Page 31 of Sweet Christmas Wish
“Why would it? She doesn’t even know Will is here!”
“Look, I’ll tell her. Back to the hair color—regardless of what Will likes, a change in my hair color would be nice. Now, the real question is if you’ll be willing to help me with it?”
Lacy pursed her lips, eying her, then rolled her eyes dramatically. “I suppose you’ll go and do it without me if I say no, won’t you?”
Sarah beamed at her. “That’s the spirit!”
“Ugh, sometimes you’re so much trouble,” Lacy grumbled, but Sarah saw that she was smiling. “I’ve dyed my hair a couple of times before, so I know what I’m doing, but I’ve never done such a dark color before. We can try it, though.”
“Yay!” Sarah leaned over and gave Lacy a bear hug, who pretended to struggle against it.
“Come on, you goose, we’re wasting time. If we hurry, we can get to the general store before it closes.”
* * *
“Right now?”
“Yes, right now! You said you wanted to do this, right?” Lacy asked, already pulling her coat on. “Why waste time?”
Sarah scrambled up from the couch. “I’m in my pajamas!”
“Okay, take thirty seconds to change. Go, go, go!”
Lacy dissolved into laughter as Sarah raced down the apartment hallway, already struggling to pull her pajama top off. There really was no hurry to go to the general store right then and there, but dying her hair seemed important to Sarah and Lacy wanted to be supportive of her.
“Okay, I’m ready!” Sarah called, racing back down the hallway in jeans and a sweater. She reached for her coat. “Let’s roll!”
Outside the night air hit them with its icy chill, but Lacy didn’t mind. The downtown streets of Snowy Pine Ridge were all lit up in twinkly Christmas lights, and Christmas tunes played over the outdoor speakers. Most shops had wreaths or holiday window displays that lent the whole area a quaint and festive feel. Lacy soaked it all in, allowing herself to enjoy the beauty of it, even as they speed walked toward Burkman’s Grocery.
“So…” Sarah said, puffing a little at their fast pace, her breath forming little clouds in the freezing air. “You sort of walked away the other day in the bakery, you know, when you found out that Derek is going to propose.”
“It just hit me out of nowhere. I mean, it’s such an exciting step!”
“So youareexcited?”
“Of course! I keep waiting for him to pop the question, but so far, nothing. He’s still acting a little strange, but now that I know why, it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m definitely not going to bring it up—I don’t want him to know that Colette said anything.” She shook her head. “Honestly, I’m going out of my mind a little bit, wondering when it’s going to happen! Maybe it’s not as close as I thought it was going to be, you know? Like maybe he just barely started thinking about it and won’t propose for a long, long time.”
“I bet the suspense is killing you.”
“It is!”
“I can’t even imagine,” Sarah said, grinning at Lacy. “Either way, though, it’s probably going to happen. He loves you.” Her voice became soft, wistful even. “He loves you so much…” She sighed. “Honestly, I can’t even tell you how much I want that for myself.”
Lacy looped her arm through Sarah’s so they walked more closely side by side. Sarah hadn’t said Will’s name out loud, but she could pretty safely guess that was who Sarah was thinking about. It was clear how much Sarah liked spending time with him and, in Lacy’s opinion, it seemed like Will enjoyed spending time with her too. In her mind, it seemed like Sarah shouldn’t worry so much about trying to become what she thought he wanted—if it was meant to be, he would like Sarah just the way she was. Which begged the question, why was she helping Sarah dye her hair?
Because she wants a new change in her life,Lacy reminded herself as they walked.It’s her choice, and you just need to be a supportive friend.
Besides, she knew that sometimes making even a small change, like a change in appearance or taking a trip or getting a new job, can be just the thing to jolt oneself out of a rut. And Sarah, she knew, definitely felt like she was in a rut.
“Okay, the hair dye is in the beauty section,” Lacy said as they walked through the sliding glass doors into Burkman’s Grocery. “Come on, we’ve got maybe fifteen minutes before they close.”
The two women hurried over to the beauty section and began perusing the various boxes of hair dye.
“What about a shocking red?” Lacy teased, holding up a box that featured a woman with what could only be described as a ketchup red mop of hair.
“Ooh, yes,” Sarah teased back. “In honor of Christmas colors.”
Lacy put the box back and continued looking, then noticed a honey brown color. “What about this?”
