Chapter 8
Bella
“There’s a yellow jacket in the outhouse.”
~ Papa Duke
No, no, no! I screamed on the inside as we stood in front of the deserted storefront. Outside I was the picture of poised and rational as I calmly asked my property manager Jan, “When did it close down?”
I stared at the sign on the awning that still read The Best Little Hairhouse in Texas in complete and total disbelief. This hair salon was a staple in Wishing Well. Haircuts, perms, proms, weddings. Sitting in Sassy’s chair was like a rite of passage.
“Oh ’bout five years ago. Sassy just up and retired. She and Tully moved to Las Vegas, if you can believe that.”
“Five years?” Yep, that’s closed closed.
Disappointment flooded me as I leaned forward, cupping my hands over my eyes so I could peer inside the glass. It looked exactly like I remembered it. The stations were still in place. The chairs, the mirrors, the lights, the front counter. Everything.
“That’s right.” Jan joined me in my peering mission and pressed her forehead to the glass. “She won a scratcher on a Friday and by Monday she was gone. It’s been like this ever since, a Salon Ghost Town. No one’s been interested in the space and you know Old Man Spratt owns the building and he doesn’t do anything that costs him a dime, so everything just sat here.”
Dropping my hand from the window, I lifted my chin high and pushed my shoulders back. It was rally time. This wasn’t the first time life had laughed in my face and sadly, I doubted it would be the last. But it was by no means the end of the world.
The job I’d hoped for was not an option. So what? That was fine. I would figure something else out. When you spend the first six years of your baby’s life in and out of ICU, it tends to puts things in perspective.
Sure, my husband left me. After renting an apartment for two months so Sadie could finish out the school year, I had exactly four hundred dollars in my bank account and now I had no idea when I would be able to increase that number. I had no idea where we were going to live or what I was going to do for work, but Sadie was healthier and happier than she’d ever been. I’d talked to her an hour ago and she and Thea were going antique shopping. She was thriving. That was all that mattered. Everything else was just logistics.
Since I didn’t have bootstraps, I pulled my purse strap up on my shoulder. “Do you know if anyone’s hiring around town?”
Jan’s face twisted in confusion. “You lookin’ for a job, sweetie?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why would you be doin’ that?” She motioned to my left hand. “Isn’t that husband of yours a fancy doctor?”
I looked down at the ring that still sat on my left hand. The sun was hitting it, reflecting a prism of light. Epiphanies come at the strangest times. At least for me they did.
I was an impostor in my own life. No more armor, no more war paint, no more fronts. I was a divorced single mom with an amazing kid, curly hair that didn’t appreciate this humidity, no money, and no job.
“Actually…” I removed the ring and slid it into my pocket. “We’re not together. And yes, I’m looking for a job.”
“Oh, I see.” Jan’s eyes widened for a split second, but she quickly recovered. “Well, I heard Bryson’s hiring over at The Cow. I’m not sure if waitressing is what you were looking for…”
“That sounds great. I’ll stop by and see him. Thanks.” Bryson was Jade’s brother. Growing up I’d spent more time at their house than my own. Bry and I had always gotten along and I was fairly sure he’d hire me even though I had zero experience. If not, Jade might kill him, so there was that going for me, too.
We continued walking downtown towards Jan’s office to discuss Papa Duke’s, or I guess my, farm. The last thing I wanted to do was sell it, but I either needed to do that or move into it, and the latter was not an option. Even if I could get past all the bad that’s happened here, there was no way I could raise Sadie in this town.
Jan was catching me up on who was still in town and who had moved or passed away. I was listening until we passed the park in the town square, then her voice faded out. Memories flooded back to me. Colton and I sitting on a blanket. Me having my first kiss.
Movies in the Park was a tradition in Wishing Well. On Saturday evenings during the spring and summer, weather permitting, the entire town gathered in the grassy area of the town square for a cookout and when it got dark a movie would be projected up on the side of City Hall, the tallest building in town. Colton and I had our first “date” on one of those nights. I was eleven, he was thirteen. I told my parents I was going to Movies in the Park with Jade, but I met Colton, who’d asked me to be his girlfriend the Monday before at school. They were showing Back to the Future. He seemed so much older than me then. I remember being so nervous that he was going to kiss me and I wouldn’t know what to do.
But then he did, and it was perfect.
I was rambling from sheer nerves and he cupped my jaw. I remember even then that I’d loved the feeling of his calloused fingers brushing against my smooth skin. His mouth turned up in the lop-sided grin that had always made my heart melt and he said, “You can keep talking if you want to but I’m going to kiss you now.”
I giggled nervously and said, “I’m not going to talk if you kis—”
The next thing I knew his lips were covering mine and I stopped talking. He held my face in place and his mouth was so soft, yet strong. He didn’t move at first, just let me get used to the feeling. Then he slowly brushed his lips against mine, back and forth, before pulling first my lower and then upper lip between his own with gentle suction. His kiss was soft and caressing and I remember quivering beneath the sweet tenderness.
“Are you interested in that?” Jan’s words shattered my memory like a hammer smashing a frame of glass.
I blinked at the invasion. “What?”
She waved her hand in front of my face. “Did I lose you there, hun?”
“Sorry.” I smiled. “I kind of zoned out.”
“No worries!” She unlocked the door beneath the Wishing Well Realty sign. The sign included a tag that read: Turning Your Wishes Into Reality Since 1985. “Can I get you a water, sweet tea, soda pop?”
“Water would be great.” I looked around the office and just like everywhere else in this town, it looked exactly the same as I remembered it. The summer before I moved away, I worked part-time cleaning offices for Old Man Spratt’s buildings. Being back here was like stepping into a time capsule.
She grabbed two bottled waters and pulled a file from a filing cabinet as we sat at a small conference table.
“Okay, so since I didn’t know you were coming back, I leased the main house out for a month,” she informed me as she flipped open the file.
“What?” This wasn’t the news I was expecting to hear.
Her head lifted. “Did I lose you again?”
“No. I heard you, I just don’t understand.”
“I rented out the farmhouse. But it’s at a premium rate.”
“When do I have to be out of there?” I was torn, the premium rate part sounded great. The being homeless not so much.
“Well, I’m doing the walk-through tomorrow and handing over the keys Sunday. But you don’t have to leave the property.”
“Um…” My head turned slowly from side to side. “I can’t live there with a family.”
“No, don’t be silly, I’m not suggesting that.” Jan laughed as she waved her hand in dismissal.
When she didn’t expound, I prompted, “What are you suggesting?”
“Oh, well now, it’s not a family and I only rented the main house. The back house and the barn are all yours.”
“Oh, okay.” This actually might be really good news. I could still live on the property and bring in a rental income. Maybe the tides were turning and things were starting to go my way. “That sounds great!”
“Perfect!” She clapped her hands together.
“Wait, you said it’s not a family?” The house was so big, one of the largest in Wishing Well, I couldn’t imagine that a single person would need or want all that space.
“Nope. It’s a production company.” Jan turned the file so that it was facing my direction and pointed at the top. “See. Spotlight Entertainment. They’re going to be shooting a show right here in Wishing Well with the McCord boy.”
Maybe the tides weren’t turning after all. “So the production crew will be staying there?”
“Oh no, honey, the production crew are all staying at the Come On Inn. The contestants are going to be staying at the farm.”
“What?” I heard her, although now there was also a high ringing sound in my ear.
“You know…the girls that’ll be trying to ‘claim Colton.’” She made air quotes with her hands before snorting with laughter. “Get it, because that’s the name of the show.”
“I got it.” I nodded.
I got it all right. My Papa Duke’s house was going to be filled with women that were all dating Colton and I was going to get a front row seat. The tides were definitely turning, into a tsunami-sized wave that just landed on my life.
Bella: 3 Colton: 1