Page 47 of Happy Trails & Honey Pots

Not only did AJ know Miles, he looked up to him as a role model. The two were going to be working together. I would be on set with both of them. Luckily, Miles was a professional. And I’d made it clear to him that nothing more could happen between us. It was one night and one night only. We left on good terms. He asked if he could call me or text me, and I said yes, thinking it would be about the movie.

Every day since he’d been in New Mexico, he had messaged me or called me to check in and make sure I was okay. I hadn’t returned his calls, mainly because I hadn’t known what to say. He would lose interest in me soon enough. By the time he returned in a month, I was sure he’d barely remember our night together. As sad and sick to my stomach as that thought made me, I knew it was for the best.

The cars in front of me moved, and I pulled up to the curb just in time to see Kendall hugging AJ goodbye. It was sweet seeing the two of them together. It transported me back to simpler times. When I was that age, Austin made me feel like anything was possible, that we had the whole world at our disposal.

If I had known then the heartbreak I would face… I would still do it all again. I wouldn’t change anything because I had AJ. And he was the best thing I had ever done. Tears started to form in my eyes as AJ walked over to the car. I sniffed them back as I popped the trunk, and he threw his duffel in it.

When he got in the front seat, I looked at him, and even though he’d only been gone four days, I would swear he looked older. He was growing up too fast. A burst of emotion overwhelmed me, and I leaned over to give him a hug.

He recoiled from me. “Mom, stop.”

“Sorry.” I lifted my hands in surrender and then put them on the steering wheel. I kept forgetting that he was nearly a teenager, and it was not okay to hug your mom in front of your friends.

“Did you have fun?” I pulled away from the curb.

“Yeah. Kendall asked if she could get pictures of you.”

“Of me?”

“Yeah, when you were our age. And she wanted to know if you’d go to The Beauty Mark with her.”

“The Beauty Mark?” I turned to him. “Why?”

The Beauty Mark was owned by Kendra Abernathy, who was a year behind me in school. Her family came from old money and were infamous thanks to Abernathy Manor, which was believed to be haunted and featured on Most Haunted Places in America lists and television programs every year. Kendra was a social media influencer who was discredited after she promoted a diet pill that ended up causing organ failure and several deaths. Her family bought her the salon to restore her name and rebrand her image.

All of that was fine and dandy, except for the fact that Pretty in Peach, which was owned by Caroline Shaw, had been the sole beauty salon on Firefly Island for as long as Firefly had existed. Once you stepped foot in The Beauty Mark, you had pretty much taken a side in theWar of the Roses, or I guess, the war of the salons.

A lot of the younger crowd went to The Beauty Mark for the updated treatments and cuts. I went to a salon in Savannah just to play it safe.

“She’s going to dye her hair your color,” AJ stated matter-of-factly.

“What? No!” Kendall had beautiful, natural blonde hair. There was no way she should dye it brown. “She can get a wig.”

“She said she needs to do it for the art. To be authentic.”

“She’s twelve years old,” I argued. “What does Ariana say about that?”

“Her mom is fine with it,” AJ explained. “Millie Bobby Brown was twelve when she shaved her head to play Seven inStranger Things.”

“Okay, but…” I did not want Kendall dying her hair for this role, no matter what another actress had done for another role. “Can’t we just change me to having blonde hair?”

All of the actresses I’d seen on the tapes Miles had shown me had different hair colors. There were three blondes, a redhead,and four brunettes, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, I would feel a lot better about an adult dying their hair than I would a child.

“What?” AJ scrunched his face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, my character can have blonde hair.”

“Butyouare your character.”

“No, I’mme. The Zoe in the movie is a character. She can have blonde hair.” It might actually make it easier for me if she did, now that I thought about it.

“That doesn’t make any sense. But whatever.” He shrugged.

The rest of the ride was spent with him on his phone. We pulled up to the house, and I was wondering who I should contact about the hair color change. I’d spoken to Andy and Shania on the phone and through email; they were the writers, but I didn’t know if they would be the ones who would make that decision. Braxton seemed like she was running things, but deep down I knew that the final say would come from Miles. I would have a reason to return his call now.

I opened the door, and Daisy jumped on AJ, nearly knocking him down.

“I missed you, too!” AJ dropped his bag and laughed as Daisy coated him with kisses.

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