Chapter Eight
Rebecca
I sipped my coffee and walked over to the register, stifling a yawn. It was slow this morning at Grayson’s, but that was typical for a cold, snowy morning. I had the radio up just a little louder than usual and hummed along to the indie song that played through the room.
When I opened the shop, I took some liberties. I was going on eleven years as a stylist, so a little change in music wouldn’t hurt anybody.
I started to wipe down stations once it hit ten o’clock. I would only be in here for another hour on my own before Heather showed up for her shift. The door chimed, and I glanced up in surprise.
It was Austin, dressed casually in worn jeans, a plaid flannel, and a thick coat. He held two cups of coffee in his hand. I approached him with a cautious smile, noticing the hat on his head.
“Is your hair okay?” I asked.
“My hair?” Austin asked, frowning. He handed me a cup marked with few letters. “I thought you might want some coffee. It’s chilly this morning.”
My brow furrowed as I stared at him. “I just assumed you’d only come back here if you needed a haircut. But the last one was so recent. And it seems like you’re not spending much time in town at all.”
Kim kept me informed of all the local gossip. I mostly worked and stayed home. The most I’d do is go to Kim’s like I did the other night. She was much more of a social butterfly than I was.
“My hair is fine. You did a great job with it.” Austin sipped his coffee before looking around. He cleared his throat. “I wanted to talk to you, Rebecca.”
“Me? About what?” I assumed the last time we spoke would be it. He was only here through the end of the month, and I could hide out that long, apart from being here.
Austin walked over and took a seat at my station. He sipped the coffee again with a violent shiver. “Jesus, it’s cold.”
“You’re the one who came out in the weather,” I responded. He looked at me with a stern expression. There I go, talking like a fool again. “Sorry. What did you want to talk about?” I was like a teenager all over again around Austin.
“I wanted to apologize to you for the other night,” he said.
I tilted my head in confusion. “For helping me?” Austin regretted that?
He waved his hand in the air and shook his head. “No, I could never regret helping you.” Austin smiled.
I reached for my first cup of coffee, finding it empty. I searched around for the cup that Austin brought.
“What I’m apologizing to you for is acting like an asshole,” he said.
“Oh,” I squeaked. I sat down in a seat across from him.
“This whole trip has thrown me, to be honest. It’s been a few years, and in that time, more people have kissed my ass than anything else.” He looked at me with a sincere gaze. “You’ve always been the only woman to put me in my place. You’re the only one who ever challenged me, apart from Mom.”
“I suppose I have,” I admitted with a small smile. I pushed myself back and forth with my chucks against the old black and white tile.
“You had something right,” he said. “I do remember my roots here well, but life is different in New York. I have everything there, and at the same time, nothing at all. It’s a little lonely when you have the money that I do. Everyone just wants something from me. Apart from my assistant, I don’t know who really likes me for me. But you? You’ve always liked me for me and supported my dreams, but you called me out on all that the other night. You seem to do that a lot easier now.” His gaze searched my face.
I blushed. I’d been such a bitch to him the last few times I’d seen him. A lot more than before. But seeing him was such a shock for me after reading he was supposed to be in the Bahamas. I wasn’t prepared for Austin to be here at all.
“You have a fire inside of you that I’m not used to,” he said, breaking my train of thought. “Most women will do anything to please me.”
“I’ll bet,” I murmured, looking down at the floor. I’d tortured myself with the pictures online and the news stories, feeling so plain and ordinary compared to the women he dated. Every story about his newest celebrity girlfriend made me feel worse.
It seemed like he had a new girl every few months. I was so convinced he’d moved on. There was a good chance he was going to do just that when he returned to New York.
“You were one of the few women to walk away from me,” he said. “You were the only one to tell me ‘no’ when I asked you to come with me. Other women have begged me to let them stay around, and you just ended it that day.” His voice was filled with emotion. “You didn’t want anything to do with me.”
“You weren’t rich then. Perhaps any other woman might have done the same.”
He leaned forward and stared at me. “What if I was? What if I could have given you the world on a string? Would you have said yes then?”
I licked my lips as I looked back at him. I felt tears in my eyes as I searched for an answer. “Even back then, I knew you would go off and be successful. But I never wanted your money or your fame, Austin. I wanted our life to continue here in the town that I loved.” I took a deep breath. “I loved it here, and you were willing to just walk away from all of it, including me. I didn’t think you cared, so of course I ended it. What were we going to do? Drag it out until you left town?”
I sucked in my breath and glanced toward the door. This would be a hell of a time for someone to walk in. Thankfully, the streets were pretty empty. “I loved you, Austin. I didn’t want you to leave me. I wanted you to want to stay here and marry me, create a life with me here, where all of our family and friends were.” A tear slid down my cheek, and I bowed my head to try and gain control of myself. I hadn’t cried once for this man since he came back to town.
When I looked up again, I could see the shock on Austin’s face. I never even told him that I loved him. I was scared when I knew he was just going to leave me once he graduated.
I cleared my throat and pressed a hand to my cheek. “I need to clean myself up.” Heather would be there soon, and eventually, we’d have some customers. I’d never fallen apart in public over Austin Harris, and I wasn’t about to start now. I stood and walked to the bathroom in the back, certain that everything was locked up. I made sure of that when I opened this morning. I walked into the single room and locked the door before I looked into the mirror.
I looked a bit pale, and my eyes were red. Why was Austin even here? I wasn’t ready to feel so weak in front of him. I grabbed a paper towel and dabbed at my eyes. I could do this. I could walk out there and be just fine and thank him for his apology with grace.
I jumped when there was a tap at the door, turning and hitting my hip on the sink.
“Rebecca, are you okay?” It was Heather. “Your friend said that you’ve been in here a while.” She was a few minutes early.
“Is there a customer?” I asked in a panicked voice, pressing my hands against my skinny jeans.
“No. There probably won’t be for a while with the snow coming down again. But I’m here, so come out when you’re ready.” Her sweet voice faded, along with her footsteps.
I turned to look back into the mirror. I dabbed my skin and eyes with a cool, damp paper towel and braided my wavy hair over my shoulder quickly. I felt so restless. I walked out to the counter where Heather was standing with two cups of coffee and smiled at her.
“Hey,” I greeted her as she looked up from the screen that showed our appointments. She slid one of the coffees my way.
“I brought you this.” I looked to the right to see if Austin was still here. He watched me from my station.
“It’s a popular day for coffee,” I said and smiled. “Thanks.” I knew that my voice sounded high and that my hand was shaking. I took the coffee and walked it to my station, meeting Austin’s gaze as I set it down.
“You didn’t tell me that you knew Austin Harris,” Heather said, turning to look at us.
“I have since high school.” Heather was younger, and a fresh graduate from the beauty school, so she wouldn’t remember him. “You two met then?”
“Sure did,” she replied.
I realized that she was smitten with him. Even in his Texas clothes, Austin was gorgeous. What else could I expect?
“I’d like to take you to lunch today, Rebecca. As a way to apologize and all that,” he said.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
He smiled crookedly at me. He knew what that did to me, and I shook my head slowly at him.
“I want to,” he said. “Pick a place. It’s on me. I can afford to spoil you a little bit.”
Austin stood and asked me for my phone. He did something, and I heard his phone chime as he set mine back on the counter. “Text me when you’re going to lunch, and tell me where to meet you. I’m going to talk to Seth and his dad for a bit.”
I stared at him as he left, pressing my lips together.
“Oh, my goodness,” Heather said. “I think he likes you.”
I laughed. She didn’t know the half of it.
“We were friends in school, and he’s visiting,” I said in a weak voice. “It’s been a while, that’s all. Austin is a silly guy.” I sat down in my seat.
“The press makes him seem so driven and serious. You know he’s a billionaire, don’t you?” her voice lowered.
I nodded sadly. I certainly did, and it might be what ruined us.
“I see stories about him all the time,” she said. “He’s like a celebrity in New York!”
I wanted to tell her there was another side to him. Austin went to school here and lived here before all of that. He liked Star Wars and comic books. He wore jeans and scuffed up sneakers. He drove a piece of crap used car in high school, just like the rest of us.
But I remained quiet, wanting to keep all of that to myself. I felt confused by everything that happened this morning, and I needed to think about it. What was I going to say at lunch? I kind of dropped a bomb before I ran away and felt so scared of what he could respond with.
Ugh. I took a sip of the coffee that he brought and glanced up as the door chimed, signaling the arrival of some customers. That would kill some time until around noon, when I normally took my lunch.