Page 52 of Knot Your Sunshine
Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a client.
What does community mean in a salon setting?
Describe a moment when you realized you were making a difference.
I link the form to the post. Deep breath. This is it.
I hit 'Post.' The screen refreshes, and it's live. All my network will see it.
But I'm not done. I copy the text and paste it into Facebook groups: "Hair Professionals Network - 50K members." Post. "Salon Owners United - 30K members." Post. "Beauty Industry Innovators - 25K members." Post.
Group after group, spreading the word like little seeds in fertile ground.
I lean back, watching through the window as George has returned, hauled out on a rock barely fifteen feet away, sunning himself like he's settling in for a show.
Likes roll in immediately. Shares too. Comments expressing interest.
But no applications yet.
Twenty minutes pass. More engagement, but still no applications.
My throat tightens. Maybe this was too ambitious. Maybe—
My phone pings. One application submitted.
Holy shit.
Then another ten minutes later. And another. Five, ten, thirty. My phone won't stop buzzing.
Heat floods my chest. This is working. People are actually applying.
Chadwick wanted a fight? He's got one.
George reemerges and settles on a rock. Watching me through the glass, he barks once.
I choose to interpret that as approval.
Chapter twenty-one
Mia
The helicopter touches down on a landing pad that's nothing more than a cleared circle on a grassy plateau. My legs wobble slightly as I climb out, twenty minutes of skimming over valleys and coastline will do that to you.
"That waterfall back there," I say, still slightly breathless. "Did the pilot say it has no name?"
"Most of them don't." Keanu helps me down the last step, his hand warm and steady on mine. "Only locals know they exist."
Josh pushes his glasses up, squinting in the bright sun. "And did you see the black sand beaches? The way they contrast with the water?"
"I saw everything." My voice comes out awed. "The lava fields, those emerald valleys... I didn't know Hawaii could look like that."
"Tourist Hawaii usually doesn't." Noa's hand finds my lower back, just a light touch, but heat spreads from that point like ripples on water. "Ready for your surprise?"
"There's more?"
"This way." He nods toward a narrow path I hadn't noticed, carved between flowering bushes.
The walk takes maybe two minutes, the perfect temperature making it feel like the air itself is caressing our skin. Then I see it.
