Page 4 of Big Deal Sweetheart

Delilah slipped the little card into her bag, smiling the entire time. “Thank you, Nova. I feel like a new person. I hope my dad likes it.”

A slight shiver worked down her spine when Delilah’s words left her mouth, but then the girl shrugged before she gave a wave and left without a backward glance.

“That was a good save, Nova Leigh. If you’d have tried to color that beautiful blonde with black, I would’ve tackled you and hogtied you to a chair while I called Dottie,” Darla said with a laugh.

“I’d have sat on you while we waited for Dottie to arrive,” Lola agreed.

Nova wasn’t sure who the hell Dottie was, but she was obviously someone she didn’t want to come into the salon.

“Dottie is who we call when we think someone needs a talking to. She can literally talk your ear off, and if she caught wind of you doing bad hair? Lord, you’d have been in for a long talking to,” Linny explained.

Nope, she wasn’t in the mood for any talking to by Dottie or anyone.

Chapter Two

Keifer looked up fromthe computer when he heard the door to the suite open and shut. He’d been waiting on Delilah to return for the past four hours, and although she’d been texting him to let him know she was okay, and he had been able to track her location with the family map, he still liked seeing her in the flesh. He’d been held up in meetings when he’d promised he wouldn’t be, but now he was free for the rest of the evening.

“How was your morning, Dee?” he called, waiting for her to come into the main part of the two-bedroom suite. He’d set up his makeshift office in the living part so he would be able to see her coming or going, but the hallway gave them both access to the doorway to the bedrooms, so she was able to avoid coming directly to where he was. Instantly his suspicious mind began to whirl. He pushed back from the desk, making his way to the larger of the two bedrooms.

The door opened as he lifted his hand to knock, shock holding him immobile for long seconds. “What the fuck happened to your hair?” he barked the question.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could call them back when he saw tears well in Delilah’s eyes. She had the same beautiful shade of blue that her mother had, and very much like her mother, she stared up at him with hurt and anger in every line of her being. Also like her mother, Delilah shrugged her shoulders back, stood taller and took a deep breath. Her posture and poise were like Rachel had been in the very beginning of their relationship. Lord, there were times he almost missed the Rachel from when they’d first met, times from before she’d become an addict. Or at least the woman she’d pretended to be, not the woman who she’d truly been. He scrubbed a hand down his face, hating the memories, yet loving his daughter.

“I’m fifteen years old, Father. I believe you said I was old enough to make decisions about things such as my style as long as I didn’t look like a woman of the night. Although, I would like to point out that the profession in question is one of the oldest in history and has gotten a bad reputation throughout time.” Delilah spoke with the directness he was known for, keeping her eyes glued to his.

If he wasn’t so pissed, he’d be proud. As it were, he barely kept from shaking her. “Why?”

“Why have they gotten a bad reputation? I assure you I don’t know, but I’d say it has something to do with the lack of gender equality.”

Keifer took a step back, slashing his hand through the air. “Enough, Delilah Jean Sparks. I’m talking about your hair. Why did you do that to it?” Her hair was beautiful and so much like her mothers had been. It was one of the things he’d loved about Rachel even at the end.

“It was time for a change. I’m not a baby anymore,” she whispered.

“Who did it? There’s laws against that?” He pointed toward her shortened hair with the atrocious blue. Not that he didn’t like blue but not in his baby girl’s hair.

His phone dinged, an incoming email alert. He looked down, seeing a charge on the American Express card with Delilah’s name on it. The name of the business and his daughter’s new hair clicked into place. “Don’t even think of leaving this suite until I get back,” he growled, turning back toward the couch to grab his coat from where he’d dropped earlier.

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