Page 23 of Kiss Me at Midnight
Lily raised a hand, palm out. “Do not put that on your bucket list.”
Grandma Dotty pouted.
“Admit it, Lily.” From the intense look on her face, Rachel wasn’t going to let this go. She’d become a harder woman in the past fifteen years, and it showed in her take-no-prisoners expression. “You toning-down everything has more to do with what happened to us than politics. We are both strong, fierce women who shouldn’t be pushed to the back of the stage.”
Lily held her tongue, thinking about what Rachel was trying to tell her, under no illusion that her former friend was bringing this up for Lily’s own good. There was an agenda here. Could it be a cry for help?
“Look,” Lily began. “I know who I am.” And she wasn’t half as brave as the seventeen-year-old girl who’d thought she could protect Rachel. “Can you say the same?”
“You aren’t mom jeans and a crew neck sweater.” Rachel gestured toward Lily’s attire. “I’d wager not even Jud knows your true personality.”
Lily wasn’t taking that bet.
“He does,” Grandma Dotty said staunchly. “He’s seen Lily’s dark side, her conflicts, and her inner soul.”
Lily supposed that was true.
“Oh, you really let your hair down with him, did you?” Rachel laughed. The ripple of sound didn’t invite Lily to join in the merriment. It made her put up her guard. “Prove it. Let Jud see the spontaneous, adventurous person you are inside.”
That was so long ago. And now, Lily felt as if a trap was closing around her. “I would. But really. How am I supposed to do that?”
“By letting me help you shed those repressive outer layers.” Rachel nodded toward Marta. “It’s the least I can do for ruining your life.”
Scissors snapped behind Lily. Grandma Dotty gasped.
Marta held up an eight-inch lock of brown hair. Lily’s hair. She looked apologetic. “Sorry, but she doesn’t just mean your clothes.”
Lily reached to the nape of her neck. A fringe of hair brushed the back of her sweater. She couldn’t breathe, not even to refute the assumption that Rachel had ruined her life.
“That’s not very nice.” Grandma Dotty took the scissors from Marta and faced Rachel. “If your grandmother were alive, she’d be disappointed in you.”
“Grandma, this is my fight,” Lily said evenly, regretting taking that meeting with Abe last night.
“It’s not a fight, Lily. It’s an intervention. The point is to remind you how brave you used to be, how empowered.” Rachel slid off the massage table and walked toward the stylist chair, extending her toes up and outward to protect her wet nails. She came to stand behind Lily and Marta, capturing Lily’s gaze in the mirror with an authority she shouldn’t have given she’d duck-walked over barefoot. “Or am I wrong? Is this the real you? Dull, predictable, establishment Lily? I’d be disappointed if it were, especially if you’re dating Judson Hambly.”
Anger prickled Lily’s skin with heat. Who was Rachel to say what kind of woman Lily had or should become?
Prior to running away, Lily had never backed down from a fight or a dare. When provoked, something inside her had simmered and boiled, making Lily feel that she couldn’t hold in her feelings. And having four sisters meant there was always a fight or a dare in play. But at thirty-two, she was supposed to be above petty digs and reality star trolls. So, she took a breath and a beat to compose herself.
“All right,” Lily conceded after a moment. “This is your week. I’m your maid of honor. Go ahead and cut my hair if it helps get rid of your wedding jitters.”
Grandma Dotty is wrong. I am a saint.
“Lily,” Grandma Dotty whispered, keeping her eyes on Marta. “Are you sure?”
Lily nodded.
Her grandmother considered the scissors before addressing Marta. “I suggest you give my granddaughter a confident, sexy hairstyle. Or you may find yourself with a shaved head in the morning.”
“She’s joking,” Lily said quickly.
“She’s not.” Rachel filled the room with grating laughter. “I know Dotty too well. But don’t worry. Marta is good at what she does.”
Being an evil henchman? Or a skilled hair stylist?
Lily hoped it was the latter.
This was turning into the cruise from hell. Given Lily’s bargain, that was probably no more than she deserved.
