Page 6 of Jam and Jingle Bells
Spending time with people from other parts of the country taught me that growing up and remaining in the same town all your life was both good and bad. You learned the traditions and the ways of your people and town, but you lost out on the traditions of other places at the same time. I taught him something tonight and I wondered what he could teach me in return. I wasn’t talking about yoga, either. I wanted to know everything about him if I was honest with myself. We’d hung out a lot over the summer and fall but he was pretty much a closed book. Tonight was the first time he answered my questions about the simplest things. Maybe he took a long time to trust people. I didn’t think that was it, though. Whenever you asked about his life before Bells Pass, a door slammed shut. I was determined to get him to open up to me and maybe I was finally making headway.
I noticed movement to my left and glanced out the window. Audrey Violet was standing on the sidewalk eyeing Ellis and me in the booth. “Hey, I’ll be right back.” I ran out the door of the diner and spun around the corner. “Mrs. Violet,” I called, and she turned, her coat tucked up tightly around her neck. The look on her face was sheepish when I stopped in front of her.
“Oh, hi, dear,” she said sweetly, as though she wasn’t spying on us and wasn’t fully aware I was on my way out.
“Hi, Mrs. Violet. I meant to call you earlier and let you know that Heather and I will both be offering haircuts tomorrow at the community dinner. I figured you might need notice to make room for an extra stylist.”
She patted my shoulder. “Good thinking. I’ll make sure we have room for both of you. Thanks for letting me know. Have a good night, Addie,” she said, brushing past me and shuffling down the sidewalk toward wherever she had been heading when we had caught her attention.
I jogged back inside the diner and slid into the booth. “Sorry, I forgot to let Mrs. Violet know about a change in plans for tomorrow’s dinner. Are you coming by?” We had finished our pie and Becca cleared our plates and brought the checks.
He took both checks and handed them back to her along with some cash. “Keep the change,” he said, smiling.
Becca disappeared and I dug in my purse for my wallet. “You didn’t have to buy my dinner!” I exclaimed uncomfortably. “I’ll pay you back.”
He held up his hand. “It wasn’t a big deal and it was nice to eat dinner with a friend. Happy Thanksgiving.”
I dropped my wallet back into my purse and nodded once. “It was nice,” I agreed, “thank you. I’ll get it the next time,” I promised, praying there would be a next time.
He checked his watch and sighed. “I guess we should be getting on with it then, eh?” he asked. “Tomorrow will be a busy day.” He wrapped his scarf around his neck and slipped into his coat then helped me on with mine.
“Your studio isn’t open tomorrow, is it?”
He held the door open for me and shook his head. “No, I figured there wouldn’t be much call for yoga when people are forking down turkey and gravy. I’ll be at the community dinner helping wherever they need me.”
I scrunched my shoulders up to my ears to ward off the chill and pointed left around the corner. “We can get to the salon this way. It’s only two blocks.”
He motioned for me to go first and then followed along beside me as we walked up the sidewalk. “I suppose snow will be next on the docket,” he sighed, his bright eyes darting around the street. I couldn’t tell what he was looking for — snow or an attacker.
“Relax, Ellis, this is Bells Pass, not California,” I soothed, rubbing his back gently for a moment before I thought about how intimate that would look to a passerby.
He laughed at himself and shrugged, his hands buried in his jacket pockets. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”
“I bet California was exciting,” I said wistfully.
“It was,” he agreed, turning his head to eye me for a moment. “For exactly two weeks. After that, it lost its luster, at least for this Midwestern boy. I missed the wide-open spaces, the friendly people, and the fresh air. I didn’t last long there.”
We turned left again and my salon came into sight. “I suppose there are a lot of places that way. They might be a great place to visit, but they aren’t home.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Bells Pass feels more like home, that’s for sure.”
“Why didn’t you move back to Wyoming? Bells Pass is a bit of an odd choice. Did you know someone here and that’s why you chose us? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re here,” I added quickly.
He grinned and shook his head. “No, I just picked a spot on the map that didn’t have a yoga studio, had plenty of other towns around it to draw from, and reasonable real estate. Maybe not the best business plan in the world, but …” He shrugged to finish his sentence.
“But it seems to have worked out, so it wasn’t a bad plan after all.”
He tossed his head back and laughed while I unlocked the door to the salon, choosing to take him to the front entrance rather than my private entrance. “I guess you could say that. I definitely have my hands full. I’m thinking about hiring a second instructor. I don’t have enough hours in the day to teach the classes that have been requested.”
“What other classes are there?” I asked, stripping my coat off and hanging it on the rack. His joined mine and I motioned him over to my chair.
“I focus on classes for kids, kids and parents together, and special classes for teens. I’m looking for someone to teach prenatal and senior classes. I was surprised by the number of seniors who stopped me on the street asking about options.”
He sat in the chair and I flipped a cape over him, fastening it at his neck. “Too tight?” I asked and he shook his head. I started spraying his hair down, the locks already in better condition than the last time I cut it. “I could see the seniors wanting in on the action since the senior center doesn’t offer yoga. Do you have space for that?”
He remembered not to nod as I had started with the scissors at the back of his head. “I have two private rooms that would be big enough for small classes. I purposely left them enclosed when I remodeled the main part of the studio. I had visions of expanding if the opportunity arose. I just didn’t see it happening this quickly.”
I spun the chair and combed out his bangs. “It goes to show how starved small towns can be for new trends. We don’t get a lot of variety here and usually have to travel if we want to do something unique or different. That’s why your business has exploded so quickly.”
