Page 58 of Weatherman

He bought us a Christmas tree in early December and helped me decorate it. My first one ever. It was small, as befitted our apartment, but it didn’t matter. I was excited, and so was Pearl.

She clapped and giggled as we draped way too many lights around the greenery. Bryce laughed at me as I meticulously placed each ornament to make them all even. Whenever we were with each other, he teased me, flirted, or touched me.

What we hadn’t done was sleep together.

Something else I had to do was tell Robert I was with Bryce now. The salon gossip told me that he was back from his recent mission trip and had been for a week or so. I fully expected him to be coming to me for a trim very soon. Perhaps he’d already found out through the town’s grapevine about me and Bryce?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts as Tambre came up to my station. Her mouth was tight and pinched. My boss wasn’t someone to lose her temper, so just seeing her this angry sent wary shards of sharp glass through my gut.

“Kimmie was supposed to be here at ten this morning. It’s going on three.”

“I have no idea where she is. I haven’t seen her in several days.”

This was true, as Pearl and I went shopping with Natalie at the mall on Saturday and spent Sunday with her and Bryce, watching movies at their house and messing around in the kitchen. I finally saw my first cushaw and got to make it into a pie. Kimmie was nowhere to be found, and I’d stopped making any attempt to keep track of her.

Tambre shook her head. “I’m sorry for this, but I can’t keep this up any longer. Kimmie no longer has a job here. I took a chance on hiring people based on a friend’s recommendation, and I got burned. I won’t take that risk again with my business.”

I choked and jerked around as panic clawed at my throat. “Please don’t fire me, Tambre!”

She gave me a serene smile and spoke in a placating tone. “I’m not firingyou, dearest. I need good strong people here, and you’re one of the best I have. It’s Kimmie who’s not pulling her weight. Frankly, I kept her on longer than I should have, mostly because I wasn’t sure if you’d leave with her.”

My heart fluttered in relief.

Tambre continued, “If Kimmie asked me for help, I’d be glad to support that, but she’s not there and may never get to that point. Some people can pull themselves out of ruts and forge new paths, and some people are happy where they are.” She paused and then switched subjects. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something for a while now. I’m not getting any younger, and I’ve been thinking about my exit plan.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Someday, I’d like to sell the place and retire. Or at least have that option. I’ve been toying with the idea of having an assistant manager with the thought of buying me out one day. Neither Bex nor Deandra is interested. If I go that route, think you might be?”

My brain took a hard spin. Part of me wanted to jump at the opportunity. The other part was scared shitless. “I don’t…. How will that work with me being a single mom? I never went to college, just a local vo-tech.”

Tambre nodded. “I get that. I’m not ready to toddle off into the sunset with my walker just yet. I’ll be working here with you and helping you learn just as my mentor helped me. Think about my offer for a bit. No rush. Like I said, I’m not retiring next week or anything, but I’d rather start making some plans now.”

Wowwas the only word that came to my mind. Me. An assistant manager. A full manager. A business owner. Was that even possible? It seemed that idea was more of a childhood dream, like wanting to be a princess or a pirate or some other fantasy figure. I used to measure time by the day, with no thought to any kind of real future. Now it was staring me in the face with an opportunity that had never crossed my mind.

I worked through several walk-ins in a partial daze as my brain wandered through this new idea and what it could mean for me and my little girl.

But, like always, something had to come and derail that train.

The bell rang over the door, and all eyes turned to see Kimmie arriving. She shuffled in like she was in pain. “Sorry I’m late. I think I caught that stomach thing that’s been going around.”

I bit my lip as the next client sat in my chair. Everyone there recognized that hangovers weren’t caused by viruses. My best course was to keep quiet. Kimmie was about to get canned, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

“Kimmie, I need to talk to you.” Tambre’s voice sounded sterner than a schoolteacher’s.

The shop gossip had died to nothing as the entire salon waited and watched. There was a smidgeon of survivor’s guilthappening in my head, but I had more important things to think about.

“I know I screwed up and I’m late again, but I was really sick this morning. I’ll make up the hours. Promise.”

“You don’t understand. I need to talk to you privately.”

Kimmie must have heard the note in Tambre’s tone. “Why?”

My friend’s single-word question sounded belligerent. This was not going to go well.

“I’m sure you don’t want me to do this publicly.”

Kimmie’s face flashed red and screwed up in an ugly way. “You’re gonna fire me, aren’t you? Well, then, I fucking quit. I’m sick of this shitty town and the shitty people in it. I’m packing my shit and going back to Minnesota. So fucking boring. Nothing but a cheap tourist attraction. Dumb fucking hillbilly assholes!”

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