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“Do you really want to know anythin’ about me? Aren’t you just askin’ questions to avoid awkward silence?” he counters.
“Does it matter?” I continue cutting the hair at the back of his head, slowly working my way to the first side. “Considering how often we run into each other, maybe it would be better if we didn’t start a cat fight every damn time we speak.”
“And asking about my job will help that?”
I scowl, finally meeting his awaiting stare in the mirror. His eyes are slightly narrowed as he watches me, as if he’s trying to see into my head. He’d have a heyday with what he’d find if he succeeded in that.
“Are you always so hard-headed?” I ask.
“Honestly, no.”
“So, this is all an act for me, then?”
“If you want to take it that way, then sure. I just don’t like posers. I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to tell one all my secrets.”
His arrogant tone makes me pause, my scissors poised to cut a chunk of hair far too short.
“You think I’m aposer?”
“Aren’t you? With the borrowed country clothes and your dramatic gaspin’ when you first saw me at Peakside? Bryce and Poppy are too nice to try and set me up, so I have to assume you put on a pretty impressive show in order for them to bring you somewhere I’d be.”
Despite what he thinks of me, my flinch is genuine. So is the hurt in my eyes that I can see reflected in the mirror.
I release the hair between my fingers and slide the scissors and comb into my apron. The flash of guilt across his face doesn’t register to me as I glance at the clock on the front desk and inhale for three calming seconds before exhaling.
My voice is as hard as steel when I look back at him and speak. “If you don’t mind waiting, the other girls will be back any minute. I’m sure one of them would love to finish up here.”
“Shit,” he mutters, throat bobbing. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“But you did.”
“Because I’m a jackass. I’m sorry. Please don’t stop.”
Against my better judgment, I nod and slowly pull my scissors and comb back out. “Alright.”
He rubs a hand down his face, his next words exasperated. “I’m not usually like this.”
“I moved here a month ago because I needed to start over. Not because I’m a fan or wanted the chance to meet you. I’m not a poser; I’m just trying to fit in. The clothes and the boots were Poppy’s idea. So was the bar,” I explain.
I know that I don’t have to explain anything to him, but this feud? It’s not what I had in mind when I decided to start anew life. Especially not a feud fuelled by one man’s misplaced opinion of me. I’m a big enough person to overlook those things and start over, even if only to not have to worry about running into him somewhere and starting a fire with our words.
“You moved here to start over, and I moved back to run away. Funny how that works,” he says briskly.
I want to sink my fingers into that admission and peel it apart layer by layer, but I have a feeling that would send me running with a half-cut head of hair. Instead, I send him a soft smile in the mirror and start cutting again, a simpler kind of silence now budding between us.
14
BRODY
According to my grandfather,I didn’t cut my hair short enough. I had a feeling he would feel this way unless I asked Anna to take a pair of shears to it and leave me bald, but hearing his snippy remarks still annoyed me.
I’ve been holed up in the shop for the past couple of days since. Or hiding, more like. I’m far too old to be avoiding the old man, but I prefer my hide on my back, not hung on the back fence, and I have a feeling that if I go near him right now, I won’t be able to keep myself in check.
The weeks of tension and unspoken feelings regarding my past actions have kept the entire ranch on their toes, always prepared for the blowback. The fact it hasn’t happened yet is alarming. Everyone has something to say about my leaving besides my grandfather. He’s been focusing on nitpicking the million other things I’m doing wrong instead.
Banana: You’re a bit prickly today. Anything you want to talk about?
I think back on the text that I saw before leaving to grab lunch and frown. My mood was shit when I woke up thismorning, and I didn’t notice that my attitude had travelled through cyberspace. Talking to her has become the one thing I’ve been looking forward to every day.
