Page 48 of His Secret Gift

“So, why can’t you just do it then?”

“Because I have shaky hands.” She turns and holds them out to demonstrate it to me.

Still, I feel uneasy. “I think we should maybe ask Gwen.”

Callie flicks her wrist at me. “Gwen is a klutz. Please?”

Ugh.

She then digs through a cosmetics bag before pulling out an extra sharp scissors with one circular and one oblong handles.

I gulp hard.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah.” I stand behind her. “You just have to do this.” She carefully makes a triangle near the front of her head and then combs all her shorter hair into a big clump. “See? You twist it, and that’s what gives it like the cascading effect.”

“If you say so. But please know you only have yourself to blame if this goes badly.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. It’ll be fine. Just cut along the edges.”

I have to force myself not to close my eyes as I do as she says, little chunks of hair falling as I go along.

When I’m done, I hold my breath as she examines my work.

“Well?”

“It looks great. I told you.”

Oh, thank god.I can breathe again.

She opens and closes the scissors multiple times. “Your turn?”

I hold onto my hair, which is falling freely past my shoulders. “Absolutely not.”

“Really? I think you’d look adorable with some swoopy bangs.” She takes some of it and makes it look like I have short chunks on my forehead.

Backing away, I remind her of something. “I thought the goal was for me to be lesscute?”

She exhales and puts her hands on her hips. “Very good point. About that.” Her index finger is raised as she walks over to her closet. “What do you think about this?” When she turns around, there’s a lacey and teeny tiny bikini in her hands.

“What about it? I can hardly seeit.” I emphasize the holes by making them bigger with my fingers.

She looks at me curtly. “Come on, Kayla. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Imagine all the hot Moroccan guys we could meet.”

That makes my heart sink. “But what about—”

Letting the suit fall to her side, she blows raspberries and says, “That’s right. Well, let’s write this little note of yours.”

I scowl. “I thought you didn’t like that idea.”

“I didn’t… at least not at first. But now it sounds kind of fun.”

I sit back down on her bed, and I notice a picture of a handsome man with sandy brown hair, long sideburns, gauges in his ears, and a leather jacket on.

“Hey, Cal? Who is this?”

When I pick it up, I read a handwritten message on the back. “Dear Callie, You will always be my special girl. Love, Dirk.”

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