Page 37 of No Place Like Home
“Hey, Summer,” Lilly greeted me as she sat in my seat. Lilly—just who I needed to see, and she was my next customer. We were going to give her hair a trim and play with different styles to decide how she wanted it for the wedding. Right now, I wanted to cut it all off out of spite and call it a day. Instead, I nodded, put my cape around her shoulders, and said, “Hey. Do you want me to grab you a drink? Sweet tea or water?”
“A water would be great,” she answered.
“I’ll take a juice box, please,” Darcie chimed from the drying station.
I wasn’t asking Darcie, but it was only a juice box. When I came back, Darcie had her ass perched on my station. “Can I ask what you think you’re doing up there, missy?”
“My name’s Darcie, not Missy. Missy’s a mean girl in my class. But Lilly said I could watch you. You know I’m going to be the flower girl. I’m going to wear a tiara, and I have to look prettytoo, so I want to see how well you do Lilly’s hair to see if I want you to do mine also.”
Lilly snickered at me in the mirror while I silently willed glue to stick Darcie’s mouth together. “What will you do if you don’t like how I do Lilly’s hair?”
She shrugged. “Then Miss Kaye or Miss Diane will do mine. They cut my hair all the time, anyway. Red curly hair takes a special touch, that’s what my grandma says. And I don’t know if you have it.”
“Okay,” Lilly placed her hands on Darcie’s legs just as the bells on the door tinkled that someone came in. “Why don’t you run over and help your uncle and grandma bring in the boxes they have. It looks like they brought food for lunch.”
Darcie jumped from the counter. “Yay, pizza.” She skipped behind Tonya and Rowan. I made sure to look busy and ignored Rowan’s gaze.
“Kaye, Diane, I have pizza for all.” Rowan looked at the older women in Diane and Kaye’s chairs. “And you two don’t need to leave without grabbing a slice of pizza or a cookie I picked up from Cakes and More.”
“That bakery next door is my favorite,” said Mrs. Clowder, the eye doctor’s wife. “Rowan, honey how is it you’re still single? Such a good-looking young man, and such good manners!”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Clowder. I guess the right girl hasn’t taken notice of me.”
“Well then, girls your age must be blind.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Clowder. But none of the women my age are as sweet and as beautiful as you.”
Damn, he was so charming. Why couldn’t he be a jerk andunlikeable?
“Thank you for taking control of Darcie,” I said to Lilly. “I love that girl, but she’s a lot to deal with, and today it’s been almost too much.”
Lilly laughed. “You know, Summer, you’ve always been so good with Darcie, Madeline, and Lena. They love coming here and having spa days and getting their nails done by you. You know, you might make a good girl-mom one day.”
I puffed out a breath and stood straight before I pulled the brush extra-hard through her hair. “Bite your tongue, woman, and watch what you say. Remember your hair is at my mercy. You’ve already created enough chaos for one day.”
“Oww.” Lilly jerked her head out of my reach. “Can we not be abusive? And what do you mean I’ve created chaos?”
I yanked her head back in a straight line. “Don’t move your head and you need to be extra good. You’ve already pissed me off.”
“Yeah,” Lilly winced. “You’ve made that clear, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I held her eyes in the mirror. “You and Jamison had a conversation about me and Rowan in front of some nosy little girls, and one of them came in and told everyone in the salon about that discussion.”
Lilly pinched her lips together and raised her brows. “Actually, it wasn’t me talking about it. It was Jamison, so you don’t need to take it out on my scalp.”
“Technicalities.” I said, anger receding. Iwouldtake it up with Jamison, but for now I got to work. After her trim we played with different styles. She had shoulder length hair, so I pulled all of it into a French twist with some wisps framing her face, then tried an updo with some curls on top and ringlets on each side.
“Lilly, that’s perfect,” Kaye said. “You look stunning.”
Tonya, Kaye, Diane, and the other two ladies in the salon came to gawk at the finished look.
“You sure do,” Diane agreed. “Jamison is going to be speechless when he sets his eyes on you, and wish he was the one getting married.”
“Summer, you always pull off miracles,” Tonya said. “It still amazes me you’re so good at hair.”
My hands dropped to Lilly’s shoulders, and I glared at Tonya. “Tonya, you know what? I don’t know if that’s a jab at my styling skills, or at Lilly.”
“Why would I be saying anything about Lilly? She’s beautiful and will make me a perfect daughter-in-law, hopefully soon.”
