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“He started after I started. I’m sure.”
She brought her glass to her mouth, mumbling a “huh” before taking another sip.
Valerie wasn’t expecting Sean to be telling the truth, or maybe she just had a hard time believing it herself. I had no idea what all Sean had done to lose that trust from her, assuming it was more than the arrest I was aware of, even though that was probably plenty enough, and even though I wanted to pry more than I wanted her walking out of here with kickass hair, I didn’t feel right about doing this behind Sean’s back, which was exactly how it felt.
But if Valerie were to offer up information, or inquire about stuff I knew about, I supposed that was different.
“How does he seem?” she asked.
“Good. Focused. He was running the kitchen by himself up until very recently, and he didn’t have a problem. He just bought a house.”
Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her that. What if Sean didn’t want her knowing?
Focus on hair, Shay!
“Sean owning a house,” she mumbled, shaking her head a little. “The only thing he ever owned was a trailer. We lived in an apartment with the girls. As soon as we met and got serious, Sean went out and found a place. He refused to stay in that trailer with me. He wouldn’t even let me in it. I think he was embarrassed. It was pretty dumpy. He kept it, though. Stored it somewhere, I guess. Good thing too, since he didn’t have anywhere to go after he got out. I’d left him.”
I listened and focused on my task.
“It’s like, you give people so many chances and they just keep blowing it. You have to eventually say, enough is enough, you know? I didn’t blame Sean at first. When he’d get into trouble or whatever, it’s like, I knew it was all because of his terrible home life. He didn’t know any different. But then, I’d think, why am I justifying this? It didn’t matter why he was doing the things he was doing, he shouldn’t have been doing them. Especially when kids are involved. I mean, my God. I was so unbelievably angry with him when I found out what he did. Even after I knew he was stealing that car to get the money to pay for the hospital bill, I’d had it, you know? The fact that he had the girls with him and he didn’t think. He didn’t stop and worry what that would do to them? No. There was no justifying that. My babies were terrified. And when I had to pick them up from the police station, I knew I was done. No more chances.”
Valerie paused to take a drink, then licked the sweet tea off her lips and shook her head.
“And now you’re telling me he’s holding down a job and wasn’t lying to me about the house, and I got to be the bad guy and say no.” She sighed, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “I’m going to need to walk out of her with fabulous hair today. My mood is kind of crappy now.”
“That I got you covered on,” I replied, offering her a smile.
Valerie didn’t say any more about Sean after that, but I could tell her mind was heavy and keeping her thoughts hostage. We kept the conversation light throughout the rest of the appointment.
Honestly, I was grateful she was finished sharing for the day. I had a lot to process and work out inside my own head. There were so many questions I wanted answers to, things I was still unclear about.
Who was Sean Molina? Where did he come from? What all had he done, and why? And who was so terrible to him growing up?
I promised Valerie hair no short of fabulous, and I delivered. She was ecstatic with me and the finished product and declared Hair by Shay the hottest spot in Dogwood, swearing she’d refer me to all her friends.
I only had one worry—
I knew I couldn’t keep this from Sean.Chapter TenSEANTwo days later
I killed the engine to my bike, swung off, then headed inside Whitecaps.
I’d had to postpone a full day of work on the house after getting called in, which would’ve pissed me off, but I’d never be pissed about getting paid.
Furniture was my next purchase. I’d drained my accounts getting the house, and even though the raise was helping, any extra shifts I could get I’d take.
I knew Shayla was working today. I’d seen her car, so I was expecting more of what we were doing now: talking. Letting shit play out, which was her idea, and I was grateful she offered it, leaving me not having to explain my actions. So when I stepped out of the hallway and caught Shayla at that exact moment coming out of the lounge, met her eyes, and watched her make a hasty retreat back inside that lounge, I didn’t understand what the fuck was going on.
