Page 1 of Big Deal Sweetheart

Chapter One

“Nana, I got this. Youneed to keep your leg up and rest. You know what the doctor said. If you want to get back on your feet next week then you need to keep the swelling down, and the only way that’s going to happen is if you stay off your feet as much as possible. I can handle your clients for a week.” Nova reiterated the same argument she’d had with her stubborn as a mule grandmother for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her mother had told her to stick to her guns, and that’s what she was doing. As the last line of defense, she’d pull out the big guns, which was threatening to call her parents who would fly in and take over.

“You are such a bossy little thing. I have no idea where you get that from.” Her Nana harumphed, but she stayed sitting.

Nova considered that a win. Oh, she wasn’t fooling herself into thinking the old woman wasn’t planning on moving around once she left, but at least she’d be good for a little while. “I have no clue, Nana. I mean, all the women in our family are meek and mild,” Nova said with a snort and eyeroll.

Her Nana lifted the cane like thing she’d been given, pointing it at Nova like it was a sword. “You best be getting. My first client will be there, and then there’s Hazel. You better trust and believe she don’t like to be kept waiting.”

Nova stared at the apparatus pointing at her then at her Nana. She’d never seen one with four feet on the end, but her Nana had popped pink tennis balls onto it and said it was jazzed up, whatever that meant. “I will ensure I’m there in plenty of time to take care of your clients and make sure all is well, I promise. Now you promise me you’ll be good and not over do it here by yourself.”

“I’ll do my best to be an invalid,” Nana agreed.

She left after filling up her Nana’s coffee cup and ensuring the remote was where she could get it, along with the telephone. Dear lord, the woman still had a landline along with her cell, but Nana insisted she needed the cordless one in case the towers were taken out by aliens. Nova didn’t even try to argue the lack of logic to the older woman. Nope, not today or tomorrow. In fact, she was never arguing with her if she could help it.

With her head down, her coat with more stuffing in it than was fashionable, she rushed down the sidewalk and around the corner, colliding with a solid body. “Oomph,” she said on a puff of air, pinwheeling her arms in an attempt to keep from falling on her ass.

“What the hell?”

The deep voice and firm grip on her arms startled her. She was pretty sure she knew every man in Sweetheart, Colorado. Of course, they did get their share of tourists, but holy shit, this man was...yummy. “I’m sorry. I was in a hurry and didn’t see you there.”

“That was obvious by you barreling into me. Maybe you should get a coat that fits you and start watching where you’re going. You could’ve hurt someone.”

Nova bristled at his curt tone and the way he reprimanded her. Sure, he had a point, but dammit, she wouldn’t have barreled into anyone else at eight in the morning on Main Street normally. “Like I said, I’m sorry for running into you. If you’ll excuse me,” Nova grit out, shrugging her arms from his hold, which was a little harder to do than normal. What the hell did the man do, work out with those hand machines she’d seen Sylvester Stallone use in a movie when he was preparing for an arm-wrestling championship? The thought made her grin.

“You find it amusing running into people and spilling their coffee?”

“Listen, buddy, I’m not going to apologize for accidentally running into you again. As for your coffee, that is a tragedy. I know I’m not quite myself without the proper amount of caffeine fortification in the morning, and clearly the same goes for you. Here’s five dollars, you go on and head over to One More Cup and tell Flora or Tatum that I sent you. They’ll make sure you get a great cup of java or whatever you want to drink. Now please step out of the way so I don’t injure you further.” It took all her control not to roll her eyes or stomp on his toes that the fool man had ensconced in a pair of loafers, which were better suited for an office, not a mountain town’s snowy sidewalk.

When the stranger didn’t appear ready to accept the five dollars she’d pulled out of her coat, she stuffed it into the pocket of the wool jacket, that again, looked better suited for a fancy place office, not Sweetheart, Colorado. She didn’t give him a chance to say or do anything, knowing her client would be showing up in less than fifteen minutes. Shit!

Skirting the scowling man, Nova rushed down the street, making the trek to The Hair Up Here in five minutes, giving her not much time to orient herself with the shop or the products. The quaint salon smelled like her Nana and looked just as she pictured it would. “Lord give me strength and please don’t let the rest of the day go like the last ten minutes,” she prayed.

“Oh, do tell.”

Nova gasped, her hand flying to her chest. She’d been totally unaware she wasn’t alone. “Linny, you nearly scared the crap outta me.”

Linny nodded, brushing her hands back and forth. “My job here is done.”

She really didn’t have time to dawdle, but the other woman was almost as eccentric as her Nana, yet she was half her Nana’s age. “Alright, I give. What job did you just do that is now done?”

Linny tossed her head back, the long red tresses swayed as the other stylist chuckled loudly. “You and your Nana have way too much shit in you. Since I’ve scared some of it outta you already, then I figure I’m good for the day.”

Nova stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the beautiful woman who was laughing like a hyena, wondering if she should be offended or if they just became best friends. “Did we just become...friends?”

Dressed in black, pleather leggings, a black and white checkered tank top with a black cardigan that had red lips on the back, and of all things on her feet, a pair of red high heels, Linny was the opposite of Nova’s Nana, and drop dead gorgeous. Nova knew most women would’ve been jealous of Linny on the spot, but not her. She could see the kindness that radiated out of the green eyes, even as Linny teased her.

“Girl, we’ve been besties before you ever showed up, you just didn’t know it. I’m glad you finally caught up though.” Linny tilted her head toward the back of the salon. “There’s a coffee bar back there with only the best for us and our clients. We have just about every color combo you might need in there, and if you have any questions, you just holler. I’ve got a full day but I’m here if you need me.”

She wasn’t going to ask Linny about the bestie thing. Seriously, the woman was a little on the other side of crazy, but Nova liked crazy. Her Nana always said,‘Crazy is as crazy does’and well, she preferred crazy over normal.

There were three stylist chairs in the salon, but her Nana hadn’t filled her in on who else worked for her. She hadn’t thought to ask, only hopped the first plane to Colorado when she’d heard her Nana had taken a nasty fall.

The bell over the door tinkled the most annoying sound, making her wince. “What the hell is that?” she asked Linny.

“That, bestie, is your Nana’s new alien alert device,” Linny said.

Nova stared at Linny who was grinning like a loon. “Um, is that public knowledge?”

---