, and in the end, they left with five pairs of jeans, six button downs, a couple of t-shirts, two suspenders, and all but one of the vests (or rather, waistcoats) he’d picked out.

Willow also chose a dressier outfit for him to wear to the ball, and she found the perfect gown she’d only have to modify a little bit.

As they walked back to the Moonstone with their arms full, Willow talked about all she needed to do for the ball, which meant getting the invitations out immediately.

“Will you seek out Talon Bickford today?” asked Montgomery. “Or speak to your friend Nadine about it?”

“No,” Willow said thoughtfully. “Nadine said he’s been rebellious lately. I think he’s in with the wrong crowd or maybe he’s a little cuckoo. If he really is trying to warn me about the mysterious deaths, I need to look into it more. Maybe it’s just asbestos, in which case it’s an easy fix.”

They arrived in front of the Moonstone and Montgomery looked up at the building wearily.

“I loathe to go back in there,” he said. “What if I can never leave again?”

“Do you want to walk around some more?” Willow asked. “I can take the bags inside and we could go to the park or the gazebo.”

“Actually, I think I’d like to go to my grave, if that’s alright with you.”

Willow studied his features, noting a supernatural quality to him. His eyes glowed as if they were lit from behind. Or was that just the otherworldly proton beams?