“I do,” she said as she allowed herself a peek in the mirror. She studied Gerry’s face as he focused on the task at hand. She was surprised to see that not only did he obviously know what he was doing, his hands were steady as he did it. He didn’t hesitate at all, just trimmed where he felt he needed to and continued until he was happy with it.
“What do you think?” he asked as she studied her new hair in the mirror.
“I like it.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am. I really liked my long hair, but this is,” she searched for the word, “cute.” She smiled.
“I like to cut hair. An odd hobby for an old man to have, I suppose.” He turned and started to step out of the room. “I’ll let Harley know you’re ready. You guys can finish changing up at the cottage. Harley said he wanted to get up there as quickly as possible.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Gerry.” She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated but then hugged her back.
“You had better stop now, or we’ll make that boy jealous.” His voice was shaky and he stepped away.
Norah leaned closer to the mirror and began twisting the strands of her now short hair in her fingers. By her estimations, Gerry had cut over eighteen inches off the ends. It used to be so long that she would sit on it if she wasn’t careful. Now it was cut to just above her shoulders, and at an angle. She laughed slightly. Gerry had given her a reverse bob.
“Hey, I—” Harley stopped in the doorway and stared at her for so long she began to feel self-conscious.
“I think Gerry did a great job,” she said defensively.
“I agree, it looks really nice.” Sexy was the term he had wanted to use.
“Thank you.”
He cleared his throat. “We need to get going. The cottage has running water, so you can shower and change there.”
“I don’t have any clothes.”
“In the bag,” he said, lifting a duffle.
“Thank you.”
“Welcome. Let’s get going.”
She followed him out of the room.
“Shit, give me a second.” He grabbed a broom, dustpan, and a small bag and gathered up her hair from the floor. “I don’t want to leave any evidence we were here. Just in case.”
Norah nodded. She hadn’t thought about that. They walked out of the bathroom to see their faces plastered on the television with the word Wanted above them.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Harley said, and turned form the TV.
“Apparently the two of you shot up some charity banquet,” Gerry joked, obviously not believing a word of it.
“Oh, you mean the one we almost died at?” Norah said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “This is such bullshit!”
Both Gerry and Harley turned to stare at her.
“What?” she asked them angrily.
“Nothing,” Gerry said, and turned around as he tried to fight back a smile.
“Never heard you cuss before. Thought that was my thing,” Harley joked.
“Yeah, well, I'm tired of being bullied. Almost dying three times in the span of twenty-four hours will do that to a person.”
“We better get you two out of town,” Gerry said, and stood.
They followed him out into his garage and both sat in the back seat. They shrunk down so they wouldn’t be seen by anyone they passed on the street, and Gerry drove them out of Leavenworth.
Norah’s face was a breath away from Harley’s, and his arms were wrapped around her to keep her still as they lay on the seat. She forced herself to look away from him and tucked her face into his shoulder. She couldn’t seem to stop the way she was feeling about him, but she could at least not stare into those stormy eyes.
7
“Where are we?” Norah felt the car come to a stop.
“Outside of Chelon,” Gerry said, and turned the engine off. “It’s safe now, we’re inside the garage.”
Norah and Harley sat up and got out of the car. The garage was a small single-car, but well organized.
“Come on in, I’ll show you around.” Gerry opened a door and they followed him. He turned on lights and Norah stood awestruck staring at the adorable cottage. The living area was open and boasted a large fireplace and a single couch that was parallel to it. There were very few windows, something Gerry had done for security reasons, she assumed.
Various paintings were arranged on the walls, and after a closer examination, she saw Gerry’s name signed at the bottom.
“You painted these?”
“I did.” She heard the pride in his voice.
“They are fantastic.”
“Thank you. I used to watch a lot of Bob Ross,” he said with a wink. “If you know who that is.”
“I do, actually.” She laughed at his reference to the painter/TV host.
She wandered into the small kitchen and ran her fingertips over the granite countertops.
“This place is beautiful, Gerry.”
“Don’t compliment me on that one, the design was all Harley’s. He gave me very detailed instructions.”
“Not this detailed,” Harley replied, pointing to the gorgeous wine bottle chandelier that hung from the ceiling over a small island.
“Some of it I took upon myself, I suppose,” Gerry joked. “It’s a two-bedroom, but the other room is currently set up as a gym. The couch is a pullout, though.”
“I can sleep there,” Norah said simply. She didn’t mind the comfortable-looking couch.
“No, I will. The bedroom is safer,” Harley countered.
“Come on, Norah, I’ll show you to it,” Gerry offered before she could argue, so she followed him to one of only two doors off the main living room.
The bedroom was small, and the windows had shutters over them that only opened from the inside. The small closet held a bunch of clothes she assumed Gerry had hung for Harley.
The soft gray of the walls was calming, and a complete opposite from the bright red comforter.
“I added that as a surprise.” Gerry winked at her. The man liked his color.
“Nice comforter,” Harley said, amused, as he entered the bedroom. “The place is great, Gerry. I can’t thank you enough.”
“I didn’t mind at all, gave me something to do. There are entries to the hidden cellar here,” he pointed to the back of the closet, and as Norah leaned closer she saw it was a hidden panel she never would have noticed. “And through the hall closet as well.”
Harley nodded. “Perfect.”
“I will be up next week to bring you all some more groceries. I grabbed some necessities when I was at the store earlier, so I’ll toss them in the fridge and be on my way.”
“Thank you.”
“Not a problem at all, my dear.” He patted her shoulder. “I best be going, I’ll put the stuff in the outside fridge, you just bring it in when you’re ready. You two stay safe.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Harley walked towards the door with Gerry.
“I’m going to take a shower, if that’s all right?” Norah asked as they left the room.
“Sure. I put some clothes in there.”
“Thanks, Harley.” He nodded and followed Gerry into the garage.
“You keep that one safe.” Gerry unloaded the grocery bags into the fridge and then turned to face Harley.
“I plan to.”
“I know you do, boy. She’s a good one.”
“She’s nice.”
“Pshh.” Gerry dismissed him. “More than nice. She has a heart as beautiful as she is. Perhaps you two can heal each other.” He winked, and Harley smiled.
“It’s not like that, Gerry, I told you what happened to her with her ex and what happened when we went to see Tom.”