Chapter 27
Kelsi
“If you find yourself at a fork in the road, take the one that leads to happiness even if it is the harsher journey of the two.”
~ Rowan O’Sullivan
“Wow,” I breathed when Bella spun Delilah in the chair I’d disinfected four times after last night’s after-hours activities. “You look like Old Hollywood royalty.”
“Thanks,” Delilah smiled confidently. “That’s what I was going for.”
Delilah’s blonde hair was in soft waves falling around her face. Bella had done her lips in a satiny scarlet, given her cut-crease eyeshadow, with dramatic liner and lashes. The makeup exaggerated her already large eyes and lips, taking her beauty to an out-of-this-world level.
“Well, you nailed it.”
Delilah held the small mirror that Bella had handed her to see the back of her hair and a wicked grin pulled at her lips. “Wait till you see my dress. It’s va-va-voom.”
If anyone had the curves to pull off va-va-voom, it was Delilah. I was sure she was going to make many a tongue wag tonight.
She set the hand mirror down and spun so that she was facing the large oval mirror at Bella’s station. As she stared at her reflection, she said quietly, “Tonight is the night.”
Bella and I exchanged an intrigued look.
“For what?” I asked.
Staring straight into her reflection, Delilah said, “For me to make my move.”
“On who?” Bella and I chorused.
Delilah’s shoulders lifted as she took in a deep breath as if she was gathering courage.
Not wanting her to feel like she had to share the identity of the mystery man, I said, “Well, whoever he is, he’s not gonna stand a chance.”
She looked over her shoulder, glancing around the shop. The salon had been packed today with women getting ready for the fundraiser tonight. It seemed the entire town would be in attendance. It had a silent auction that raised money for the schools and city services like the senior center and the police and fire department. Local businesses and residents donated services or products. I’d donated a treatment and a basket of KiKi Beauty. Now, finally the salon was quiet.
She gulped and looked first at Bella and then at me. “It’s Sawyer.”
“Sawyer Briggs?” I asked as Bella’s jaw dropped.
I’d been so confident when I’d said that whoever it was didn’t stand a chance, but Sawyer? He was more of a mountain than a man. Not just his size, but he also seemed like he was made out of stone. I’d only talked to him a few times when I’d dropped Milo off, and I’d done all the talking. He was quiet, and his expression was always unreadable. At first, I’d thought that he just didn’t like me, but Milo said that was pretty much how he always was.
“Yes.” Delilah nodded nervously. “I’m telling you guys because I don’t want to chicken out. I’ve been in love with him since…forever. I’m tired of being scared. Tired of waiting. Tired of making excuses of why I shouldn’t tell him how I feel. I know he still sees me as the little girl that used to follow him around in pigtails, but I’m not that girl anymore. Tonight, I’m going to show him.”
“Well,” I tried to be supportive without making any promises I had no way of guaranteeing. “You definitely don’t look like a little girl anymore. When I met you, I thought you looked like a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.”
“When I came back to town, I thought Brigitte Bardot,” Bella enthused.
“Now all I have to do is make Sawyer see me like that.” Delilah stood with a determined air around her and began walking to the cash register with Bella. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.” I smiled as I headed back to my room to prep for my last appointment before I could go home and get ready myself.
It was inspiring seeing Delilah go after what she wanted. I wished that I could do that. I wished that I was going to the fundraiser tonight to go and get my man. All day, his words were playing on a constant loop in my head. All the stuff he’d said about me making the world a better place just by being in it was sweet. I’d never had anyone say anything like that to me, but that’s not what was getting the most rotation.
“I love you.”
“I want you.”
“All of you.”
“Forever.”
Those were the things I couldn’t stop thinking about. And I felt the same way. But, it didn’t matter. Milo mattered.
After Russell and Bryson left last week, Milo and I had a good talk. I’d apologized for leaving him to move away and for not coming back to visit. I’d promised him that it was just going to be him and me and that he didn’t have to worry about me hooking up with random guys. He’d listened and then said he was hungry. We finished off the pizza and finally watched Tommy Boy. And everything had gone back to normal.
This morning I’d gotten up early and made chocolate chip pancakes for his special birthday breakfast. He was spending the day with Sadie at the pool, and I was going to be driving them to the fundraiser tonight.
He was doing so good. We were doing so good. I would do anything, sacrifice anything, to keep it that way. Nothing was worth hurting Milo. Not even Bryson.
The door of my room opened, and I expected to see my four o’clock, thinking Bella must’ve shown her back. But it wasn’t Mrs. Norton. It was the only man that mattered in my life.
“Hey, teenager!” I called out.
He sighed. “How long are you going to keep saying that when you see me?”
“Just today.” I grinned and squinted my eyes. “Maybe tomorrow, but then I’ll stop. I promise.”
The smile that spread on his face told me he didn’t hate it that much. “Okay, fine.”
“Did you need money for the pizza?” I pulled my purse out from the cabinet.
I’d told him to stop by if he wanted to order the pizza before I got home and I would give him money.
“No. I want to wait and eat with you.”
Aww. I said inside. Outside I played it as cool as a cucumber. “Okay, I’ll be home in about an hour and a half.” I put my purse back. “So what’s up?”
“I got this for Sadie. For tonight.” He took off his backpack and lifted a small rose corsage in a plastic box out of it. “Is it stupid? I know this isn’t prom. But she said that she heard that it’s kind of like prom and that since she was little, she wanted to go to prom so she could wear a flower on her wrist.”
My brother had even more game than I’d thought. “No, it’s not stupid. She’s going to love it.”
He set it down and pulled another clear box out; this one was held a white lily corsage. “I got you one, too.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. “You did?”
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I didn’t want other girls to have them and not you.”
Cool as a cucumber was out the window. As drops of emotions fell down my face, I pulled Milo into a hug. A tight hug. “You didn’t have to do that. Thank you, I love it.”
“Okay, okay.” He patted my back, indicating he was done with my outburst of affection.
I sniffed as I released my death hold on him and wiped my eyes.
“I’ll take it home for you.” He put the flowers back in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He started to leave but paused in the doorway. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I grabbed a tissue and patted my tear stained cheeks.
He shut the door, and my first thought was that I was going to have to have the birds and bees talk with him. Was thirteen too early for that talk? Was it too late?
A panic rose up in me, but then I just told myself to answer any questions he had honestly. That was my parenting plan with him. He might not like what I have to say all the time, and I might not like what he tells me, but if we were honest and had open communication, it was the best shot at doing this right.
“The other night you said that you weren’t going to have any boyfriends. You said that it was just going to be you and me.”
“Yep.” I tried to sound as neutral as possible.
He scrunched his face. “Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” I wasn’t sure what exactly he was confused about.
“I mean why don’t you want a boyfriend?” He set his backpack down. “I was going to ask you when you said it, but I was still mad, so I didn’t. But I was telling Sadie about it, and she told me I should ask you if I wanted to know.”
“I’m not going to date anyone because I want you to have a stable environment. I know that it upset me growing up, mom having different guys coming in and out all the time.”
“You’re not going to have a boyfriend because of me?” His brow furrowed. “I don’t care if you have a boyfriend.”
Open communication. Honesty, I reminded myself. “I saw a text that you sent Sadie. I wasn’t trying to spy on you, but it was on my phone.”
“A text I sent Sadie…?” He didn’t look upset that I’d read his messages. He seemed more confused than anything.
“You said that you’d be happy if I never had another boyfriend.”
“Oh, that.” His face relaxed. “I meant like the guys you used to date. Before you moved. Not forever. That’s stupid! I don’t want you to be alone. I just want you to be with someone who treats you nice and isn’t an asshole. I thought maybe you liked Bryson, that’s why when he texted about the ice cream I said yes. I knew you didn’t like the Russell guy since you never text him back and I thought if Bryson came over you’d be happy.”
“You want me to be with Bryson?”
“Yeah.” He said yeah, but what he was really saying was, duh.
A knock sounded at the door.
“That’s probably my four o’clock. We’ll talk more later.”
“No, I think we’re good.” Milo picked up his backpack, obviously over this conversation.
I pulled him into one more hug. “I love you.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “I love you, too.”
As he left and I ushered Mrs. Norton in I couldn’t help the broad smile on my face. For the first time in my life I felt like everything was falling into place. Milo was happy and safe. The man of my dreams declared his undying love for me and now all I had to do was declare it right back.