“Awesome! You’re such a sweetheart. But can you make her hair straight?”
Crystal couldn’t help but smile. He sounded like a man who was hanging by his fingertips from a skyscraper ledge. Hearing in his voice how deeply he cared about his daughter’s feelings made her admire him even more. “Yes, I can straighten it, Tanner, but it’ll be curly again after you wash it.”
“That’s perfect. I don’t want it to be permanent. She’s too little to make decisions like that. I really appreciate this, Crystal. How about fast food at the park afterward? The kids’ll be ravenous by then.”
Kids. That meant he planned to bring Michael along. Crystal wasn’t ready to meet his family. Alarm bells went off in her mind. “Only if Rip can come.” She told him about the laundry room damage. “I brought him to work after taking him to see Jack.”
“He’s welcome to join us. Shit. Tori will fall in love with him and start begging for a puppy. But okay, that’s okay. I’ll deal with that. So, what did Jack say?”
“I’ll tell you about it tonight. I’ve got the sheriff’s wife up front.”
“Gotcha. See you at six.”
* * *
When Crystal’s last customer left, she had only fifteen minutes to prepare for her Tori Richards appointment. It hurt her heart to think that beautiful little Tori felt inferior to other girls because her hair was wildly curly. Crystal examined her reflection in the mirror and reached a snap decision. Maybe she could make Tori realize that having curly hair was more of a blessing than a curse.
It was worth a shot, and she had very little time to pull it off. She leaned over the sink in her station and shampooed her hair. Then after fluffing the wet strands, she dried them with a diffuser on the blow-dryer. The curls that she so relentlessly dispensed with every day leaped back to life. Her electric curling irons were already heated. She sat in the chair and made fast work of styling her now-intractable mane. When she was satisfied with the effect, she quickly reapplied her makeup.
Ready. Now maybe Tori will remember me as the lady with the long, red, curly hair and no longer find fault with herself when she studies her own reflection.
As Crystal got up from the chair and went to the front windows, she saw that she hadn’t finished her makeover a second too soon. Tanner’s Chevy truck pulled up to the curb. An instant later the kids spilled out onto the sidewalk. Crystal had met Tori that day outside the medical supply store, but she’d never seen Michael. He was a tall boy for eleven. He’d probably gotten his height and sturdy build from his dad. But there all resemblance between father and son ended. He had hair of such dark brown that it was almost black, and his eyes were cobalt, a much deeper blue than his father’s or sister’s.
Crystal met them at the door, opening it wide to allow them entry. Tori froze on the threshold and stared up at Crystal. “Your hair! It’s kinky, just like mine.”
Crystal nodded. “Yes. My hair is naturally curly.”
“But last time I saw you, it was straight,” Tori said.
“Yes,” Crystal replied. “I’m very lucky. Girls with straight hair often have to get a perm if they want to have curly hair like mine every day, and it takes a long, long time for the artificial curls to grow out. I can let my hair be curly whenever I want or I can straighten it whenever I want with a special iron. Only very lucky girls get to have straight hair one day and curly hair the next.”
She ushered the Richards family inside. Rip, still tied to the leg of her styling cabinet, trembled and squirmed with excitement. Crystal had never seen the dog interact with kids, and because of Tuck’s advanced years, she doubted that Rip had had frequent exposure to them.
She decided to play it safe and kept a firm hold on the leash as she allowed the canine to meet Tanner’s children. Michael petted the dog and said hello. Tori chortled and threw her small arms around the blue heeler’s neck. Rip returned her exuberant greeting by bathing her face with dog kisses.
Tanner chuckled. “I told you so. Now I’ll never hear the last of it.” He settled his gaze on Crystal’s hair. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you straighten your hair? It looks fabulous this way.”
“Thank you. I’ll bear that in mind.”
As Crystal got Tori situated in the chair and adjusted its height, she ran the child’s curls through her fingers and admired their multitone shimmer. She knew women who would happily spend two hundred dollars to have hair like that. “Your curls are absolutely stunning,” she told the child.
“I know.” An expression of distaste settled over Tori’s small face. “When people see me, they almost fall over, just like in the cop shows Michael watches where they stun-gun the bad guys.”
Michael groaned. “You just told, Tori. You broke our deal! Next time you sneak chocolate chips, I’m telling Dad.”
Tanner, who sat in a waiting-area chair, spoke up. “Michael, you know it’s against the rules to watch cop shows. Tori isn’t old enough to view programs like that.”
Watching Michael in the mirror, Crystal saw him shoot a murderous glare at his sister before hanging his head. “I won’t do it again, Dad.”
“You’d better not,” Tanner replied, “or you’ll be grounded from all television for a week.”
Crystal suppressed a smile. “Actually, Tori, when people say something is stunning, it means it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“It does?” Tori’s eyes, an aquamarine just like her dad’s, met Crystal’s in the mirror. “Why does Mandy call me mean names like Kinky, then?”
“I’m only guessing, but I think Mandy is probably envious. I bet she has straight hair.”
“Yep. And it goes swish-swish, and it’s shiny and pretty.”
“Yours is shiny and pretty, too.” Crystal checked the straightening iron to see if it was up to temp, a gentler heat for Tori’s baby-fine curls. She divided the child’s mane into sections and held them in place with clips. “Are you ready to have straight hair just like Mandy’s?”
Tori giggled. “I’m very ready!”
As Crystal set to work, she realized she might have a bad case of what she called “girl envy” herself. Many young women had straight, silky hair, and she’d chosen to banish curls from her life by straightening them into nonexistence every morning. In a way, she was a grown-up version of Tori, wanting to look like somebody else.
It took only minutes to straighten the girl’s hair. Tori squealed with delight as she vacated the styling chair. “Look, Daddy. My hair swishes!” She wagged her head back and forth. “Isn’t it pretty?”
“Very pretty,” Tanner said. He stood and tipped his head to study his daughter. “You look like a different young lady.”
Tori admired her new look in every mirror she could find. “Daddy, do you see? It’s not just pretend straight. It’s genuine straight!”
Tanner smiled. “Yes, it is, and it’s very attractive. But I can’t help feeling sad. I think your curly hair is so beautiful.”
Tori, still gazing at her reflection, touched the stick-straight strands. “Don’t be sad, Daddy. If I shampoo tonight, it’ll be curly again tomorrow.”
“Will you be sad and cry again?” Michael asked, clearly reluctant to go through that drama a second time.
“Nope!” Tori knelt to hug Rip. “I’m very lucky, just like Crystal. I can have straight hair or curly hair, my choice! All I need is a special iron! Nana can help me do my hair for school.”
Crystal opened a drawer of her styling cabinet. She kept an extra straightening iron on hand in case her main one went on the blink. She drew it out and approached Tori. “If I give this to you as a gift, do you promise never to use it unless your nana or daddy is helping you?”
Tori nodded and smiled. “I promise!” She held up the iron to show it to her father. “Look, Daddy! Now I have my very own hair straightener!”
Ga
zing at Crystal, Tanner winked and mouthed a silent Thank you.
She felt an odd tug in the center of her chest, followed by a pang. Kids often sat in her styling chair, but none of them had ever touched her heart the way Tori did. She was such a darling child. No wonder Tanner had been frantic over her tears. Those innocent blue eyes grabbed hold of a person’s heart and refused to let go.
Chapter Thirteen
Crystal had already fallen for Tori, but it wasn’t until the four of them reached Mystic Creek Park that she got to know Michael. He took Rip on several walks, trotting intermittently so the dog could run. He stopped often to pet the animal and give him praise. Then he caught his sister trying to ascend the natural bridge, which could have been dangerous. Tori cried when Michael grabbed her hand and led her back to the picnic area, where Crystal and Tanner sat at a table.
“She went idiot on me,” the boy said. “When I wouldn’t let her hold the leash, she got mad and tried to go up on the bridge.”
Crystal admired the way Tanner handled the situation. He gave Michael a stern look and said, “Don’t call your sister an idiot.”
“I didn’t. I said—”
“That was what you implied, Michael.” Tanner settled his gaze on his daughter. “And you, young lady. That was not a smart choice. I understand that you’re upset because Michael won’t let you walk Rip, but going up on that bridge to get even with him was a silly thing to do. You could have been hurt.”
“I would’ve been careful! And Michael’s hogging the dog. He won’t let me hold the leash. He says I’m too little! And I’m not!”
“Michael is probably afraid you’re not strong enough to hold Rip back if he decides to take off,” Tanner said. “And you’re making excuses for your behavior, Victoria Ann. The bridge isn’t a safe place to play, and you know it. That’s why there are signs saying children aren’t allowed up there unless they’re accompanied by an adult.” He drew the girl between his knees and turned her toward the bridge. “Do you see how far you could fall?”
“Yes.” Huge tears slid down Tori’s cheeks, and her chin quivered.
“What’s down below the bridge, Tori?”
“Water and big rocks.”
“What would you have landed on if you had fallen?”
“Big rocks, or into water,” Tori replied.
“Yes,” Tanner agreed. “Would you like me to push you on the swing or merry-go-round? Maybe part of the problem is that you aren’t having fun on the playground by yourself.”
“But I want to play with Rip!”
“I’m sure Michael will let you play with him while he holds the leash.”
“Sure, I’ll let her,” Michael chimed in. “Come with us, Tori. You can find a stick to throw for him, and when he goes after it, I’ll run with him to fetch it.”
Tori pouted her bottom lip. “I don’t want you to hold the leash. I want to.”
Michael huffed and led the dog away.
Tanner said, “I understand how much you’d like to take Rip for a walk, but he’s a strong dog. What if he got away from you? He likes to run off, you know, and we’re right in the middle of town.”
“He could get hit by a car, you mean?”
“Possibly, or something else bad could happen.”
Tori glared at Michael’s departing back, but her expression softened when she looked at the dog. “I guess he might be stronger than me, and I don’t want anything to happen to him. He’s my new friend.”
Tanner gave the little girl a playful bear hug. “There’s my girl. Maybe after Rip’s new collar comes, Crystal will let you play with him in her yard, where he’ll be safe.”
At Tanner’s questioning look, Crystal felt her stomach clench. She hadn’t planned to get involved with his children, and she certainly hadn’t expected to feel affection for them. She felt like a hapless hiker who’d stepped into quicksand and was getting sucked under. “Of course,” she heard herself say. “On a Sunday, maybe. I can make lunch.” Where had that come from? “That way, you can play for as long as you like.”
After Tori ran back to the playground, Tanner came around to sit beside Crystal so he could watch his daughter. He sat so close that her shoulder pressed against his upper arm. Heat radiated off him to warm her skin. Memories of the previous night flashed through her mind. That bothered her. It didn’t seem right to think about things like that when his kids were present. This was a family outing, not a date.
Forcing herself to focus on something besides her attraction to Tanner, she asked, “Can Tori read well?”
He sighed. “So well that Mom has to hide her romance novels. Some of them contain—well, you know, explicit descriptions of activities I don’t want Tori to know about until she’s forty.”
Crystal tried to suppress a laugh but failed. He slanted her a grin that made her insides go warm. “Forty? You sound so fatherly—every teenage girl’s worst nightmare.”
“Trust me. It’s only wishful thinking on my part. She’s into girlie stuff already, and she’ll probably want to wear makeup at twelve. I won’t let that happen without a fight.”
“I believe it, but you might want to muster up more backbone before she gets that old. She won the war when it came to getting her hair straightened.”
Tanner guffawed. “You’re so right. I’m doomed, aren’t I?” He watched his daughter climb onto a structure composed of crisscrossed bars and hidey-holes. “She’s going to be a gorgeous young lady. I’ll have boys lined up at my door.” He arched an eyebrow. “Why did you ask how well she can read?”
“I thought maybe she didn’t understand what the warning signs at each end of the bridge say.”
Tanner chuckled. “Do you know how I discovered that she was reading Mom’s books? When I tucked her in one night, she asked, ‘Daddy, what’s ejaculate mean?’ I hoped she was referring to the word in a conversational sense, but oh, no. She was asking about the physiological phenomenon that occurs when a man is aroused.”
“Good grief, what’s her reading level?”
“Eighth grade the last time she was tested, over a year ago. Tori’s gifted. When she was little, I laid it off on all the attention we gave her. I read to her a lot, and my mom was working with her during the day. She could read the text in her storybooks before she entered preschool.”
“Wow. She seems just like any little girl, not that I’m an expert on them.”
“We try our best not to push her. She’s in a class with children her own age. She gets special tutoring above her grade level to keep her from getting bored.”
“Did she get her intelligence from you?”
Tanner laughed. “I’m smart enough, I suppose, but I’m no Einstein. Carolyn’s parents say that she was exceptionally bright. Maybe it came from her gene pool.”
He resumed watching his children. Tori was hanging from a bar by her knees, and Michael was jogging with Rip around the baseball diamond. Then he glanced back at Crystal. “Why hasn’t the city put safety railings on that bridge?”
Crystal smiled. “That’s a topic frequently discussed at town meetings, but because the bridge is a natural feature, people don’t want to deface it with man-made materials. Instead, they agreed on warning signs. Residents of Mystic Creek are protective of the stream and bridge.”
“Ah, right. The legend about two people falling in love along its banks.”
He settled his gaze on hers, and she felt as if she were up to her chin in a delightful blue lagoon. Memories of their lovemaking last night slipped into her mind again. Little pulses of electricity seemed to emanate from his muscular arm, making her shoulder tingle. She resisted the urge to scoot closer to him. This wasn’t the time or the place. “You’re very good with Tori. If I had a child that tried to sneak up on that bridge, I’d freak out and handle it all wrong.”
“Nah. You’d be a great mom.”
&nb
sp; Everything within Crystal recoiled at the thought. She’d once been left in charge of a little girl Tori’s age, and that had ended in a horrible way that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
“Crystal, what is it? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
She nearly said, I’m haunted by one, but as easy as it was for her to talk to Tanner, she would never share that part of her past with him. Tuck was the only person in Oregon who knew. “We should probably go for fast food,” she said, changing the subject. “The kids are having fun now, but at any moment, hunger may strike.”
He nodded and smiled, but there was still a thoughtful, questioning expression in his eyes. “I made a delivery to the Cauldron last week. The smells in there made my mouth water. I was thinking it might be fun to eat there.”
Sissy Sue Sterling and her mother, Doreen McClain, owned the Cauldron. Crystal had been a regular customer until Tuck’s accident. Despite extensive remodeling, the owners had kept their menu prices affordable. “That does sound fun,” she agreed, “but I have Rip with me, and he apparently suffers from separation anxiety. I wouldn’t dare leave him unattended in my car. He nearly destroyed the laundry room this morning.”
“Dang it. I’d like to take you someplace halfway nice, just once.”
Michael walked up with Rip just then. “I’m hungry.”
Tanner laughed. “Okay, sport. How about you and I walk over to the hamburger joint and buy dinner?” He glanced at Crystal. “Do you mind keeping an eye on Tori?”
Panic surged within Crystal like a sudden volcanic eruption. Tori was eight, the exact same age her little sister had been when she died. Get a grip, she told herself. They’ll be gone for only a few minutes. “Sure,” she forced herself to say.
She extended her hand toward Michael to take Rip’s leash. The boy tightened his grip on the nylon rope. “Can he go with us? Dad can go in to get the food, and I’ll stay outside with him.”
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