“Tell me what you want, what you really really want!”
Tanyalee’s phone was ringing once more. She rooted around in her bag, feeling her heart pound. Could it be Dante again? Her body loosened in disappointment when she saw who had called. “Hey, Aunt Viv.”
“Taffy? I just wanted to call and let you know that, well … how has your day been, sweetheart?”
Tanyalee closed her eyes, right there in the Hair Apparent waiting room, and prayed for patience. “Fine. But I’m not sure I’ll be home for dinner tonight.”
“That’s not why I called.”
“Oh?” Just then, one of the stylists turned on her blow-dryer, forcing Tanyalee to step away from the noise and return to the waiting area. “Is everything all right at home?”
“Of course! Yes, yes, everything’s just fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Sometimes, speaking to Vivienne Newberry was like attempting to do a crossword puzzle in a foreign language. “What can I do for you, Aunt Viv?”
“I only thought you should hear it from me…”
Since those words never preceded good news of any kind, Tanyalee’s pulse began to race. “What’s happened?”
“Well, now, it’s nothing terrible. It’s just that Cheri and J.J. are home from their honeymoon. They got back an hour ago, looking all tanned and relaxed and happy and all. I thought you should know.”
She felt her heart thud to her knees. “Okay.”
Aunt Viv remained silent.
“Is there something else, Aunt Viv? I’m at the beauty parlor with Fern and I probably should go back and see how she’s doing.”
“No. Nothing else. Why would you think there was something else?”
Tanyalee sighed. She waited a moment, but Viv made no move to hang up. Lord love a duck!
“Well, now, I suppose there is just one small thing more.”
Of course there is. “Yes?”
Aunt Viv breathed in sharply and unleashed a lightning-fast stream of words. “I might have mentioned those stepping stones of yours to Cheri and J.J., and I truly hope you don’t mind. You don’t mind, do you? It wasn’t some kind of secret or anything, was it?”
Lord in heaven, that woman couldn’t keep her lips sealed if her life depended on it!
Tanyalee stared absently out the glass window into the busy mall and sighed. She supposed Aunt Viv had a point. It wasn’t a secret. Damn near everyone in town knew Grandfather Garland had sent Tanyalee to rehab as a way to reduce her sentence, and most people knew that a big part of any 12-step recovery plan was taking responsibility for one’s actions and seeking forgiveness. So why would it bother her that Cheri and J.J. knew she’d be heading their way?
Shame, that was why. Tanyalee was ashamed to come clean, which meant she was still trying to control what others thought of her. Sometimes it felt like she hadn’t learned a damn thing at Sedona Sunset, that her life since she’d been back had been nothing but one step forward and two steps back.
“Aunt Viv, if there’s nothing else, Fern and I have a lot to accomplish before I take her home. I really should go.”
Tanyalee tossed the phone into her bag, wandered through the salon sitting area, and stepped into the open mall. As always, the place echoed with the voices and laughter of high-school kids, retirees, and mothers and children. She raised her eyes to the atrium ceiling, a clear, late summer sky peeking through, and felt a rush of anxiety so sharp it took her breath away.
She couldn’t delay it any longer. Cheri and J.J. were home and it was time to face all the ugly and humiliating garbage that had brought her to this point in her life. It was time to sit down with Cheri and get it all out, all the pain and jealousy and anger. She’d always imagined the talk with Cheri would be a long heart-to-heart, ending in a mutual understanding between sisters at the very least, and maybe even an opportunity to start fresh. Tanyalee was truly hopeful when it came to her sister.
But she’d be lucky to get J.J. to stand still for more than ten seconds while she said her piece. The hate and disgust would pour off him in waves, the way it had since the day he caught her lying about their baby and set out to divorce her. But Tanyalee had no choice but to push through. She would have to dig deep to find the courage to do what had to be done with J.J., because if she truly wanted to be a better person, if she wanted to look at herself in the mirror without cringing for the rest of her life, that was the only way.
She felt her eyes sting. Tanyalee sniffed and pulled her gaze away from the patch of blue sky, remembering what Dr. Leslie had always said. She could not control how J.J., Cheri, or anyone else reacted to her amends. The only thing Tanyalee could control was whether she took responsibility for her failings and asked to be forgiven. Dr. Leslie had assured her that as long as she was sincere and spoke without arrogance, good things would come of every one of those difficult conversations.
She surely hoped Dr. Leslie knew what she was talking about.
Tanyalee caught her reflection in the salon window, and for an instant she didn’t recognize the image looking back at her. Certainly, she saw a pretty, carefully put-together woman with every hair in place, every item of clothing coordinated and neatly pressed. But all that feminine tidiness couldn’t hide the regret in the woman’s eyes. And it suddenly clicked in Tanyalee’s brain—that woman was her, a woman who was chock-full of shame and regret.
Her focus sharpened when she saw movement inside the salon. There was Fern, draped in a nylon cape, sitting on the edge of the stylist’s chair, waving her arms around in a panic. Tanyalee rushed inside the shop. The stylist’s eyes were wide and her face was a flustered pink.
“For goodness’ sake! What’s all the fuss?” Suddenly, Tanyalee knew the answer to her own question. Fern’s hair. It had been washed and conditioned to a gloss, then razor-cut to a shoulder-length bob. The hair was softly angled at the ends but texturized to add volume, and the shiny blond bangs were fashionably long and uneven. Fern looked adorable, and in a perfectly age-appropriate way, to boot.
“You’re beautiful!”
“I look ridiculous.” Fern’s chin began to tremble. She quickly turned away, her new hairdo swinging in response to her movement. And that was when Tanyalee realized Fern wasn’t being cantankerous just for the pleasure of it—she was terribly upset.
Tanyalee smiled at the stylist and said, “It’s supercute. You did a great job. But could we have just a tiny minute of privacy?”
The young woman nodded. “I’ll be up at the register.”
“Thankyousoverymuch.” Tanyalee took a moment to gather her thoughts. She had a hunch that whatever she did next would either win a bit of Fern’s trust or blow the whole mentoring thing to hell and back. Regardless, she had to do something. The girl was having a crisis.
She dropped to her knees, smack in the middle of a pile of hair clippings, and turned the chair so she could see Fern’s face. “What is it? Talk to me, Fern.” The girl’s pretty face was hidden by the long bangs. She shook her head. Tanyalee gently placed a hand on Fern’s bony knee. “You don’t like it, honey?”
Fern sniffed. “I ain’t your honey and this haircut ain’t for somebody like me.”
“Oh, Fern.” Tanyalee placed a finger beneath the girl’s chin and tipped her face upward. The bangs fell away, revealing that her mouth was pulled into a tight, thin line, and her eyes were sealed with wet lashes. Tanyalee felt her heart drop. “What in heaven’s name do you mean by that?”
“I mean…” Fern’s eyes popped open, and they flashed with anger. “It’s obvious I ain’t pretty enough for a haircut like this. It looks stupid on me, like it should be on some other girl’s head.”
Tanyalee couldn’t help it—she gasped. Had no one in her life taken the time to tell her how wonderful she was? That had to be the case, because here Fern was in a beauty parlor feeling unworthy of a fifteen-dollar haircut.
“Well, bless your heart.” Tanyalee stood, dusted the blond hairs from her slacks, and went to stand behind Fern. Both their faces were visible in the large salon mirror.
“Let me tell you what I see when I look at you, Miss Fern.” Tanyalee brushed her fingertips down Fern’s hairstyle, admiring how healthy and alive it felt. “First off, you are very pretty. You have a gorgeous peachy complexion and beautiful blue eyes. Your smile—and I’m talking about a real smile like the one you gave Miss Carmichael today—that smile is so lovely it can knock the wind out of a person. And you’re perceptive, Fern. Smart as heck. You’re funny, too, though I do realize I am often the butt of your jokes.” Tanyalee rested her hands on Fern’s shoulders, smiled at her in the mirror, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I admit I nearly busted a gut when you called me Mr. Miyagi.”
Fern’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “You’ve actually seen The Karate Kid?”
“Honey, I’ve seen the original and the remake.”
“Really?” Fern slowly moved her head from side to side, giving the haircut a second evaluation. Still frowning, she raised her hand to touch the bob. “I guess it ain’t completely horrible.”
Tanyalee smiled at Fern in the mirror. “It’s not too late to change your mind, you know. We can still fix you up with that purple Mohawk.”
Fern’s eyes went wide as she stared at Tanyalee, almost as if she’d never seen her before. She actually smiled—a full-on, happy, sarcasm-free smile. “Gladys would shake us both stupid.”
“I am afraid you are correct about that.”
Fern sighed, then ripped the salon cape from her neck. “Let’s get out of here and go home.”
“Oh, but we’ve just started our outing.” Tanyalee followed Fern to the register. “Next, I thought we’d head on over to Penney’s intimates and get you fitted with a proper training bra or two.”
Fern froze, horrified. Her eyes darted to the stylist, who hid her smile while ringing up the sale, then Fern glared at Tanyalee. “Uh-uh. No. I don’t want no boys seeing that I’m wearing a damn bra. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I understand.” Tanyalee told the stylist to keep the change, exited the salon with Fern at her side, and headed toward Penney’s. “So you’d rather have the boys see your actual breasts than the outline of a bra?”
Fern’s mouth hung open. “Whaaat?”
“Because I assure you, Miss Bisbee, your womanly assets are about ten minutes away from poppin’ out all over the place, and I believe modesty is the best policy, even in middle school.”
Fern was silent for a moment, walking by Tanyalee’s side with slumped shoulders and a stunned expression. Finally, she glanced up and whispered, “Tell me what time it is.”
Tanyalee checked her phone and smiled at Fern. “Good news! We’ve still got a whole two hours to go!”