“I confronted him before he left on a business trip, and he said he’s going to do what he’s going to do, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I just heard Mama’s voice in my head after he left.You don’t marry for love in this society, darling.That’s when I knew I wasn’t going to do it anymore, and I packed my stuff and called movers.”
“You just left?”
“I was gone before he returned, and I left that god-awful gaudy ring on a note that simply said, ‘You can do what you want, and now, so can I.’ And I was gone.”
Her jaw drops. “Wow.”
“Mama spent her life running from the world she came from, and she wanted me to have the big life she never quite attained. Not fully. She has got to be fretting right now because all I want is everything she tried to escape. I want a simple life with a man who loves me.”
“But Kevin could buy you mansions.”
“The mansions that I’ve stepped foot in are as cold as the arctic because there’s no real love. Those relationships, like the marriage I was going to be in, are more like business arrangements. I’d rather live in a small house filled with love than one of those mansions.”
“Rhett’s not a rebound, though, right? You don’t just think you love him because you’re gettin’ over Kevin?”
Shaking my head, I laugh. “No, he’s the real thing. Kevin wasn’t. I don’t think I ever really even liked Kevin. He’s who Mama wanted for me, and I wanted to please her. Mama’s not here anymore, and it’s time for Brynlee to find happiness. And what would make Brynlee very happy is her new friend, Darla, chasing her dream.”
“I’m scared,” she whispers.
“That means you’re ready. No one goes after their passion and just feels okay about it. If it scares you, it means it’s big enough.”
“I could lose all your money.”
Smiling, I nod, loving the strands falling in my face as I do. I really love my hair. “Maybe, but I don’t think you will. If it does happen, that’s the risk I took.”
“You’re like a fairy godmother, you know that?”
“I’ve been called much worse. Recently, actually.”
“You won’t hate me if this doesn’t work out?”
I lean forward and take her by the shoulders to shake her. “Stop assuming the worst! Think about how amazing you’ll make this business. I don’t know how to run the day-to-day operations, and I know nothing about hair except that I love what you did with mine. What I do know is finances and marketing. I’ll help you. I ran a few numbers with assumed metrics, and I’m confident this money can be made back by your fourth year in business.”
“Four years!”
“It takes time.”
“That’s too long. I can’t…”
“You can. If you let yourself. Take a deep breath and just leap. If you’d rather, we can talk about a partnership rather than just an investment. I know you can do this, Darla. I feel it.”
She stares at the coffee table and lets out a deep breath. “I’m goin’ to do this. I’m really goin’ to do this.”
“And you’re going to be great!”
“How is it possible that you have more faith in me than my husband does?”
Damn it, I was hoping to avoid this. I don’t want to throw Carter under the bus. “I don’t have a personal stake in it.”
“I’m goin’ to prove him wrong.”
“Atta girl!”
She smiles and looks up at me again. “I’m really glad we became friends.”
“I’m glad to have a friend. A real one.”
Snorting, she leans back. “Like you didn’t have a hundred friends on speed dial in Chicago.”
