She frowned. “Not exactly…I mean, it looks fine at that length. Natural wave is great camouflage for an overdue haircut.” She tipped her head slightly. “Although I suppose it could be cleaned up some around the sides and the back…if you liked.”
He reached up and mussed it a little. “I don’t know. I sort of like it a little long in winter. Keeps me warmer. To be honest, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To see how you’re getting on.”
“Oh.” She nodded slowly. “I’m getting on just fine. Thanks.” She moved to the nearby sink, where she quickly washed her hands.
“Ricky told me about what you’re doing.”
“He did?” She turned back around, drying her hands as she studied him again. Really, he was awfully nice looking…and well mannered too. A girl could do worse. “What did Ricky say?”
“That you’re trying to help Donna by giving this place a makeover.”
“Oh…well, that’s true.”
“Sounds like a big undertaking. I thought maybe you could use a hand with something.”
“Seriously?” She blinked. “You came here to help me?”
“Why not?”
She pointed to his tidy clothes. “For one thing, you’re dressed too nice.” She tipped her head toward the back room. “I’ve got a serious mess going on back there.” She told him about cleaning out the back room. “Decades’ worth of garbage and crud and spiderwebs and dust. I even found a couple of skeletons.”
“What?”
She laughed. “Halloween decorations.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “Yes. Donna does love to decorate for holidays.”
“And she’ll be happy to know that I’m not throwing her decorations out. Although I am sifting and sorting and clearly marking the crates so they’ll be easy to find and use. But trust me, there’s plenty of real garbage to toss. Mom’s never been the most organized person, and she doesn’t like getting rid of things.”
“You’re a good daughter, Rita.”
Something about the way he said this, or maybe it was the warmth in those chocolate-brown eyes, enticed her to open up with some of the ideas she’d been noodling on these past few days. “Come on back and I’ll show you what I’ve done,” she said.
The first thing she showed him was the lime green chairs, explaining how they were the original ones for Hair and Now. “To be honest, these are my real inspiration. Everything I do will be to make them look great.”
“Wow, these are very cool.” He tested one, giving it a little turn. “Feels like this one might need a little oil and maintenance.”
“They all do. I was thinking about asking my dad to help. He’s pretty mechanical. Except that he’s so overwhelmed with everything else right now. And I’d hate for him to come in here and see how it looks. He might not get it. He can be awfully protective of Mom. It’s sweet, but it can get complicated, too. He’d be worried about the mess this could turn into.”
“Sometimes you have to make a mess before you can really clean something up.”
“Exactly.” She nodded eagerly.
“I’m a little mechanical, too.” He was down on his knees now, examining beneath. “It’s a very simple construction style. But good and solid. I could probably get your chairs working properly.”
“Could you, really? I’d be happy to pay you for your time and—”
“We can figure that out later.” He stood, brushing the dust off his knees. “Those boxes by the door—are they trash?”
“That pile on the right is. The one on the left is for Goodwill or something like that.”
“I’ve got my pickup. How about if I pull around back and get them out of here for you tonight?”
“That would be awesome!”
“I’ll be right back,” he promised.
While he was gone, Rita dashed to the bathroom, where she did a quick fix-up on her hair and makeup. Going to this trouble for a man she wasn’t really interested in seemed a bit silly, but she decided to simply chalk it up to her personal vanity. She came out of the bathroom and was surprised to find him already picking up one of the trash boxes.
“I have a key,” he explained. “Remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” She nodded, hurrying over to pick up a box herself, following him outside and watching as he slid the box into the back of a shiny red pickup.
“Let me take that.” He reached for her box. “And if you’re going to help with this, you better get your coat on.”
She got her coat and together they loaded not only the trash boxes but the giveaway stuff as well, completely filling the back of his pickup. As he closed the gate, Johnny assured her that Jolly Janitors was used to dealing with this sort of thing. “We have lots of great organizations we donate reusable goods to.”
“You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” she said as they hurried back into the warmth of the back room. “You are a godsend.”
“Now I’ll tell you why I really stopped by,” he said as he washed his hands in the laundry sink. “I wanted to see if you needed to grab a bite to eat.”
“Come to think of it, I’m starving,” she admitted. “But I’ll only go if you let me treat.”
“Let you treat?” He looked slightly confused as he dried his hands.
“To thank you for your help tonight,” she insisted.
“But I don’t think I can—”
“That’s my final offer,” she told him. “Either I treat or I don’t go. Take it or leave it.”
He held up his hands. “I’ll take it.”
“Where do you want to go?” she asked as she reached for her handbag.
“Oh…I don’t know.” He looked uncertain. “We could just go up to Noah’s Ark.”
“Sounds great.” She didn’t admit to him that she’d eaten lunch there already today. Hopefully Noah would be gone by now. They went through the front, turning off the lights and going outside. “I keep forgetting to ask someone what they’re doing out here.” She waved her hand toward the construction mess in the courtyard. “It’s such a disaster area—I’m sure it can’t be helping the businesses down here.”
“You haven’t heard?” Johnny locked the door for her. “They’re putting the ice rink back in.”
“No kidding?” She looked at the mess with more appreciation now. “That’s great.”
“Yeah. And the new owners are great people. It’ll be called On Ice, and there will be a snack bar for kids as well as an upscale rinkside restaurant catering to the older crowd.”
“That sounds lovely. When is it supposed to be finished?”
“It’s further along than it looks. They wanted it done before Valentine’s Day. They’re planning a big grand opening celebration with ice sculptures and skating and all sorts of things.”
“That’s perfect!” she exclaimed. “I should have Hair and Now all renovated and hopefully doing good business by then, too. What great timing.” As they rode up the escalator she told him about some of the promotion ideas she had for the salon.
“So you’ll still be here by the time On Ice opens?” he asked as they strolled down the busy mall.
She considered this. “I told my manager two weeks. My first week is up on Monday. It’ll be two weeks on February eighth, although I haven’t booked my return flight yet.”
“That’s only about nine days. You sure you can get Hair and Now renovated that quickly?”
“Actually, I’m not sure. I’m a little worried. I’ve worked out a schedule, but it’s cutting it pretty close. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be up a creek.”
“Why not ask for a third week?” he suggested. “It would be a shame to leave without completing what you started.”
She nodded. “I know. It would break my heart to have Mom show up to her salon only to discover that it’s half finished.”
He pushed open the door to the café, waiting as she went in ahead of him. Johnny got high marks for good manners. Rita rem
embered the handsome attorney Margot had set her up with last summer. Alistair may have had an impressive job and a flashy car, but he’d been a self-centered snob who was clueless about women, and it only took one date to figure that out.
To her surprise, Noah’s Ark was different in the evenings. Instead of ordering at the counter, they were seated at a table, which not only had a tablecloth but a votive candle as well. A young woman set down ice waters, handed them menus, and told them tonight’s specials.
“This doesn’t feel like Noah’s Ark to me,” she whispered after the waitress left.
“You haven’t been here for dinner?”
“Not in years.”
“They try to cater to a different crowd in the evenings now. As you may have noticed this mall’s a little short on restaurants these days. Besides the food court and the steakhouse, this is pretty much it for dinner.”
“That should be good news for the ice rink restaurant.” She studied the menu, relieved that it was relatively simple. Especially since she was slightly rattled by the fact that this was feeling strangely like a date.
“The lasagna is killer,” he told her. “If you’re hungry, that is.”
“I liked the sound of the seafood pasta the waitress mentioned.” Rita set her menu down, and while Johnny was studying his, she studied him. She wondered how she would feel about him if they were sitting in a Beverly Hills restaurant right now. Was her hesitation over Johnny because of the distance—or because of his occupation? She honestly didn’t believe it was the latter. Because the truth was—she was interested. Just guarded. But then she was usually guarded when it came to guys. Even so it bothered her that she felt guarded with Johnny. That made no sense. Really, was she so shallow that she’d allow his line of work to come between them? Was that what came from living in Beverly Hills? When had she become that snooty? After all, in a lot of people’s eyes, she was “only a hairdresser,” the daughter of a hairdresser.
As she sipped her water, she made up her mind. She was no longer going to think of Johnny as a Jolly Janitor. She was going to accept him for the good person she knew that he was—Johnny Hollister, a man who wasn’t too proud to take out her trash. She smiled with relief.
“You look happy,” he said as he set his menu down.
“I am happy.” She truly was.
“Any special reason?”
Her smile got bigger. “I was just thinking how fun it’s been getting to know you again. You’re really a nice guy, Johnny.”
He grinned back at her. “I was thinking the same thing about you, Rita.”
Now, because her renovation project was so fresh on her mind, she started to run some of her ideas past him—asking his opinion and explaining how she planned to do the renovations in stages. He was surprisingly interested and full of helpful suggestions about where to find things at the best prices. As they were finishing up their dinner, he pulled out a small notepad and actually wrote down the names of several businesses that he’d recommended, handing them to her.
“But it sounds like you’re going to need some hands-on help too,” he told her. “Painting those tall walls, installing the new flooring, getting old stuff ripped out and new stuff installed, and trying to do it quickly enough not to lose business…could be a challenge.”
“Ricky offered to help,” she told him.
“But his back and leg…?”
“I know.” She sighed. “I’m not really sure how much help he could be. I asked the hairdressers, but…well, besides Charlene, they didn’t sound too enthused.”
“I know a couple of guys who could help out,” he said suddenly. “A pair of brothers who’re still in high school and—”
“Mason and Drew?” she asked curiously.
“That’s right. Did you meet them at the salon?”
She explained how they took her by surprise. “I, uh, actually thought that you said that was your account. I expected to see you coming to clean it.”
He pressed his lips together, nodding slowly. “Yeah…well, we sometimes switch things around. Keeps it interesting, you know?”
“Oh…right. Well, anyway, they do good work. In fact, the only thing I can’t complain about in regard to Hair and Now is the cleanliness. It might be worn and outdated and have practically no customers, but it is very clean.” She laughed.
“Anyway, I think we could get Mason and Drew to help out. They’re hard workers and available for weekends and evenings.”
“I can pay them a little something.” Rita knew she’d have to budget in some help or risk not getting it done.
“We can figure that out later.” He put his notepad away then glanced up in surprise. “Looks like we’ve got company,” he said quietly.
Rita looked up in time to see Marley and Zinnia coming straight for their table.
“Well, hello there,” Zinnia said in a ultra-friendly tone. “Did you guys have dinner already?”
“We did,” Johnny confirmed.
“And it was delicious,” Rita added.
“We came over for dessert and coffee.” Zinnia put a familiar hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “You know how good their berry cobbler à la mode is.”
“But we don’t want to intrude,” Marley said quickly, eyeing Rita curiously.
“No, of course not. Besides there’s no place to sit.” Zinnia looked around the restaurant and made a sad face. “So I guess we’ll have to go somewhere else, Mar.”
There was a long, uneasy pause, and Rita was about to say something, but Johnny beat her to the punch. “Why don’t you join us?” Johnny stood, politely pulling out chairs for Marley and Zinnia.
“But we don’t want to interrupt your date,” Zinnia said with a questioning look. “I assume this is a date.”
“No, no,” Rita assured her. “It’s not a date. More like a business dinner. Johnny is helping me with something—uh—a project.” She tossed him a warning look, hoping he’d take the hint and not mention their prior conversation to Zinnia.
“That’s right,” Johnny told the other women. “Rita was cleaning out a storage room and I was taking out the trash for her. Just part of Jolly Janitors’ customer satisfaction service.”
“Yes. And I offered to treat him to dinner as a thank-you,” Rita finished. “That’s all. I had no idea that Noah’s Ark had turned into such a swanky dinner place.”
As they all chatted and made decisions on desserts, Rita couldn’t help but notice how friendly and cozy Zinnia seemed to be with Johnny. As if they were dear old friends. Or perhaps something even more. Rita glanced at Marley, curious as to whether she had observed this, too. But Marley seemed to be simply taking it in stride.
“And don’t forget that you still owe me for that bet,” Zinnia was saying to Johnny. “I knew the Bulls were going down last week, but did you believe me?”
“That’s because I never bet against my Bulls.”
“Just the same, you owe me, Johnny Boy, and I’ll be collecting.” She ran a well-manicured finger down on his cheek, giggling. “You better watch out for me.”
Unless it was Rita’s imagination, Johnny was blushing. And despite all resolve, Rita was seeing red. And her anger wasn’t directed at Johnny. Still, she reminded herself, this was not a date. She had said as much herself, hadn’t she? Even so, she hurried to shovel down her tasty crème brûlée, finally making the excuse that she’d promised her dad and brother that she wouldn’t be home late tonight. “I’ll just run up and take care of the bill,” she told Johnny in a formal way. “Thanks for helping me with the trash.” She smiled at Zinnia and Marley. “See you girls around.”
It wasn’t until she was driving home, still feeling unreasonably flustered, that she realized that she hadn’t only paid the bill for her dinner with Johnny, but she’d covered everyone else’s confections and coffee, too. Well, maybe buying everyone dessert was what one got for allowing jealousy to creep into what had otherwise been a lovely evening. Maybe it was her just desserts.
Chapt
er 8
Rita offered to visit her mom early on Sunday morning. Based on what Ricky and her dad had told her Saturday night, her mom had made great strides in rehab the past few days. But perhaps Rita’s hopes had been too high…because when she actually sat down with Donna, she was dismayed that she didn’t seem to have progressed much further than the last time she’d seen her. Even so, Rita kept a positive smile on her face and bit her tongue as she waited for her mom to communicate her recent happenings via a few words, pantomime, and the drawing pad. Rita wished she had more patience, but finally she just had to tell her about some of the ideas for the salon.
Rita explained how she wanted to do a complete renovation to the salon, not only reusing the chairs, but putting in new floors and painting the walls and all sorts of things. She pulled out the fabric sample, laying it on the bed. “But I want it to be something you’ll like. And it has to be done on a pretty tight budget.” She shared some of her money-saving ideas and how she planned to do most of the labor herself. “Those lime green chairs are a real treasure,” she reminded her. “You were so smart to hold on to them.”
Donna nodded happily. “Yeah…yeah…”
“They’ll make the salon really retro and chic. Like something you’d see in Beverly Hills. And I know I can do it, Mom. I just need your blessing for all the changes. I mean, it’s not going to look the same at all. The pink will be totally gone.”
“Yeah…yeah…yeah.” Donna nodded, making her funny little half smile. “Yeah.”
“Great.” Rita bent down to hug her. “That’s what I’m going to do then. And that means I can’t be with you throughout the day as often as I have. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah.”
“Ricky will be home with you in the daytime. And then Dad gets home after work. And I’ll see you when I can. But mostly I’ll devote my time to redoing Hair and Now. I only have a couple of weeks to get it done.” She still hadn’t decided about extending her visit, but knew it made sense. “My goal is to have it finished before On Ice opens. I want to do some promotions in tandem with that. Does that sound good?”
Love Gently Falling Page 7
