Page 6 of No One But You

Darlene and I had been friends with Summer since kindergarten, but neither of us would put her in the class of bestie. Summer didn’t do besties. She just did friends. If she had to pick a best friend, though, she’d probably choose Rowan, my cousin and Tonya’s youngest son of her three boys.

“Thanks. I did it last week.” She pulled a brush through my hair. “I liked it then, but now I don’t know. Rowan wasn’t a fan. That’s for sure.”

“Seriously? That’s a surprise. He loved the blonde with blue tips you did last year.”

“I know, but he said this color is too dark and makes me look like I’m going back to my Goth stage. He hated my Goth stage.”

“No offense, Summer, but we all hated your Goth stage. You were a little depressing and scary.”

Summer bopped her head back and forth. “True. That was my way of getting back at my parents for their divorce.”

Summer was a freshman in high school when her dad came home, told her mom he had stopped loving her, and packed and moved out to California with his young secretary. Summer took her parents’ divorce hard and went immediately into a rebellious stage and became a little much to deal with. Rowan, though, could always keep her from doing something totally stupid and regretful. She’d had nothing to do with her father since then.

“So, how is Rowan? Military still treating him well?”

“So far, but I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to be in. It’s already been eleven years, and he was only planning on two enlistments and he’s on his third.” Rowan graduated from high school with Summer, Darlene, Trevor—his best friend—and me. We all hung out daily, and even though Rowan was my cousin, he was always closer to Summer than we ever were.

“I can’t wait till he gets home. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, well, you know how things were when he left. So, whatever.” Summer pulled at a knot in my hair.

My hand went immediately to my hair in defense. “Ouch. What the hell, Summer?”

She slapped it away. “What happened to you this morning? You’re never late, and your hair is all matted. Were you hanging outside in this heat?” She grabbed her bottle of detangler and carefully brushed out my matted mess.

“You know me too well. Yes, I was.” I cringed as she worked. “It was a fucking nightmare.”

“Language, niece. We all need filters so we don’t upset any customers.” Tonya’s voice dripped with sarcasm from across the salon.

Summer squatted by my ear. “Can I shoot her a bird?”

I muffled a laugh. “She’d enjoy it too much. I’ll handle this. Sorry Auntie,” I sang in the sweetest and most condescending voice I could muster. I scrunched up my mouth and made a face at Summer. Like Tonya wasn’t the one I learned that kind of language from.

Summer chuckled. “So, what happened to cause the effing nightmare?”

“My tire was eaten by one of those pothole craters back on Old Fort Road, and when I tried to call you and Darlene . . . nothing. Not even one bar.”

“Not surprising. That’s the county dead zone.” Summer placed a towel over my head.

“You should tell Mayor John. He needs to know,” Tonya said.

“You should mind your own business, old lady. We aren’t talking with you,” retorted Summer.

“Enough, you two.” Kaye turned Tonya’s chair to face the other direction.

Summer wiggled her brows at me in the mirror.

Those two were always on each other’s case and were very entertaining. “The county wouldn’t do anything about it. It doesn’t bother them any,” I said as I followed Summer to the shampoo chairs and laid my head back on the sink. I closed my eyes. This was the best part of getting my hair cut and colored. I loved the hair wash and scalp massage.

“I bet he’d listen to you, T, if you pull John to the side and give him a little gift,” Kaye answered as she wiggled her shoulders.

“You’re so right. You know he’s always asking for a little something, something,” Tonya whispered loudly.

Summer and I flinched.

“Oh, my God. I really need to find a new place to work. Hearing their sex talk all the time is so cringey,” Summer whispered.

“You need to learn how to whisper, girlie. We aren’t so old that our hearing’s going,” Tonya said.

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