Page 33 of Weatherman

I was tired. Pearl had been fussy last night and again this morning when I’d dropped her off at Lori’s place. Cutting molars now? I didn’t know this time, but this was her usual pattern for growth spurts, teething, or both.

Somehow, we’d get through the day. Though dinner might be a drive-through tonight, as I didn’t have the energy for much more than work and home.

I didn’t make any plans for Kimmie. She seldom stayed home long enough for any conversation or dinner. Where she spent her evenings was a mystery, but when she came home, the smell of booze and pot came with her. She’d been late to work several times, and I’d watched our serene, gentle boss go from concerned to annoyed.

“What people do on their own time is their business, but when it starts affecting my business, we have a problem,” Tambre said the last time it happened.

I was worried about my friend and tried to talk to her about it, but Kimmie brushed it off as me being overprotective.

“Stop being such a mother. You forgot how to party since we moved here.”

I loaded my styling gels and checked my stacks of towels as another sneeze tickled my nose. I snatched up a tissue just in time for me to let loose into it.

Tambre approached me as I was wiping up and sniffing. “You okay?”

I dumped the tissue in the trash can. “You bet. Just getting used to the concept of allergies. I’ve never had them before.”

She nodded and made a humming sound in her throat. “’Tis the season for it. You should see the pollen in the spring. It gets so thick sometimes, the cars turn dusty yellow. I wish we would get a good rain to wash some of it away instead of these little sprinkles once in a while. We really need a good dousing.”

The bell rang.

“Hey, y’all,” Molly called out. “I brought some coffee and donuts from Pam’s place. Good golly, you should see the lines! I saw Blue talkin’ to some lady with four kids and a dog. Well, he was talkin’ and she was flirtin’. Guess she don’t know aboutPsalm or decided to ignore that big-ass ring on his finger.” She set down a paper bag and a cardboard carrier with four tall cups. “Cream and sugar are in the bag. Where’s Kimmie?”

I kept my mouth shut as I accepted a coffee. It was hot despite the protective sleeve, and I almost dropped it.

Tambre’s eyes narrowed with irritation. “She was scheduled to open.”

I sniffed and confessed, “I don’t know where she is.”

Tambre shook her head. “It’s not your problem or responsibility, and I’m not asking you to get in the middle. Kimmie is a grown woman, and she’ll have to handle her own choices, good and bad. I don’t want her to be in trouble, but she’s turning out to be unreliable, and I can’t have that here. I’ll be glad to help her if she asks for it, but unless she straightens up, I may have to let her go.”

I hated that. Kimmie and I had been through a lot together, and I thought we’d both come out the other side, but the demons of our past were slipping back into her life. They would come for me, too, if I didn’t stay wary.

A half hour later, Kimmie still hadn’t shown up, and Molly left in a huff. Not good to stand up a Dragon Runners woman, especially one of Molly’s status.

It was late morning, while I sat in my chair cradling my aching head, when Kimmie finally made an appearance.

“Omigod! I was so sick this morning, I could hardly move.”

Hangovers will do that to you.“You missed Molly’s appointment. Should have called.”

The pink-haired woman chuffed as she moved to her station and plopped her big shoulder bag down. “My phone is dead, and I didn’t have my charger.”

I bit my lip. I’d been through this scenario many times with her since we moved here. Always an excuse. Always a reason. Always someone or something else’s fault. I usually had anabundance of patience because I’d been that person at one time in my life, but I just didn’t feel up to dealing with my friend today. “Well, you’d better make it right with Tambre. She’s not happy about it.”

Kimmie rolled her eyes in irritation. “Tambre’s never happy. She crawled up my ass last week over being late. It was only a few minutes, and she acted like the world collapsed.”

I found that hard to believe. Tambre didn’t throw fits or get in people’s faces. I’d seen her handle clients like Burna Jones with ease and distraction. That didn’t make her a pushover, though. She had the talent of making people listen without shouting or putting on a big show. It was kind of impressive watching her defuse a nasty situation.

My tendency was to let things with Kimmie go, as I had enough to handle in my own life, but my patience drained away like my sinuses.

“You still need to get here on time, Kimmie. It’s part of the job.”

She rolled her eyes at me and flounced to the break room to grab a Mountain Dew. Tambre was also in the back, and I expected she and Kimmie would have a few words. I stayed out front and planned the deaths of the little men with jackhammers at my temples. I’d never had this kind of headache in my life.

“You look like shit, girlfriend,” Deandra commented as she walked by my station. “We don’t gotta lot goin’ on here. Who you got comin’?”

“Joanna Porter and someone new. Marsha?”

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