“Nate, I have a meeting this afternoon.” Aidan wanted out of there bad.
“Yes, of course. See you ladies later.” Nathan sounded confused. But at least they left.
I didn’t bother turning back around or saying anything. I was going to finish up Kristen’s finger and toenails and get out of there as fast as I could. I began to gently push back Kristen’s cuticles.
“I’m sorry if I said something wrong.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.”
“It’s just, Aidan speaks of you often, so I assumed—”
My head whipped up. “What does he say?”
A flicker of a spark showed in her tired eyes. “He’s been really worried about you ever since . . . you know.”
“The accident.”
“Yes. I’m glad you’re okay, that both of you are. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Aidan so shaken up.”
I looked back down at her hand.
“Nathan and I’ve been teasing him about having a crush on you.”
I snorted.
“You’re the only woman he’s talked about in forever and you are . . .”
I met her eyes, well almost—her eyes were on my chest.
“You are, uh . . . How does Nate like to say it? Wowzer, but squared.”
I laughed. She was so hokey, but in a cute way. “I don’t think your brother-in-law is impressed with my assets.”
“I doubt that. You’re pretty foxy.”
Who still used words like foxy? I did my best not to laugh in her face. June was killing me. I pushed in the rest of her cuticles and started filing her nails. That’s when I heard Aidan and Nathan talking. I wasn’t sure where they had gone to in the small home, perhaps the kitchen. The pastor was lamenting that the church kitchen was in bad need of a makeover and working ovens. Aidan volunteered to cover the cost, but Nathan was refusing, citing how Aidan already paid for the new playground equipment. I knew Aidan was a do-gooder.
“You’re a good man, brother, but the parishioners need to shoulder this burden. I was hoping we could do something to bring us all together. I wanted to get your thoughts.” Nathan seemed to rely on his brother.
I tried not to pay attention to the brothers, but Aidan brought up a lame idea of a fall festival they could invite the whole town to. He started yammering on about pie eating contests and bobbing for apples. What century were we in? “That sounds boring as hell.”
June, I mean Kristen, covered her mouth to stifle a laugh and looked like she was embarrassed I swore in her home. If hell did her in, she would probably faint if she heard how I really talked. Hell was the mildest four-letter word I used. I could use full sentences only using four-letter words and never repeat one. I didn’t apologize for my vocabulary. I wasn’t one to say sorry, especially when I wasn’t.
I grabbed the nail polish she picked and started to paint her nails. “You’re never going to have a new kitchen at your church if they go with that plan.” I thought I should say something since Nathan sounded excited by it.
Kristen’s shoulders slumped. “You’re probably right.”
I let it drop. I didn’t care whether or not their kitchen got renovated, but then I took a deeper look into Kristen’s eyes. It obviously meant a lot to her. I hated when my conscious showed up. “You know, you may want to talk to Blake Summers. He may be willing to do some of the renovations at a discounted rate, and he’s able to get appliances for a good price.” I’m not sure how happy Blake would be with me for offering up his construction company. Church was one thing we agreed on. He wasn’t a big fan of organized religion. He only went because Jessie did and she took the kids with her.
She sighed. “I’ll have Nathan talk to him. Do you have some suggestions about what we could do instead?”
I spat out a laugh. “Sure, but nothing appropriate for your shindig.”
There she went with blushing again, and I didn’t even tell her what I would do. All I knew was it would earn them enough money and then some.
“Give me an example, and maybe I could tame it.”
“Hmmm.” I thought for a moment. I was thinking of half-naked men only wearing baseball pants posing for a calendar. Sign me up. I’m sure if I said that she would have fainted. I had never met anyone more innocent than her. “You could do a bachelor’s auction.” I guess the men could be clothed. Which meant I wasn’t going.
She bit her lip. “Like with real men?”
She was a riot. I half laughed, half snorted. “Uh, yeah.”
“Oh. Well. I don’t know if that would be appropriate.”
“Probably not.” Good luck making enough money selling caramel apples. At least I could no longer hear Aidan and Nathan. I hoped that meant Aidan slipped out a back door. What was it about him that got under my skin? He was an itch I couldn’t scratch, and did I ever want to scratch it.
Chapter Five
My time at Ward and June’s was coming to end. It was a good thing, too. I could only take so much wholesome interaction in one day. I was going to have to go home and wash my brain out with an R-rated movie or something. I was sweeping up hair, even though it seemed to mortify Kristen that I was cleaning her floor, but the woman was obviously not well and sweeping up hair was nothing new to me. But what was new to me, or maybe a startling revelation, was an obscure picture that sat on the shelf of one of the bookcases. The cheap metal frame called to me.
I leaned the broom against the bookcase and picked up the photo. I stared at the younger and happier version of Aidan. He was smiling down at a woman that could easily be described as childlike. Her drab brown pixie-cut hair and her outfit screamed down to earth. I couldn’t tell what the connection was between the two by the photo. While he looked happy, he didn’t have that enamored look I had come to associate with some of my friends.
Kristen stood and joined me. “Ah. Mary and Aidan. That picture was taken not too long after they were married. They are a nice looking couple, aren’t they?”
Mary? Figures. She looked virginal. And that answered my question. She wasn’t his sister. And it confirmed the rumors that he had been married. I wondered what happened to her, but all I could focus on was how they didn’t look like they belonged together. “Aidan is much better looking than her.” I voiced my observation.
“Some women—” a new voice entered our conversation. I turned and lifted my head to find Aidan standing stiffly by the couch. The grimace he normally gave me was replaced with vehemence.
“—care more about things that really matter than their looks.” His eyes were daring me to pick a fight with him.
I stood up taller. I hadn’t meant what I said as a slight. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of responding to his barbs. I knew by the way he always looked at me that he found me to be shallow. I couldn’t care less what he thought about me. That was a lie, but he would never know. I didn’t even know why I cared. Why I wanted him to look deeper. I handed the picture back to a pensive Kristen. She was playing ping pong with her head, looking between her brother-in-law and me.
I met Aidan’s cold eyes one more time with ice in mine. I would have told him where he could go if Kristen wasn’t present, but in an unprecedented move, I let tact rule. Aidan wasn’t budging. I didn’t have all day for the staring contest. I grabbed my bag and supplies.
“Aidan, I don’t think Cheyenne—” Kristen spoke up.
“He can think what he wants,” I cut her off. Tact went out the window. “I’m actually amazed any woman would agree to be his wife.”
Aidan’s eyes blazed and I heard Kristen do some little hiccup thing. Believe me, I could have said way worse.
“I’m out of here.”
“Oh, please wait. At least let me pay you.” Kristen rushed to my side, which wasn’t saying much since she hardly had any energy.
“No charge. I hope you feel better.” I headed straight for the door and right past Aidan. I had this urge to hit him with my shoulder when I walked out.
His eyes followed my every move.
Pastor Bates entered the fray before I made my escape. He picked up on the mood real quick. “What’s going on?”
“Not a thing. But you might want to make your next sermon about judging people. I think some of your congregation could benefit from it.” I spoke directly to Aidan.
Some of the heat left Aidan’s eyes.
I still raged inside as I slammed the door and walked my short shorts to my Mustang. I was determined not to let him affect me. So far, I was losing that battle.
~*~
While I ran the next morning, I was able to fight through the pain by visualizing the verbal assault I was going to unleash on Aidan the next time we met. I had played nice up until now. I didn’t usually stay quiet when someone showed me that much disregard. When I thought about it, no one ever had, well at least those of the male variety. Most men worshipped me. There were a couple of exceptions, but Easton and Andrew had never treated me the way Aidan had. They had also never saved my life or kissed me with more passion than I had ever known, and that was saying something. Why he didn’t let me drown, I don’t know.
Pastor Bates called and left me a message apologizing. I didn’t return the call, nor would I. Another reason to stay away from church people. What hypocrites. For all their talk of loving people and seeing the best in others, they were just like everyone else. At least I was up-front with people. I didn’t pretend to be anybody I wasn’t. And maybe I could see why he might think I would put down his wife, but that’s not what I was doing. I only found it odd that someone as attractive as Aidan ended up with a plain woman. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. I just knew that if I were with someone that exceeded my looks it would be hard for me. I wasn’t worried that was ever going to happen. Especially now, since men were a thing of the past. But most women I knew would feel the same way. I wasn’t assaulting her character or saying she was ugly. I was surprised is all. And I didn’t know he was in the room when I said it.
He needed to pack himself and his Land Cruiser and get out of here. He needed to quit making friends with my friends and showing up in my life. Merryton was my town.
I walked—or maybe limped—part of the way back to my townhome. I wondered about his wife and what happened to her. I assumed they weren’t divorced since his brother had a picture of them. That left either imprisoned or dead. Aidan didn’t wear a ring, so I was thinking dead. I wondered when and how. I rubbed my face. Why wouldn’t he leave my head?
I had to hurry and get ready. I had a big day ahead of me. My friends decided last year that it would be fun if they brought all their kids in on the same day to get ready for back to school. They brought food and some of their children terrorized my salon, aka Tristan. Most of the others were pretty well behaved. Abby’s kids had a tendency to get on each other’s nerves, but I kind of enjoyed the show. Isabelle, her youngest, was a kindred spirit like Maddie. She took no one’s crap, not even her teenaged siblings. And she always told me how pretty I was, so she was a favorite. There was also the drama between Connor, Abby’s seventeen-year-old son, and Maddie. They had liked each other since Maddie showed up a little over four years ago, but Blake and Jessie tried to keep them separated as much as possible. Which had only fueled their desire to be together. They’d been caught sneaking around more than once. Blake had a no steady boyfriend while in high school policy. Maddie put up the front of dating other guys, which caused more issues than it prevented, if you ask me.
But what did I know? According to some I was a blonde bubble head. I think sometimes even Abby and Jessie saw me that way. They thought I didn’t know how to manage money or a business. Little did they know I had a stock portfolio and I was diversified. I’d dated a few stock brokers and day traders. And I know every cent that comes and goes in my salon. I just don’t feel the need to flaunt it. It makes me much more lethal that way.
I took some ibuprofen before I left home, knowing the day I had ahead of me. I compromised and wore wedges instead of heels. I’m sure Aidan would find that a crime against humanity. Looking at his wife, I could now see why he found me so distasteful.
I hadn’t even told Jessie and Abby that he had a wife. We had wondered about it, but for some reason I couldn’t talk to them about Aidan. They tried to get me to tell them what happened after the accident, but I couldn’t. And normally the kiss Aidan and I shared would have been broadcast to the two, but I’d never given a hint that it happened.
I reminded myself to not show any indication that my leg was anything less than whole. I was so over the pity and stares. I knew people were still talking about me. I had been a wreck when I was rushed to the hospital. Shane and Easton, along with several others, had been a witness. I was in shock, vomiting and everything. Of course, Aidan had a front row seat. He was so kind to me in the moment. But even then, I could tell he was torn about it. Like he couldn’t hold me close enough, but it was as if he had to fight himself.
Now that I thought about it, it was a war that raged in his eyes every time he saw me. I didn’t understand it.
As soon as I finished getting my station ready for the day, my breeder friends arrived, all four of them and their children. The only kids missing were Ashley and Maddie. Ashley had headed back to Boulder already. That meant Taylor would probably be shedding some tears today. And Maddie was working at the café. She wanted to come in without her mom so we could experiment. Besides, Connor was here and he and Maddie were fighting. I knew this because Maddie called me last night crying. I would have told her to write him off completely, but I loved Connor, and Abby would have killed me.
Connor looked ticked when he trudged in. I couldn’t blame him; he was the oldest one there and no boy his age wanted to hang out with his mom and her friends. I was going to throw him a bone and do his hair first and mention Maddie was working. My salon was within walking distance of Jessie Belle’s Café. I knew Jessie wouldn’t like it, but they were good kids and keeping them apart was only going to make them do exactly what their parents didn’t want them to. Exactly what I would have been doing at that age. Enough about me though.
The children were herded in, all eight of them along with the two Rachel carried who had yet to make their appearance. I will at least say these mom friends of mine weren’t dowdy. Abby was even getting back into shape and had ditched the mom jeans at my pleading. For her birthday in January I took her shopping and hooked her up with some hot mom clothes. Her doctor husband was too much of a cheapskate to do so. We even bought some in a size smaller as an incentive. She was making her way into them. And she finally let me cover up the gray hairs that were starting to appear around her crown. She had forgotten she was more than the PTA president and queen of the carpool. I think her van seated eight. She was proud of it. I loved her anyway.
Then there was Taylor. She was the oldest of us all, though you couldn’t tell. Her copper hair and smooth skin hid her age well. She had the oldest and youngest child in the group at the moment. That’s what happens when you remarry your ex and lose your mind when he convinces you another baby is just the thing you need in your mid-forties. To top it off, they adopted a ten-year-old boy, Gage, making them a family with four kids.
Jessie tried her best to keep Tristan on her hip, but he wasn’t having it. I had his number and prepped the salon before they got here. All things at his eye level had been put up. I was a saint.
My little admirer, Drew, showed up with his mom, Rachel. I swore the kid winked at me. He was more like his father than Rachel probably liked. The kid was going places with the ladies. He even had a little wink for Emmy, Taylor’s twelve-year-old daughter, and Avery, Abby’s fourteen-year-old.
My station was off to the side of the salon, in what almost looked like its own room, but it was open. It gave me a good view of the front desk and allowed me to do things like this with my friends. And glean the juiciest bits of gossip from all the salon’s clients.
Jessie brought an assortment of pastries. Tay
lor, our resident clinical nutritionist, countered it with fresh fruits and vegetables. The kids bypassed those, to Taylor’s dismay.
I motioned for the surly teenager to hop into my chair so the fun could begin. Little did I know how fun it was going to get. Connor plopped into my chair looking put out. I couldn’t believe how big he was getting. His shoulders had broadened and he had stubble. What? That seemed wrong. I had known him since he was an hour old. The flippy hair he had going on was going. I wasn’t giving him a choice. We were past the Justin Bieber phase. He was getting a spiked do. I was about ready to spray Connor’s hair with water when he happened. Again.
Was this becoming someone’s idea of a sick joke? I almost swore, but I promised my friends I’d quit swearing around their children when Isabelle started using the granddaddy of all four-letter words to tell her siblings off. I couldn’t have been prouder, but apparently my friends didn’t have the same attitude.
We all stopped what we were doing and watched Aidan approach the reception desk. He was looking at me from the corner of his eye. Each of my friends congregated around me in a weird fashion while staring at the man in impeccably fitting jeans and a t-shirt that made me want to rip it off his body. How could I hate someone so much, yet want to devour him? And didn’t he have a job? Why was he here?
He leaned in and talked to Jade, my salon manager, so we couldn’t hear what he was saying. He did a head flick my way making my friends stare at me. I was glad Tristan tried to feed Tessa, Taylor’s almost two-year-old an orange roll. That distracted at least half of my friends. But Abby and Rachel held vigil around me. Not sure why.
Jade came back grinning, leaving Aidan at the desk. “Do you think you could squeeze in a walk-in today?”
What? He wanted me to cut his hair? I looked up and met Aidan’s warring eyes. His strong jawline held tight. “I’m booked solid all day.” Jade knew that, but that didn’t always stop me from making it work. But for him it was a definite no. And after yesterday, he had a lot of nerve showing up here. I swore in my head, to protect the innocent.
Cheyenne (The Women of Merryton Book 4) Page 4
