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I pulled on an old pair of leggings and tied my hair up in a knot at the top of my head.
“She’s gonna be fine,” Weston said, standing in the bedroom doorway.
“I know,” I answered grouchily.
I didn’t know. That was the problem.
“You have to let her try. Otherwise, she’ll just hide shit from you and do it anyway.”
“I know,” I said again, this time a little more snappy.
Parker poked her head in around Weston. “Keys?” she asked and I felt my stomach flip nervously.
Shit. I was going to do this. I reached into my purse on my dresser and handed her the keys. Then I followed her out onto the front porch and even though it was below fifty, I sat my ass on my front porch in a rocker and watched my baby get into the truck.
I brought my knees up to my chest and held them to me. My whole world was in that truck. I prayed she was safe as she backed out of the driveway with a small wave and smile my way.
Weston joined me on the porch, stood in front of me, and then leaned over, plopping Andy’s Atlanta Braves cap on my head.
“Oh, I don’t—” I started, about to tell him I didn’t need it. Almost feeling guilty wearing it now that we were together.
But before I could get the words out, Weston was bent over, cradling my jaw in his hands, a soft look on his face. “It’s okay, Slugger. Some days you’ll need us both.” He placed a soft kiss on my lips and sat in the rocker next to mine.
Both as in both him and Andy. My vision swam with tears.
He placed his hand over mine on the arm of the rocker and gave it a squeeze.
And for the first time in my life, I thought of how lucky I was. How lucky I was to have been loved like this twice in one lifetime.
“You married?” my client Margaret asked as I finished primping and curling her hair.
Usually, when someone asked me that question, I clammed up but not today. For the first time ever, I smiled. I didn’t feel the debilitating sadness that came with saying I was a widow anymore.
I still missed Andy like hell, but I was happy now.
I shook my head. “No, I’m a widow. Single mom, but I have a really nice boyfriend.” I left out how hot he was and that he had a badass motorcycle because I didn’t think eighty-year-old Margaret would appreciate those aspects of Weston as much as I did.
The sound of the scanner next to me in Selena’s booth played in the background of Margaret’s and my conversation, forever a comfort. Even on days like today when Selena wasn’t there, I was listening because I was actually that girl now and I was finally learning to be okay with it. I just always made sure to have it on the Fire and EMS frequency when I was working and Selena wasn’t.
“That’s nice,” Margaret said, smiling. I continued to poof her almost white hair out the way she liked. This was my third time doing her hair and she always got a trim and set, like most of my older clients.
Turned out working at the Hair Cuttery wasn’t slumming it. I actually liked being here with people. It made the day go quick and I made a few friends with some of my coworkers. I actually couldn’t imagine going back to working alone, so I was content to keep on doing what I was doing, right here.
“How does your boyfriend get along with your kid?” Margaret asked, ever the nosey one.
“Great, actually,” I answered with a smile, thinking about the night before when we’d invited Weston’s family over for a family game night.
Could you imagine? I was hosting family game nights with an actual real family. It almost felt too good to be true.
We’d had so much fun. So many laughs were had and crazy Ms. Bev didn’t disappoint because she’d shown up with Mable’s granddaughter for Parker to meet.
I’d about died. But Parker had really almost died. And while I didn’t think, Aly, Mable’s granddaughter, was going to be a love interest for Parker, I did think they were going to be good friends. So at least, it had been a match of sorts.
It was a night of craziness as usual when it came to the Reeveses, but I found myself looking forward to Christmas with them in a couple of weeks. They were just such a joy to be around and when they had left last night, I’d made sure to tell Weston how lucky he was and how lucky I felt to be a part of their family now.
I’d just pulled the cape off of Margaret and was cleaning up her neck when I heard the police scanner getting loud with a lot of activity. It did this from time to time, so it didn’t raise my suspicions at first, but as I was checking Margaret out, I heard sirens in the distance. Many of them.
The whole salon became eerily quiet as we all watched fire truck after fire truck fly past the salon. EMS vehicles and police cruisers followed and I left Margaret standing at the cash register to walk over to the scanner.
