“I guess I’d prefer no one knew. I just like to do it, not get, I don’t know, praised for it.”
Bunny laughed, and it made her look younger. Haven guessed the lady was probably in her sixties, but between her wavy pale blond hair and the jeans, black T-shirt, and black ankle boots she was wearing, she made sixties look good. “See, that’s where we’re different,” Bunny said with a wink. “I love to get praised.”
Haven couldn’t help but laugh, too. “I’ll remember that.”
Cora joined them at the chairs, her face bright with happiness. “What do you think?”
“Fun and flirty, hon. She did a real nice job,” Bunny said.
Rising, Haven gestured for Cora to spin around. Her new style hung in soft waves to just above her shoulders. “Oh, Cora. It looks so pretty. Do you like it?”
Cora beamed. “I do. Now it’s your turn.” She grabbed Haven’s hand.
“Not today,” Haven said, laughing and trying to resist Cora’s pull toward the hairdresser’s chair.
Finally, Cora stopped pulling her and planted her hands on her hips. “Okay, here’s the deal. You either get your hair cut, or you have to go back and get those outfits you tried on.”
Haven had picked out two cute but conservative summer dresses, two pairs of shorts, a few T-shirts, a pair of sandals, and some underthings. But she’d resisted the clothes that Bunny had picked out—skinny jeans with a sparkly pattern on the back pockets and the clingy black V-neck shirt that actually made her look like she had some boobs. That outfit seemed to scream Look at me! when Haven was used to doing almost anything to blend into the background. More than that, not dressing in a way that attracted attention had become a survival skill in her father’s house, where some number of his goons were always hanging around. So she’d taken to wearing boring clothes that were too big, keeping her face plain, and letting her hair shield her expressions.
“That’s not fair,” Haven said as she debated the options. She knew Cora well enough to know her friend wouldn’t let this go until she picked. Weird thing was, back before her father had forced her to drop out of high school, Haven had liked wearing pretty, fashionable things. But that girl had been gone for a long, long time.
Pulling at the oversized T-shirt she wore, Haven huffed. “I’ll get the clothes,” she finally said. Getting them didn’t mean she had to—
“Yay! And don’t think that means I won’t make you wear them,” Cora said.
Haven’s shoulders sagged. “Sometimes I think you know me too well.”
Bunny laughed as she paid for Cora’s haircut. “With friends, there’s no such thing. Everyone needs someone who calls them on their shit. Now, let’s go get you that outfit before you change your mind.”
CHAPTER 5
“Church is now in special session,” Dare said, banging a gavel against the old wooden table. The club’s meetings, which had long been referred to as Church, officially took place on the first Monday evening of the month, but their recent activity in Baltimore had disrupted their normal routines, making them cancel May’s regular meeting. Now they needed to regroup and strategize, so Dare had called the extra session of fully patched members.
Bear Lowry took attendance. The Old Timer had a full brown beard and was round through the middle, but he’d been doing the combined jobs of secretary and treasurer for the past few years because he was good with numbers, better with investments, and someone Dare and Doc trusted without question. “We’ve got twenty-four in attendance,” he said. Decent number given the fact that everyone had been away from home more than usual lately. They never had a full house anyway because some guys had part-time jobs or worked night shifts that didn’t allow them to come.
Dare nodded as his gaze scanned over his brothers. Some were seated at the fifteen-foot-long table, and some were seated around the back of the long rectangular space that had probably been a sitting room when the clubhouse had been an inn. A mammoth stone fireplace spanned from floor to ceiling behind Dare, a carved Ravens logo like the one that hung in the mess hall centered over the mantel. At the other end of the room hung a mounted deer head wearing a brain bucket and sunglasses with its hooves placed on mounted handlebars.