Chapter Sixteen
Rebecca
It was comforting to be at Grayson’s today. I was still flying from the night before, despite my uncertainty about what would happen next. I chose to be optimistic for the moment. Austin was even better in bed than before. No matter what would happen between us, last night had been amazing. I always tried to focus on the present, which was something I’d learned to do when Austin left North Reed.
I had just finished a cut, and I looked over the computer schedule to see who was next. It was Maria.
She was an older woman who had lived here for years since she got married and moved here. At seventy, Maria was as spry as anyone I knew. I welcomed her with a hug before she took a seat. She’d been a regular here since I got that job, at least of mine. I don’t know who she went to before that.
She was a six-week regular. With her curls, it made sense. I secured the cape around her neck. “Just a trim today, Maria?”
“Yes, my girl,” she said brightly. “How are you?” She looked at me in the mirror.
“I think I should be asking you that.” Her husband had only died three months ago.
“I’m getting by, sweetheart. I had a lot of years with Mack, and I will always cherish them. It was just his time.”
“I’m glad you’re doing well,” I said. “Would you like a shampoo first?”
She nodded and stood, indicating that she agreed to the wash. We walked over to that side of the shop together. Maria sat down and leaned back easily, familiar with this routine. I chose to remain quiet during the process as always, though it was out of discomfort in this moment. What could I say to her to make everything right again?
I missed Austin to pieces when he left, and he was alive. Losing your husband of fifty years had to be heartbreaking.
I finished the wash and wrapped a towel around her neck before we walked back to my station. I dried it gently then ran a comb through the curls. She smiled at me in the mirror. Something was up with her, but I was going to play innocent for as long as I could.
Mary was working this shift. She always turned on the television over music when she was here. I preferred the radio, but she had seniority over me. Tonight, the news was just coming on, and I glanced up at the weather report. It was just going to get colder. I was thankful for my collection of thick sweaters, like the one wrapped around me right now. I also welcomed the coffee that everyone seemed to bring in for us, taking a long sip from the cup that Laura gave me earlier.
The crime report came on after the weather, and I rolled my eyes. “We could be listening to Christmas music!” I called out to Mary.
She shot me a dark look. “I get enough of that in my car and every store that I enter after Thanksgiving. No, thank you. I like us all to learn a little something.”
A few people laughed.
“All I know is, I’m happy to live in North Reed,” another woman said. “Too much danger in the bigger cities.” She shook her head sadly. Being a huge state, Texas had its fair share of crime, but that wasn’t present in North Reed.
It led me to thinking about New York and how much crime must happen there. People said you couldn’t even walk around without someone trying to steal from you. How could Austin feel at home in a place like that? I never would, with so many people on the streets at any given time. Fast-paced and exciting seemed overrated to me.
“Here, here,” a few people murmured in agreement, bringing me back to reality.
I took another sip of coffee and looked down at Maria. I pulled a section of her hair straight, snipped it carefully, and moved to another part. Her hair was thick and gorgeous. I asked her for years what she did to it. She gave in to the natural gray years ago, but it was still in amazing shape.
Maria claimed that she used Suave for years, as well as a little coconut oil here and there. That went against everything we were taught as stylists. We were supposed to sell the high-end products that we carried. I felt it was best to leave it up to the customer. Most of these women were older and set in their ways, like Maria. It was pointless to try to sway them. I kept cutting her hair, and the reporter droned on and on about the various crimes happening around the world. I felt safe here.
The next story was about business, which usually bored me. I heard Austin’s name in a story about a big investment and stopped snipping. My head swiveled to look at the screen, along with most of the salon. The reporter mentioned the money involved in the deal. He also said that it was a tremendous game changer in the tech sector, making me realize that Austin knew what he was doing. The location of the company worried me for a moment. Singapore. That was so much farther than New York. Would he have to move there?
“I can’t imagine making that kind of money with every deal like that,” Maria mused. I nodded with awe on my face. “That boy has made a name for himself.”
“He sure has,” said the customer next to her.
Everyone began discussing the story. Occasionally, they would shoot me knowing glances. I felt like a spotlight was on me. I wanted to add something to the conversation just to feel like I was one of the girls. Maria beat me to the punch.
“I think I need to find myself a rich man like you,” she said. “So I can live out my remaining years in style. I could live somewhere exotic and die there.” I met her gaze in the mirror, my eyes wide and questioning. She shook her head with a knowing smile on her face. “This is North Reed, sweetie. Everyone was waiting for you to fall in love again, and the trip to the store gave us all a chance to celebrate.”
“Oh, it isn’t like that,” I told her. It seemed like everyone in the salon stared at me now. This was the only thing I disliked about living in a small town. They all wanted a story from me, but I would never share the details of my time with Austin. Especially what had happened last night. That was just for him and me, and I wasn’t the type of girl to kiss and tell.
“Austin’s mother invited me over to dinner. I hadn’t spent any time with her in forever. So, Austin and I just bought some food for dinner.”
“Uh huh,” Maria told me. I blushed. “He’s grown up to be a good-looking man, and he can give you the world on a string. Who wouldn’t want that?”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I assured her. “We were just spending some time together. As friends.”
The news moved on to sports. No woman in this room cared about that. Their focus was all on me. I was in the hot seat for a while.
I thought that Maria and Mack had a simple life here, but they raised four children and were very happy. They didn’t need huge bank accounts and excitement to do that, and neither did I. To me, the new deal Austin was working on sounded like too much, given that he already had so much money. Was he trying to get further away from North Reed… further away from me?
“You were happy living here, weren’t you?” I asked Maria.
“It was the best,” she said. “The kids had a ball growing up here, and we were always so content.”
All of her kids lived in various parts of the state, after going to college and forming their own families, but they visited often. I’d seen their cars a lot in the last few months.
“I can’t wait for the kids to come back for Christmas. It’s so good to have them around. And it will be the first Christmas without Mack. I could use all the company I can get. We all miss him so very much.” Tears formed in her eyes.
I couldn’t imagine going through anything like that. I vowed to keep the wall up around my heart. I didn’t want this kind of pain with Austin all over again. Losing him once had been bad enough. It had been eleven years, and I’d never really gotten over him. If I let myself love him again and he left, that pain would haunt me for the rest of my life.
“We’ll make it a special holiday, though,” Maria said. “Mack loved Christmas. The last thing he would have wanted was for us to ignore the holiday and mope around. In fact, once the kids are here to help, we’re going to put up three times as many Christmas lights as normal, in honor of him. I want the house to shine so brightly he can see it from heaven.”
My eyes misted up. “That sounds wonderful.” I squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. She patted my hand.
“So,” she said, clearing her throat. “What are you doing for the holiday? Going to see your parents or are they coming here?”
I smiled weakly. “It’s just Kim and me this year. Dad’s been sick with a cold, so they’re staying where it’s warm. And with all of the stress about the library closing, Kim just wanted to make it a quiet holiday. She’s not feeling the usual spirit.” I spoke quietly. There had been a lot of talk about the library’s financial troubles, but I didn’t want to make it a group topic. It hit too close to home for me. I also didn’t really want to talk about the change in plans for my parents’ visit. “I guess I’ll make us a nice dinner. We haven’t spoken too much about it.”
“Everything will work out fine. You’ll see.” Maria flashed me an encouraging smile.
“I sure hope so,” I murmured.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Maybe that boyfriend of yours will fix it,” she said. “Although if you’re still working here, maybe he’s cheap, after all.”
She laughed, and I laughed with her. Maria was joking with me. I loved my job, and it showed. I didn’t want a man like Austin to buy me a big house and tell me to stay put. I wanted the whole package. I shook my head and laughed harder. “I’d never expect any of that from him, nor would I ask for it.”
“I know. You are a strong girl, and you’ve worked for what you have. Mack always admired that about you, you know. You and Kim. He always told me that you could have gone to New York with Austin and lived an easy life. You chose not to.”
I remembered the pain of saying no to that choice and how we ended things. Pain filled my heart.
“You stayed here with your family and held out for something that you wanted,” she said, giving me a curious look in the mirror.
I smiled weakly and checked the evenness of the cut. That had to be the longest time I’d ever spent on a cut, as well as the most painful.
Everyone knew that I was with Austin, though to what level, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t even know.
“I don’t want to live my life based on money. I think it blinds people to what’s really important.” I shrugged. She ruffled her hair. “You had a family here and were happy. You didn’t need all that fancy stuff, did you?”
Maria chuckled and shook her head. “We had some hard times over the years, but the kids always had food on the table. We did just fine.” She nodded as if to affirm her words. “We were happy. Is that what you want, Rebecca?” I smiled and nodded. “You’ll have it then. I am proud of you for sticking to your guns.”
“We’d never let her go.” I glanced up to see Mary smiling at me. “She does too good of a job around this place, and the customers love her.”
“That’s good because I’m not ready to leave.” I smiled back, enjoying the softer side of the woman for a moment.
“He’d be crazy to let her go,” Maria said.
I smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder. All was well in my little town again, even though I couldn’t stop thinking about Austin.
I did have a home here where my precious sister lived. I had enough money to get by, thanks to my parents leaving me the house. If Kim could stay, I could make it here and let Austin go.
I didn’t want to think too hard about that as I followed Marie to the register to collect her money. I didn’t want to let him go.