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I almost blurted out that I was pretty sure Marigold and I would give her a tiny army of grandchildren. But I was getting ahead of myself. I needed to convince Marigold to give me a chance first. We’d get to all the babies later.
Mom patted my leg again, then got up and disappeared out the back door. I inhaled the rest of my sandwich, then laid down on the couch. Considering what my body had been through, a nap was probably a good idea.
But I couldn’t sleep.
I stared at the ceiling, thinking about Marigold.
What was she doing today? Was she at work?
Was she worried about me?
I wondered if I should call her. Thank her for getting me to the hospital and let her know I was okay.
But I wanted to do that in person.
What was it going to take to undo years of being shitty to her? It wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t afraid of the odds. My rebellious streak ran deep and this felt like an unspoken challenge. Get Marigold Martin to fall in love with me?
I was Zachary Haven. I never struck out with women. How hard could it be?
CHAPTER 5
Marigold
It was weird being at the salon again.
Rain pattered against the windows and the world outside was shrouded in gray mist. I took a sip of my tea, enjoying the warmth of the mug in my hands. It wasn’t cold in the salon, but watching the storm outside sent a shiver down my back.
Or maybe it was the memory of Zachary’s accident.
I felt horrible about it. The electrician Joe had sent to fix everything had explained that when I’d turned on the light above the washing station, it had somehow shocked Zachary. He’d said it shouldn’t have happened—there was something wrong with the wiring—and it certainly wasn’t my fault. But I still felt awful.
He could have been killed. For as long as I lived, I’d never forget the sight of him lying on the floor. He hadn’t moved and I’d been terrified he was dead.
Most of the incident was a blur in my memory. Yelling for Sandra to call 911. Rushing to see if he was breathing. The relief I felt when he took a gasping breath and I knew he was alive.
I blinked to clear my head. Reliving that awful experience wasn’t doing any good. Zachary was okay. I’d heard from Annika that he’d been released from the hospital that morning. No major head or spine injuries and his burns weren’t as bad as they could have been. His parents had taken him to their place to help him recover.
They were such a sweet family.
“Hey, Mari, Amy just called,” Stacey said from her spot at the front desk. “Her daughter is sick, so she has to go pick her up at school. I rescheduled her for next week.”
I glanced at the time. That meant I didn’t have any more appointments today. I let out a sigh. Things had really slowed down in the last month.
“Okay, thanks. You might as well go home early. I doubt we’ll get any walk-ins, but if we do, I can take care of it.”
She smiled, her eyes bright, the caramel highlights we’d recently added to her long, dark hair to give it more dimension enhancing her perfect complexion. “That actually works out great. Jason is already home for the day.”
Stacey had worked for me for the last few years and I adored her. Her husband, Jason, owned his own plumbing business. But he wasn’t the pants-hanging-down-too-low type of plumber. He was a former football player turned weightlifter, a Greek god of a plumber.
Stacey was a very lucky woman.
She tidied up the front desk a little before grabbing her things and leaving out the front door.
I took my empty tea mug to the back to rinse it out, wondering if I should just close early. With the weather the way it was, it was doubtful anyone would come in. But I did have some bookkeeping to get done—business owner problems—so I decided to stick it out until closing time.
The wind howled outside as I worked. Bookkeeping wasn’t a fun task, especially when finances were so tight. How had everything gotten to be so expensive? It seemed like everything from color to toner to laundry detergent had doubled in price in the last few years.
Things had been better when I’d had another stylist working for me, but she’d married the man of her dreams and moved to Colorado. I really needed to find someone to fill her chair or I wasn’t going to be able to keep paying Stacey’s salary.
