Page 154 of When Love Takes Root

I swallowed and kept my eyes on the front.

Celeste glanced back then, caught me watching, and smiled before turning to answer Starr.

Juice made a low sound in his throat. “Mm-hmm. Visitor badge revoked.”

“Man.”

“What? I’m happy for you. I’m also entertained. Both can be true.”

“She’s different.”

“That don’t even make sense.”

“It made emotional sense.”

“Barely.”

He lifted the microfiber cloth and pointed toward the ladder. “But you understood me. Now come on. Help me load this before you start looking at her again and forget we still on the clock.”

By four-thirty, the salon looked like itself again. Better than itself. The back row was powered. Dryers ran without flicker. Stations were wiped down. Chairs moved back. The old, scorched outlet sat in a labeled evidence bag because I wanted documentation for her records. Darnell and Miguel loaded the last ladder into the truck. Juice gathered the drop cloths and made one more dramatic announcement about the sacrifices he had made for beauty and public safety.

Celeste stood in the middle of the back row with both hands pressed to her mouth.

I came up beside her. “You okay?”

She nodded, but her eyes shined.

“I know it’s just wiring.”

She shook her head. “It’s not just wiring.”

I looked around the shop with her.

She lowered her hands. “This place has been one of the only things that felt like mine after everything changed. When you said the back row had to stay down, I understood. I did. But it felt like another part of my life being told to stop.” I let her talk. She swallowed and looked at the dryers. “Now it feels like I can breathe in here again.”

The words moved through me.

I reached for her hand, slow enough for her to decide and sure enough for her to feel that I meant it. She gave it to me. I laced our fingers and held them between us, not hidden, not flaunted.

“Then take your breath back, Red. These walls aren’t fighting you anymore.”

Her eyes lifted to mine.

For a moment, I forgot the shop was full of people.

Then the front door opened, and noise poured in.

“Ma!”

Celeste turned before Sky reached her, her whole face softening as she opened her arms. Celeste laughed and opened her arms. “Skye, slow down before you take us both out.”

Skye crashed into her anyway, paper bag pressed to her chest like it held classified government property. A second girl came in behind her, backpack bouncing, hair beads clicking with every step.

Celeste looked over Skye’s head. “Zuri, please don’t run into my display.”

Zuri froze mid-step and grinned like the display had been the one in danger.

A teenage girl followed with earbuds around her neck and a sketchbook hugged against her ribs. Celeste pointed at her with motherly precision.