by Sharon Sala
“I need something,” Lily muttered.
She left the pharmacy with a less than hurried step. When she passed the fitness center, she couldn’t help but look in. Stewart was behind the counter, and she could see his wife in the back. She knew Mike wouldn’t be back to work this soon, but she couldn’t help but look.
Just thinking about Mike made the ache in her heart worse. Day before yesterday, he’d come home from the hospital, and when she’d gone over that evening after work to say hi, Carol had said he was asleep. Lily had tried again last night with the same result, and this time she knew Carol was as uncomfortable lying as she was getting the rejection. She wouldn’t go back. She knew when she wasn’t wanted. She just didn’t know why.
As she waited at the corner for traffic to pass, she heard the rumble of T. J. Lachlan’s hot-rod engine and turned to look. The lure of new territory was still there, but not as appealing as it had been. She needed to be okay with Mike more than she wanted to see if she could attract a man. But she couldn’t fix anything when she didn’t know what was broken, and Mike wouldn’t talk to her. All she could do was focus on changing her attitude, and hopefully her social life would change with it.
When the shiny black truck passed by the corner, she looked away. She didn’t want anyone’s attention. She just wanted her headache to go away, and the beauty shop was the best place to make that happen.
The bell jingled as she walked in the door.
Ruby waved at her from the shampoo station.
“Come on back, girl! I’m ready for you.”
Lily hung up her coat, dropped her purse by Ruby’s styling chair, and sat down in front of the shampoo bowl.
Ruby fastened a cape over her clothes and patted her shoulder.
“Lean back, honey, and we’ll get this pretty hair washed in nothing flat.”
Lily sank backward like she was sliding into an old footed tub full of bubbles, took a deep breath, and then closed her eyes. The water was warm on her scalp. Ruby’s chatter was going in one ear and out the other, which was fine. Most of what she said was information and didn’t require a comment.
When she squirted shampoo on Lily’s head and began to work it into her hair, using long, steady strokes to scrub it clean, Lily felt like crying. Logically, she knew it was because the tension was releasing in her neck and shoulders. But when Ruby actually began massaging her scalp, tears welled. She sniffed as she fumbled for a tissue to wipe her nose, unaware that the tears were already rolling down her face.
Ruby was shocked. Not once in all the years she’d been doing LilyAnn’s hair had she seen her exhibit real emotion of any kind. Then she remembered how rattled Lily had been at the hospital after Mike’s accident and immediately thought something must have happened to him. She leaned down.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Is Mike okay?”
Lily began swiping at her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Sister,” she mumbled. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I guess I’m just tired.”
Ruby didn’t push the issue, but she didn’t think that was it at all. She finished the shampoo and rinse, then moved Lily back to the styling chair and worked some setting gel into the long, silky strands. Without saying another word, she grabbed the blow-dryer and brush and got down to business.
LilyAnn felt numb. She was only vaguely aware that the last customer was gone and that Mabel Jean had followed Vera and Vesta to the back room to grab a little lunch before their next appointments showed up. She wouldn’t look at herself—couldn’t look at herself without wailing, so she stared down at the toes of her shoes instead.
Ruby noticed the tears hanging on LilyAnn’s lashes. She could almost feel her sadness. She liked her a lot, and when something was wrong in Ruby’s world, she had an overwhelming urge to fix it.
“Listen up, girl. We’re alone, so talk to me. Is something wrong with Mike?”
It was the word “Mike” that did it. Lily covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Ruby’s heart skipped a beat. “Honey. Is it Mike? Did he get worse? What’s happened?”
“No, he’s not worse. He’s mad at me, and I don’t know why.”
Ruby stifled a huge sigh of relief. “Well, bless your heart. What happened?”
Lily was sobbing loud enough that it brought the other three women out of the back room.
“I don’t know what happened. That’s what’s so awful. One minute we were fine, and the next thing he just shut down. I asked him if it was something I said, but he got all weird and said something about me getting on with my life and…and… I don’t know. I just can’t get him to talk to me anymore.”
The women looked at each other, then at Lily, then back at each other again. They’d already discussed the fact that they thought Mike was sweet on her.
The twins came closer. One handed Lily a handful of tissues, while the other one went to get a wet hand towel to wipe the mascara running down her cheeks.
Lily wiped her eyes, unaware she was smearing the mascara even more, and then blew her nose.
Ruby laid down the blow-dryer and spun the chair around so that Lily was facing her.
“You and Mike have been friends too long to let something like this get out of hand. Let’s see if we can figure out what might have set him off. Sometimes it takes a disinterested party to get the gist of misunderstandings.”
Lily waited as Vera moved into work mode and began cleaning the mascara off Lily’s cheeks.
“There now, sugar. You’ll be just fine and no one will know the difference.”
Ruby pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Lily.
“You said you two were talking. What about?”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. Just stuff.”
“Think. Think hard. It might be the answer you need.”
Lily closed her eyes, picturing the moment she opened the door to his room and went in.
“He was complaining about the broth and Jell-O on his tray. I put some salt in the broth and stirred it up, and then he said it was better and drank it.”
“That’s good. What happened next?”
“I asked him if he’d talked to his parents. He said he had and that Faith’s husband sent a chopper for them because the roads were impassable, then flew them here in his company jet. I made a comment about Faith hitting the jackpot or something like that.”
Ruby frowned. “What did Mike say?”
“Something stupid, that he guessed all women wanted to marry rich men. I told him that wasn’t so. That most of us just wanted to marry a man we loved.”
Ruby leaned back. “And what did he say then?”
“Oh…I think something to the effect that he thought I’d taken myself off the market and wasn’t interested in that. I asked him why he would say something so stupid.”
Vesta and Vera looked at each other, arching their eyebrows knowingly as Mabel Jean scooted closer to Ruby.
“Then what?”
“I don’t exactly remember. I’ve tried and tried to think what it might have been that I said, but nothing made sense.”
“Try. What did you say next?”
Lily sighed and closed her eyes again, picturing Mike’s face.
“I think it was when he said I never showed interest in men, and he didn’t think I was interested in dating anymore.”
“And what did you say to that?” Ruby asked.
“Oh, I just popped off. I said he obviously wasn’t paying attention or didn’t know everything about me, or something like that.”
Ruby sighed.
The twins elbowed each other.
Mabel Jean patted Lily’s knee.
They all got it. Trouble was, just because they knew didn’t mean they should blurt it out to Lily. She needed to figure this out on her own.
Ruby glanced at the others and shook her head, t
hen picked up the blow-dryer to finish the job.
“So, basically you told Mike you were already dating. Wow! I didn’t know this. Who’s the lucky guy?”
Lily frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
Ruby pretended surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought that’s what you meant.”
Lily’s frown deepened. Surely Mike hadn’t thought that, too. But even if he had, why would he act so weird? It wasn’t like they had those kinds of feelings for each other.
“Well, I didn’t mean that,” Lily said, and glanced at the time. “We need to hurry so I don’t get back late.”
“Sure thing, honey. Just a few more minutes here and we’ll have you looking like a glamour girl.”
Lily snorted beneath her breath. Sister was sweet as anything, but she had just lied through her teeth and they both knew it.
By the time she was through, Lily only had a few minutes to get back to the pharmacy. She threw on her coat, put her purse over her shoulder, and started out in a long, hurried stride.
Chapter 6
When Mike walked in the back door of the fitness center with his dad, it felt like he’d been gone a month instead of just over a week. It was his first trip here since the accident, and even though he couldn’t stay, it felt good to be out of the house and back in his own environment.
He was on his way to the front desk when he saw a woman walk by the front windows. Her head was down, her shoulders slumped. She looked like she’d just lost her best friend. It took him a moment to realize it was LilyAnn, and when he did, he felt like he’d been sideswiped.
Was he responsible for that? He knew he’d hurt her feelings by shutting her out, but she’d hurt him, too. Still, he knew why he’d reacted so harshly, while she didn’t have a clue. He knew he was a coward for not confronting her years ago, and turning on her like this now, right after she saved his life, must have felt to her like he’d cut her legs out from under her. He was heartsick and mad at himself. Damn it! Why did life have to be so hard?
His dad walked up behind him. “Is that LilyAnn? She looks upset.”
“Yeah, she does,” Mike muttered, and then Stewart saw him and shouted out a big hello, which alerted the clients. After that he was caught up in the commotion.
It wasn’t very long before he began to tire, and his dad called a halt.
“Hey, Mike, I think you’ve been on your feet long enough, don’t you?”
Mike was already shaky.
“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. So, Stewart, you’re doing a great job. I really appreciate you and your wife stepping up like this. I’ll see you again soon, okay?”
“Absolutely! Really good to see you up and about,” Stewart said, and then went back to the front desk as Mike and his dad exited out the back.
Mike eased into the front seat of the car. This trip was over with, but there was one more stop he wanted to make.
“Hey, Dad, I need you to drive me up the street to The Curl Up and Dye. The barber is still out of pocket, and I want to get my hair trimmed.”
“Sure thing,” Don said as he drove out of the alley and back onto Main Street.
A couple of blocks up, he pulled to the curb in front of the shop.
“It’ll be good to see everyone again, but you know your mama is going to whip the both of us when she finds out we’ve been to the beauty shop and left her behind.”
Mike grinned. “You’re right about that, but I’ll take the blame. Right now she’s so glad I’m still alive she won’t be mad.”
Don was still chuckling as they got out. The bell over the door jingled as they walked in.
Ruby glanced up.
“Hey, girls! Look who’s here! My goodness, Mike, it’s so good to see you up and around.” Ruby gave him a quick hug. “And Don, you look all tan and fit! I can’t remember the last time we saw you in here. Where’s Carol?”
“Back at Mike’s,” he said. “She doesn’t know we’re here, which means we’re both gonna be in trouble.”
Ruby laughed. “So what can I do for you?”
“Does anyone have time to give me a trim?” Mike asked.
“I do,” Ruby said. “Sit yourself over there in the shampoo chair, and I’ll make you pretty.”
“That’ll never happen today,” Mike said with a sigh, and gladly took a seat.
Ruby shook her head as she fastened the cape around his neck. “You’ve got it going on and you know it.”
As soon as she got his hair washed, she moved him to her styling chair, then combed her fingers through his hair, testing the texture and thickness.
“You just want it trimmed, right? No new style or anything?”
“Right, just a trim.”
“Then here we go,” she said, as she picked up a comb and her scissors and began to snip.
Mike’s dad sat down in an empty chair to watch, and without either man realizing it, Ruby wound the conversation around to LilyAnn.
“So you’re feeling okay now?” Ruby asked.
“Getting better every day,” Mike said. “I just stopped in at the fitness center for the first time since I got out of the hospital, but it will be a while before I can spend much time there.”
“Good thing Stewart is so dependable,” Ruby said.
“Yes, it is,” Mike said.
“And speaking of dependable, I’ll bet you’re thanking your lucky stars LilyAnn lives next door. As my daddy used to say, she sure pulled your bacon out of the fire.”
Mike’s gut knotted. “Yes, ma’am, she did,” he said softly, and looked away.
Ruby’s eyes narrowed. He was as bothered as LilyAnn had appeared to be. Dumb kids. Why didn’t people just come out and say what’s on their minds?
Don heard Lily’s name and interjected. “We just saw her walk by the gym a short while ago.”
“She was on her way back to work. She gets her hair done here every Friday on her lunch hour.”
“Ah…that explains it,” Don said.
Ruby nodded. “Yes, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she went home early today. Not sure whether she was getting sick or if something else was going on, but I’ve never seen her so down.”
Despite the fact that Mike couldn’t face himself, Ruby spun him back to the mirror. He glared at his reflection, wishing to hell his dad would stop talking about Lily. He was like a little dog with a big bone. Once he got started on a subject, he chewed in the same place until he got himself an answer.
“Bless her heart,” Don said. “I’ll tell Carol to go check on her this evening. Did she say she was feeling bad? If she is, I’ll happily run her up to the doctor’s office.”
Ruby shrugged. “You know…I’m not sure she’s physically sick. I think she’s upset about something else.”
“Someone made her cry,” Vesta said, as she sailed past the chair with an armful of clean towels.
Mike closed his eyes. Damn it all to hell.
“Cry? Girl, she was sobbing,” Vera added.
Mike felt like crying, too. He’d fucked up, big time, but how to fix it? Or was it too late? What if there wasn’t anything left between them to fix?
Don frowned. “I don’t like to hear that. I wonder if she’d talk to me about—”
“No!” Mike said.
The conversation ended abruptly, but it was all Ruby could do not to click her heels in delight. She’d planted a big seed. Now it was up to Mike to cultivate it.
A few minutes later, Mike and his dad were on their way back home.
“You feeling okay?” Don asked.
“I’m fine,” Mike said. “As for LilyAnn, I’ll talk to her, but I pick the time, okay? You and Mom just stay out of it.”
At first Don was a bit taken aback, and then he saw the red flush on Mike’s face and hid a smile. He and Carol had pretty much given up that
anything would ever come of Mike and LilyAnn becoming a couple, but maybe things were looking up.
“Yeah, sure, Son. No big deal.”
“Thanks,” Mike said.
When they got home, Mike went straight to his bedroom under the pretense of needing to rest, but the truth was, he couldn’t pretend everything was okay. If his mother saw he was troubled, she wouldn’t let it go. Then he’d have to explain, and there was no easy way to say that he might have just broken the heart of the only girl he’d ever loved.
* * *
T. J. Lachlan was standing on a ladder staring at a water stain on the ceiling of the formal dining room, wondering if the paint he’d chosen would cover it up or if he should use a primer first. The best way to find out was for him to put a coat of paint over the stain, let it dry, and see what happened. He ran the paint roller through the paint tray and did his thing, then climbed down. His belly growled as he glanced at his watch. It was already after 2:00 p.m., which explained the hunger pangs. He set the paint tray aside and headed for the kitchen.
It wasn’t until he opened the refrigerator door that he remembered he’d eaten his leftovers for breakfast, which left him with less than a quart of milk and nothing but uncooked oatmeal to go with it. He couldn’t cook worth a darn and hadn’t eaten a real home-cooked meal since his ex, Laverne, disappeared with Buddy. Then he frowned. Every time he thought about Buddy and Laverne doing the dirty behind his back, he wanted to hurt someone. Then his belly growled again, reminding him that old news was poor fodder for an empty stomach.
T. J. was in the mood for a burger and fries. He went to get his coat and car keys, then drove into Blessings with food on his mind.
Everything was going according to plan until he was forced to stop at the edge of town. There was a three-car pileup, and the wrecker and the police car were already on the scene.
When he recognized the woman standing on the side of the road as the hot redhead he’d seen coming out of Granny’s the other day, his pulse kicked. She’d been with a man then, but she wasn’t today, and in his mind, that was opportunity knocking. He got out of the truck and headed toward her wearing what he hoped was a concerned expression.
