Page 52 of My Heart To Heal

Saturday was opening day, but today is the first real day of work. I decided that our weekend would be Sunday and Monday, so on this beautifully crisp Tuesday morning, I have a spring in my step and a book full of appointments.

Forest Falls showed up for me on Saturday, and the appointments cramming our book show they intend to keep showing up. The barber shop closed a few years ago, and there’s never been a salon tailored toward women’s hair here, so they are excited not to have to drive out of town to get a little pampering done.

‘This is a great little town, Missy,’ Kacey observes, and I nod.

‘Itreally is. I love it here.’

Smiling, I sit in the chair at my station and sip my coffee. I really feel at home here. Jonah is settled in school, the apartment is perfect, and now the shop is open. I haven’t seen Nick since Saturday, when he left the opening to go to work himself. Lynnie offered to have Jonah and Bo so I could go celebrate with my friends, but honestly, I was just so tired that I wanted to curl up and watch a Disney movie with my baby, then have an early night. I thought I might have seen him on Sunday or yesterday, but he stayed away. Half of me is glad for the brain space. He’s very hard to say no to when he’s right in front of me looking all kinds of perfect. The other half, though, she misses him.

Enough of that. I have work to do.

‘Okay, let’s get going.’

Standing, I move to rinse out my coffee cup, pop in a breath mint, and open up the doors.

‘Oh my god, I love this town.’ Kacey drops down into her seat and laughs. ‘The gossip is unmatched. Please never take Mrs. Abernathy from me.’

I chuckle as Emma, the eighteen-year-old salon assistant, sweeps away the hair, and I set about cleaning up my station. It’s lunchtime, and for the first couple of weeks, I’ve made sure we have noappointments over lunch so that we can all go to eat together and get to know one another a little.

‘Come on, let’s go eat.’

We all grab our purses and head for the door just as it opens, and Mr. BarberSenior walks in.

‘Mr. Barber, hey.’ I smile, gesturing for Kacey and Emma to go on ahead.

‘Hi, Missy, are you heading out?’

‘Oh, we were just going to the diner, but that’s okay. What can I do for you?’

‘Well, I thought I’d come down and see what you’d done with the place, thought maybe I could squeeze in a haircut too, but if you’re busy…’

‘No, not at all. Sit.’ I guide him to my station and put down my purse, pulling out my phone and sending a quick text to Kacey to explain and ask her to bring me back a sandwich.

‘This is quite something, Missy.’ Mr. Barber looks around, taking it all in. ‘It’s a totally different place.’

‘Yeah. I hope you like it. I love it so much.’

‘It’s beautiful. It’s nice to see it open and breathing again.’

I smile as I turn his chair and stand behind him, our eyes meeting in the mirror.

‘What can I do for you then? Just trim it up all over?’

‘Yep, exactly, just tidy things up. It’s been a while since anybody but me has cut it.’

‘Okay, I got you.’

Mr. Barber chats easily as I cut his hair. He tells me the history of the shop and his family here in Forest Falls, and it’s fascinating to know. I see how much that legacy means to him, and I can’t help but wonder how he felt about Nick following a different path.

‘Okay, that’s all done, what do you think?’

He leans forward, inspecting the cut, and smiles. ‘Fine work, Missy. Great job.’

He smiles and stands and pulls out his wallet, and I wave him away. ‘No, no. This one’s on me.’

‘What the hell are you doing here?’

I don’t have time to react to the door opening as Nick bursts in, glaring at his father.

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