Page 116 of Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon
‘How does that work?’ she asked, genuinely curious.
‘That’s the power of a woman,’ he said. ‘Whatever she feels, others feel. Those who love her feel it most. Happy, sad, whatever it is, that’s amplified.’ He smiled. ‘I can’t explain it, I just know it’s true.’
‘I’ll take it into consideration,’ she said, and he laughed and offered her his arm, which she took. Then they walked into the club and had dinner with Peter and Lois.
Since then she’s been paying closer attention to the ladies around her, and she reckons he’s right. When Evie’s happy, she and Sam and Phoebe are happy, because Evie’s mood radiates from her. It happens with the clients too. Whatever mood they bring with them into the salon affects everyone.
This could all be a way of Trudy trying to remind herself of the importance of her job, of course: if a woman looks good, she feels good, and that makes other people feel good. She thinks she’s right about it, though – otherwise why would so many people come to her Seaside Salon over and over again? For years.
Babs is back, freshly washed.
‘Time for the blow-dry,’ she says, sitting down with a thump and smiling into the mirror. ‘Make me beautiful, Trudy.’
‘You already are, pet,’ Trudy says as she picks up the implement. ‘You already are.’
As she nears the end of the blow-dry she looks up to see the shape of someone she knows profoundly well outside the salon window, his back to her. Not that she’ll hurry Babs through – no matter what goes on in her life, she won’t compromise the clients. So it’s not until Babs has paid and left that Trudy walks out the door to greet her son.
‘Hello,’ she says, looking up.
‘Mum,’ he says. He doesn’t look either happy or sad to see her, but he gives her a hug and that’s something.
‘You’re a long way from home.’
‘Yeah.’ He presses the ball of one foot on the pavement, as if he’s trying to squash something. ‘Annemarie told me I was being an idiot and it had gone on too long.’
‘Oh?’ Trudy isn’t sure exactly what he – or Annemarie – is referring to.
Their eyes meet.
‘She said you need to have your own life.’
‘That’s true.’
‘That your … your boyfriend is none of my business.’
Trudy knows how big this admission is and decides to let him off easily. If you can’t do that for your only child, who else can you?
‘I prefer the term “man-friend”,’ she says.
Dylan makes a face. ‘God – really?’
She laughs. ‘Not really. But he’s a fair bit older than a boy.’
Dylan nods. ‘So am I.’
‘This is true. But you’ll always be my little boy. Which means I’ll always miss you when I don’t see you.’
‘Annemarie said something like that too. Told me to imagine what it would be like if one of ours didn’t see us for months on end.’ He looks sad.
‘And?’ Trudy prompts.
‘I’d hate it.’
Up high seagulls pass them, riding the late-afternoon wind toward the beach. There will be people there, Trudy knows, with fish and chips, and those gulls will be in search of bounty.
‘How about you and Sol come to lunch sometime?’ Dylan says.
Trudy turns her body toward him, which means she is looking back into the salon, where she can see Evie and Sam trying not to stare in her direction.
