“You’re the one who wanted to live in a small town,” Charity reminded herself as she walked toward the bright blue building. There were posters of hair models in the window, a lush garden out front and a porch with a rocking chair.
She stepped into the surprisingly large salon. There were about ten stations lined up along two walls. The windows provided a lot of natural light. The main colors were a deep brown, from the wood at the stations, and turquoise. The walls were a rich blue-green up to the chair rail, then cream to the ceiling. The tile floor was done in a dozen shades of turquoise. Soft music played in the background, the place was spotless and had an air of relaxed elegance. Under any other circumstances, Charity would have been pleased with her find.
Instead she found herself feeling trapped as everyone in the salon turned to look at her, then didn’t look away. It was as if they knew who she was—which they probably did.
An attractive woman in her forties hurried toward her. “Charity,” she said. “You’re my four-thirty. I’m Julia. So nice to meet you.”
“Hi.”
Julia glanced behind and made a shooing motion, then returned her attention to Charity. “Ignore them. I do.”
Charity managed a smile. “Just like being the new girl in school.”
“I know. But it will get better, I promise.” Julia smiled. “Now, I have you down for highlights and a cut. Come have a seat and tell me what you were thinking of doing.”
Charity followed her to a station in the back. She sat in the padded chair and faced herself in the mirror. Julia stood behind her, waiting.
“I want something different,” Charity told her. “I’ve been wearing my hair at the same length, in relatively the same style, for years. The color needs help, too.”
Julia ran her hands through Charity’s hair. “Very thick,” she murmured. “Do you have a wave?”
“Sort of. I control it with blow drying.”
“About how much time are you willing to spend in the morning?”
“Not more than fifteen minutes. I don’t have the patience for it.”
“Good to know.” Julia tilted her head. “We’ll do subtle highlights? Nothing too obvious. Just enough to give you a little depth.”
“That sounds great.”
“And for the cut, I’m thinking a blunt longish bob, with bangs.”
Charity blinked. “Bangs?”
Julia dropped her hands to Charity’s shoulders and squeezed. “Trust me.”
By now conversation had resumed around them. Charity decided to simply go with the flow. Hair grew. If she didn’t like the new style, eventually she could go back to what she’d been doing before.
Julia left her with a couple of magazines and went off to mix color. A few minutes later, Charity was covered in a plastic cape while Julia expertly applied color to a few strands of hair, then carefully wrapped them in foil.
“How are you settling in to living here?” Julia asked. “It’s been a few months.”
“I really like it. I’ve never lived in a small town before. The adjustment has been fun.”
“What’s Josh like in bed?” a woman in pink curlers yelled from across the room.
Conversation stopped. For a second there was only the sound of the soft music. Once again everyone was staring at Charity.
Julia sighed. “You don’t have to answer that,” she said. “Not that we’re not interested,” she added with a wink.
She turned to the salon. “She’s new, remember. Everyone back off.”
“But I want to know,” another woman insisted. “I’m sixty-two. The odds of me finding out for myself are slim.”
Charity laughed. “He’s everything you could imagine and more.”
The woman in curlers sighed. “I knew it,” she said dreamily.
“I saw him riding his bike the other day,” another client said. “What that man does for those bicycle shorts. It was the highlight of my day.” She glanced at Charity. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
“You’ve been dating for a while now,” Julia said. “How’s that working out?”
The questions weren’t subtle, Charity thought, more amused than offended.
“He’s a great guy. I like spending time with him.”
“Josh is one of the good ones. That first wife of his was a total bitch.”
“I remember her,” another client said with a sniff. “She came to town once. Walked around like she was afraid of getting dog poop on her shoes. She was beautiful, but what a bitch.”
There was a murmur of agreement.
Charity would have loved to ask questions about Angelique but wasn’t sure how. After all, she was fairly confident that anything she said would be reported to the entire town, not to mention get back to Josh.
“You came from Henderson, didn’t you?” Julia asked. “I thought I heard that.”
“Yes.”
“Leave anyone special behind?”
Charity met Julia’s interested gaze in the mirror. “No.”
“I’m surprised. A pretty girl like you. There had to be someone.”
Not a topic Charity wanted to discuss. Not with this crowd. “Not really.”