Start Me Up

by Nicole Michaels

  Lindsey, who was thankfully back in town and caught up on the details, was to follow up this morning with the first post of a series of projects. She was decorating a nursery for her pregnant sister on a budget of three hundred dollars using found and secondhand objects. Their readers had been looking forward to it and Anne was curious herself and looked forward to showing the readers that they were going to be business as usual.

  Anne booted up her laptop and pulled up the blog. She couldn’t believe what she saw; the post was titled “No Glass Houses” and the author listed was Callie. Oh crap.

  Anne clicked on a video. It was a darkly lit bar; the video was shaky and girls giggled off camera. Finally it panned to a mechanical bull and on it sat Callie herself, her hair much shorter so it obviously wasn’t recent. Anne gasped but couldn’t help smiling. Callie was clearly drunk, her arms waving in the air to a suggestive country song as her friends videotaping the affair cheered her on, one yelling, “You’re a sexy bitch!”

  As the bull started up, Callie’s legs wide and gripping, her skirt rode up her backside, revealing a hint of her butt and what appeared to be a thong. Guys circled the bull pit, enjoying the show of tipsy Callie eating up the attention and rocking her body on top of the bull. Every jerk of the machine lifted her tight skirt a little higher, and she leaned forward as she tried desperately to hold on,

  “Oh my God,” Anne whispered to herself. “Callie, why did you do this?”

  Anne knew the next time the bull circled and Callie’s backside came into view it was going to be indecent, but suddenly the video stopped. She let out a sigh of relief. The text below was short but sweet.

  Who hasn’t done something embarrassing? I think we all have, but having it made public sucks. We couldn’t have our Anne suffer alone.

  We love you Anne!

  (And can I ride a bull or what?)

  There were already over twelve hundred comments. She skimmed through a few and realized almost all were readers sharing their own humiliating stories. Thirty minutes later Anne was wiping tears from her eyes. No one had ever done anything so sweet for her before, willingly making a fool of themselves. Another thing she could thank her site for … bringing these women into her life. How could Mike ever suggest it was just a blog? It was so much more.

  * * *

  No one had answered at Katie’s duplex, and Mike had knocked hard enough to bring out the neighbors to investigate. He parked along Main Street and walked down to the salon where he knew she worked. She’d better be in there, because he would tear up this entire town looking for her before the day was over if he had to. He’d already gone to Aiden about the Facebook page, which his friend had known nothing about, but agreed to get to the bottom of it and have it removed.

  A sign hung over the door, with the word Lovely written in a loopy script. He’d never been inside the salon obviously, but his sister, Erin, talked about how great it was. He opened the glass door and a tall middle-aged redhead—definitely not her real color—sat behind a black lacquered counter. She looked like a hairdresser, whatever that meant, and her face was a little too taut for Mother Nature. Her smile made him squirm. “Need of a haircut, honey?”

  He ignored her question and scanned the room. For a Thursday evening the place was strangely busy; about three stylists worked and one woman waited in a chair by the front window. Pop music played over the sound system. They even had a soda machine, some fancy coffee machine, and cookies—a lot more offerings than Bert’s Barbershop at the end of the road. Shit, they were lucky Bert made it to work, as old as he was. The injustices of the male experience never ceased to amaze him.

  Finally he spotted Katie in the back; she was getting her nails done by some other blonde, their heads tucked in tight in an engrossing conversation. He could only imagine what they were gossiping about, and his jaw ticked at the sight of her. As soon as a hair dryer quieted he spoke, loud enough to let her know he meant business. “Katie.”

  She jumped and turned to look over her shoulder, as did every other woman in the room. For a moment he felt awkward, but when he looked back into her wide eyes, he let that go. She’d hurt Anne, humiliated her, and in turn hurt him. She deserved this to be a spectacle. “Come outside.”

  Her mouth dropped open, and the woman behind the front counter stood up. “I’m sorry, but do you—”

  He put up a hand to silence her, every eye on him. “This is between her and me.” When Katie didn’t move, he lowered his head and leveled her with the most serious look he could muster and then pointed at her. “Now.”

  She huffed and gave him her most irritated face, but she stood and made her way to the front, high heels clicking and wet fingers spread. She nodded to the front door. “Do you mind?”

  He shook his head in irritation and pushed it open for her. When they were both standing on the sidewalk, he got right down to business. “What the hell is wrong with you? You didn’t need to take your hate for me out on Anne.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  That really pissed him off. “Katie, don’t fuck with me. You know full well what you did, and why.”

  Her eyes were furious and she glanced into the salon. Several women immediately made themselves busy. He knew they could hear. It was just glass, after all, and these old buildings on Main Street, while charming, were far from soundproof.

  “You have the biggest ego, Mike Everett. I didn’t do anything to Anne. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He wanted to hit something. She looked like she was being honest, but she had a motive. “So you’re telling me that you didn’t post on Anne’s blog linking to the video and the pictures of us at Smokey’s.”

  Her head jerked back in shock. “No! Why would I do that? I mean, you really hurt my feelings, but I wouldn’t post my rejection on the Internet for the entire world to see. I haven’t even been on Facebook in a couple of days and the only person—” Katie gasped and covered her mouth carefully with her hot-pink nails. “Oh no!”

  “What?”

  Without explanation she grabbed the front door and stomped back into the salon. “Where the hell is she?” Katie pointed to the front desk. The redhead had vanished, and the stylist at the first station pointed to the back.

  Katie took off and Mike followed her into a storage room and then through an exit into the alley. The redheaded woman turned hard, her eyes frantic. She was sucking on a cigarette like it was her last.

  “What the hell is wrong with you, Annette?” Katie yelled. “How could you do this?”

  Annette dropped her cigarette onto the ground and stomped at it with a black high heel. She took her time speaking, so Mike stepped in. “Are you responsible for that video of Anne on the Internet?”

  She put her hands on her hips and stared back at him. “Yes, got a problem with it?”

  Katie’s hands went to her face. “Oh my God!”

  “Why would you do that?” Mike interjected. He was so confused he didn’t know what to think. Why in the world would this stranger do something to mess up Anne’s life, or his?

  “It just started out as good fun. The girls and I saw Anne drunk at the bar. It was ironic, she’s so squeaky clean, and I didn’t mean her any harm. But then he started seeing her and I knew it hurt you. So my motherly instincts kicked in. Sheila and I talked about it and then next thing I know we were on Smokey’s Facebook page.” She dropped her arms and sighed before she turned to Mike. “It was stupid, I’ll give you that, but maybe you should think before you drag a woman’s emotions through the wringer.”

  Mike was speechless. Who called their mother by her first name, and what kind of mother harassed strangers on Facebook? He turned to Katie, who looked like she wanted to crawl under the Dumpster. “This is your mom?”

  Katie closed her eyes and nodded her head, turning to her parent. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You made it seem like I posted that!”

  Annette squirmed. “I shouldn�
��t have done it, okay? I’m sorry.”

  Mike had never felt so annoyed and simultaneously outraged at a woman, but this one was testing every honorable bone in his body. If Anne hadn’t been hurt in the process he might have been amused at their relationship, but right now amused was the last thing he was feeling. “Annette, you’re going to fix this. I don’t know how, but you better think of something and you better do it yesterday. Do you understand me? Anne is hurting over your mistake, and just so you know, I didn’t intentionally put your daughter through the damn wringer.”

  Her eyes widened and then anger attempted to furrow at her overinjected brow. “You have a lot of ne—”

  “Mother,” Katie screamed, and that shut the woman up immediately. “You have to fix this, not only for Anne, but for me.”

  Annette pursed her lips and stepped up to Mike. She smelled like hairspray and cigarettes. He stared straight into her eyes, making sure she knew how furious he was as she spoke. “I’ll tell Sheila to take it all down … for my daughter, not for you, young man.”

  “I don’t care who you do it for, just do it. And make a retraction comment,” he added.

  “Fine.” She poked him in the chest with a pointy fingernail. “But you ought to be careful next time, so you don’t let a good thing slip through your fingers.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “I had a good thing, until you interfered.”

  With a huff she went back into the salon.

  “Your mother is a real piece of work. What the hell?” He turned and quit talking. The sun was setting, the building casting a deep shadow that covered Katie, but it didn’t hide the pitiful look of her standing there with her head hung and eyes downcast. A quiet sniff pulled at the gallant part of his brain. Shit. He’d come into her work like an angry bull looking for something to ram into, which wasn’t like him. Another reason he knew his feelings for Anne were unprecedented.

  He took a deep breath and blew it out as he stepped toward Katie. “I’m sorry this happened, Katie. I have a feeling you’ve experienced drama with her before?”

  She gave a weak laugh. “You have no idea.”

  “Why the hell do you work together?”

  She looked up at him. “It’s a dysfunctional relationship at best, but she’s all I have. There aren’t many choices in Preston.”

  He nodded. Family loyalty was something he could understand. His parents weren’t perfect, but he would give up anything to have them back. “What she did is really messed up, Katie.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll make sure she does what she said.”

  He hesitated to say anything, but she looked so emotionally fragile, and at one time he’d been into her. Not for anything serious, but she was a nice girl and she liked him enough to tell her mom about it. “Katie, I’m sorry if I hurt you. Truly.”

  Her lips quirked and she finally met his eyes. “No biggie.”

  “You’re beautiful, and you’re right, I flirted with you. I did like you, it’s just … I really like Anne. It might even be more than like. I’m not sure where I am with her or what I’m feeling, but she’s important to me, she’s the most important thing in my life right now, and you deserve someone who wants you like that.”

  Silence surrounded them. Even he was shocked at what he’d just revealed. Finally Katie sighed and smiled. “Wow, she’s pretty damn lucky I guess.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not sure if she’d agree right now. This has kind of screwed things up between us.”

  “I am sorry. I mean, I’m a little hurt and jealous, but I never would have done that. I hope you’re right and I do find someone to want me like that.”

  “You will, Katie, but I’m going to be honest with you and I don’t think you’re gonna like it.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

  “I think you need to take it easy on the alcohol. I’d hate to see you in trouble … or do something you regret.” He was prepared for her to lash out at that. Nobody liked to be told they had a problem, but instead she shocked him when she sucked in a breath and gave him a tight smile.

  “Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

  After they parted he cut down the alley and around the front, not wanting to go back through the salon. When he got to his car he called Derek and made plans to meet up at the bar so he could wallow. He wasn’t sure what hurt more, that Anne had shunned him, or that he probably deserved it. It was because of him that she’d been publicly humiliated, and that made him feel like shit.

  He just hoped that she could forgive him because he couldn’t stop thinking that they were meant to be together.

  Twenty-Four

  The big sweet sixteen party day came and Anne sipped at her third cup of coffee. It wasn’t even noon. Claire was with Lindsey since Anne’s mother had come down with a cold and needed to rest, and it was just as well. Anne had leaned on her mother a lot this week—probably too much.

  She’d arrived early at the event space to make sure everything was running smoothly and work on the last-minute details, one of which was to pot pink geraniums in eight galvanized metal buckets to sit around the cement patio in back. She was now done and admiring her work. They looked lovely and would complement the Mustang nicely once it was parked.

  After sweeping the excess dirt into the grass, she gathered her trash and coffee mug and walked back into the main room. It looked beautiful, rustic and elegant, but she couldn’t linger long; there was still plenty of work to be done before the party started that evening.

  She let her eyes skim over the room and mentally processed what was finished and what still needed to be done. One corner of the barn had been blocked off and converted into a makeshift kitchen for the catering staff, she still needed to make a call to the rental company to find out why they were missing sixteen folding chairs, and she was short two extension cords.

  She walked over to the table she was currently using as her work space and picked up her master checklist. She’d only looked at it a hundred times already today. Checking off the flower pots, she exhaled a sigh of relief as she saw the band pull up in their van. They’d set up now and then come back this evening to perform. The DJ would be there at four, the caterer arrived at three, and Callie was bringing the cake and pastries in about two hours. Thankfully, Callie and Eric both planned to stay the evening with her to help, which Anne greatly appreciated.

  She was also thankful that they’d planned to have Mike drive the Mustang over during the mocktail hour. While everyone was mingling in the garden he could cut around the other side of the house and park the car behind the barn on its brand-new custom parking spot. She planned to be very busy doing anything during that time.

  The last four days had been a blur, but despite her exhaustion at the end of each day, the nights had been restless and lonely. She’d tried desperately not to think about him, but obviously it wasn’t possible to be too busy for your heart not to ache. Even when she wasn’t actively thinking of Mike, sadness shadowed her.

  High heels clicked against the old stone floor of the barn, and Anne turned to find Jill Monser striding in her direction. “These high heels are kind of a pain in that grass, but—oh, Anne. It’s worth it, everything is gorgeous. You were so right about the chandeliers. You’re brilliant.”

  Anne smiled. She’d taken around two dozen vintage light fixtures, some ornate, some with crystals, all different sizes, and spray-painted them a hot-pink lacquer to match the centerpieces. They now hung in various lengths from the barn rafters. It hadn’t been easy to run the temporary cords and wiring, but with the Monsers’ money she’d found someone willing to do the job.

  “I’m so happy you like it,” Anne said. “It is the showpiece, if I do say so myself.”

  “Absolutely. I can’t wait for Jessica to see it, she’ll be thrilled.”

  “Did her dress get altered in time?” Anne inquired, but she already knew the answer had to be yes or Jill wouldn’t be in such a good mood.

  “Yes, thank God, although
as expensive as it all was, we almost should have just bought her new boobs.” Jill laughed. Anne wasn’t sure how to react, so she just smiled.

  “Well, I hope Jessica is happy with this evening. I know it will be beautiful.”

  Jill grabbed Anne’s hands and looked into her eyes. “I’m delighted with your work, Anne. I can’t wait for everyone to get here this evening. It isn’t every day a mother gets to watch her daughter’s dreams come true, and I thank you for giving me that.”

  Anne felt tears threaten. Having her own daughter, she could certainly understand Jill’s sentiments, even though she knew they were on completely different levels. “That means a lot, Jill, truly. Tonight will be wonderful for Jessica, I know it.”

  “Thank you.” Jill gave her hands a squeeze and let go of her as she tilted her head to the side. “And I must say how refreshing it was to see Annette Williams post an apology to you this morning, as insincere as it might have been. Who would have suspected a grown woman to act in such a childish way? I’ve gone to her salon nearly fifteen years, but no longer, and I’ll make sure everyone I know does the same.”

  Anne let out a deep breath as she watched Jill retreat, touching the centerpieces as she did. Anne had no idea who Annette Williams was, but obviously she must be the video poster. How odd; she thought it had been Katie. Now she wondered what the hell was going on.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and clicked onto the blog. The most recent post was from that morning, a review of a fellow blogger’s new decorating book. Anne had quite a few blogger friends, all of whom had rallied around her during the week’s drama, sending her encouraging emails and linking to her blog in a show of support.