Chapter 17
Seventeen
Tabitha
Once everyone has finished those delicious cannolis, Gina rises. “I’m going to be late for my massage,” she says. “See all of you tonight at the rehearsal.”
Brianna rises as well. “Highlight time.”
“Tabitha, you and I should go along,” Maddie says, “and see if we can get an appointment for massages later this afternoon.”
I’m thrilled at the prospect of getting away from Henry. Not that I want to be away from him, but I’m just so rigid and tense and uncomfortable right now.
At the same time I’m aroused and needy.
Frankly, it’s annoying.
“Is that okay with you, Angie?” I ask.
She waves us off. “Of course, go ahead. I hope you guys can get in for massages. Just catch an Uber home sometime before five.”
“Uber?” Maddie says. “I’ll drive you home.”
“That would be great,” I say. “Thanks.”
Maddie and I follow Gina and Brianna out of the restaurant and walk a few buildings down to the salon.
We enter, and the bell over the door jingles as we walk in. The place smells like lavender oil and citrus shampoo.
Two chairs face a mirror framed in distressed wood and fairy lights. A rolling cart sits beside it, cluttered with combs, brushes, scissors, and a blow dryer with its cord looped haphazardly around the base. The floor is swept but not spotless.
Music plays—something old and twangy—and a handwritten sign near the register says Cash or check only. No drama.
“Gina,” the stylist says with a smile. “Stephen is expecting you. And Bree, I’ll be with you in two shakes!”
“Hi, Willow.” Gina nods to the woman in the chair. “Hi, Lori.”
“Gina, Bree, Maddie,” Lori, apparently, says. “And you are…?”
“I’m Tabitha Haynes. Angie’s friend from medical school.”
She smiles wide. “Wonderful to have you here. You must be part of the wedding party.”
I nod. “I am.”
“I’m Lori Murphy.” She extends a hand. “My son, Brendan, is married to Ava.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I let out a nervous laugh as I shake her hand. “It’s hard to keep track of everyone in your family.”
“We are a huge bunch,” Maddie says.
A moment later, a man walks out.
And not just any man.
His skin is tanned, his eyes so dark they look black. And his face? Perfect. A sculpted jawline, high cheekbones, a straight nose, and full lips. His black hair is cropped short.
He doesn’t smile. He doesn’t need to.
He just looks at you, and the rest of the room disappears.
He’s one of the best-looking men I’ve ever laid eyes on. And that’s saying a lot, since Henry is this man’s opposite—fair skin, blond hair, blue eyes.
“Hi, Stephen,” Gina says. “I’m Gina Steel. Nice to meet you.”
He smiles then, and wow…
“Great to meet you too,” he says. “If you’re ready, come on back.”
“Stephen,” Maddie says, “I’m Maddie Simpson, and this is Tabitha Haynes. We were wondering if you had any availability this afternoon.”
“Only one slot,” he says. “At three thirty. Should I mark you down?”
Maddie sighs. “Shoot. We both wanted to get in.”
“I’m sorry.” He pulls a phone out of his pocket and scrolls. “I have availability on Monday.”
She nods. “I’ll take a spot on Monday,” she says. “Tabitha, you take the one today. After all, you’re a guest in our town. I can get a massage here anytime.”
I purse my lips. “I don’t know…”
The thought of this man touching me has me tied up in knots.
“I’m pretty good,” Stephen says with another smile.
“Okay. Sure.”
“Good.” He taps on his phone screen. “Be back a few minutes before so you can fill out the intake form. And you, Ms. Gina, come with me.”
Gina gives us all a wink, and then she and Stephen disappear in the back.
“We’re going antiquing,” Maddie says. “Nice to see you, Willow, Lori.”
“Great to see you both too,” Willow says. “And nice to meet you, Tabitha.”
“Bye!” Bree calls, taking her nose out of the Cowgirl Monthly magazine she’s reading.
The antique shop turns out to be only a few doors down. The bell over the door jingles as we step inside.
I chuckle.
“What?” Maddie asks.
“Does every door in this town have a bell like that?”
She laughs. “Most of them. It’s a small town, and the owner or proprietor is often in the back, so the bell lets them know they have a customer.”
“I feel like I’ve gone back in time.”
Maddie elbows me in the ribs. “You’re used to city life.”
“Not really. I grew up in the suburbs, and Boulder is… Well, it’s a city, but it’s different.”
“I get you. You’ll get used to it here. It’s actually great to live in a small town. Or, in our case, outside a small town.”
I inhale as we enter. It smells like old wood, lemon polish, and something vaguely vintage. I’m not sure what it is, but I like it.
“Oh my God,” Maddie says, her voice a little breathless. “I want everything.”
I laugh softly, glancing around. “Don’t you want to see what’s in the Target clearance aisle before committing to a Victorian fainting couch?”
She waves a hand at me, already moving deeper into the shop. “Tabitha, please. My living room is a blank canvas and this”—she gestures toward a cabinet with stained glass panels—“is a fiesta of color.”
I follow her between two crowded aisles, careful not to knock over a display of porcelain ducks. I’m pretty sure that if I break anything, I’m buying it. As for Maddie’s cabinet… Definitely not my cup of tea.
“Are you sure?” I ask her. “It looks like a lot of work. And that paint could be lead-based.”
Maddie snorts. “You’re such a doctor. You see tetanus. I see charm.”
“I’m not a doctor yet.” I pause in front of a mirror framed in ornate brass. “This place is like a time capsule.”
The older woman behind the counter glances up from a ledger, her reading glasses perched halfway down her nose. “That’s fifty percent off, by the way.”
Maddie grins. “Sold!” She picks up an old map and rolls it open on a side table. “Do you think this would look good framed in my study?”
I raise an eyebrow. “You have a study?”
She shrugs. “Not yet. But I will in the new house.”
“Angie told me you’re a life coach.”
“I am. I only have a few clients so far, but I’m loving it. I want my study to be a place where everyone feels welcome.”
“And an old map screams welcome?”
She laughs. “It does to me. I’ve always had a more eclectic taste. My decor is mostly inspirational quotes.”
I chuckle. “Hence the life coach thing.”
“Not always,” she says. “I used to collect them to help myself. I kind of had an inferiority complex during high school and college.”
I tilt my head. “You? Why?”
“It’s a long boring story.”
“I’m not bored.” I check my watch. “And we have plenty of time.”
She sighs. “Well, before I tell you, you have to promise you won’t hold what I’m about to say against Angie and the others.”
“Of course not. I love dirt.”
“It’s not dirt, really.” She frowns. “It’s more me. It turned out to be my problem, not theirs.”
“Okay…”
“In high school, the four youngest Steel girls—Angie, Sage, Brianna, and Gina—were known as the awesome foursome.”
I chuckle. “Angie mentioned that nickname.”
She nods. “Yeah. Well, awesome they were, of course. And then you have to know that I’m the youngest of three amazing older siblings.
Jesse is the only guy, the one who’s married to Brianna, and he’s an incredible musician.
Then Rory, my oldest sister—married to Brock—also a fantastic singer, is widely considered to be the most beautiful woman in Snow Creek.
She and Jesse are in a band together. Dragonlock. ”
I scratch my chin. “I see where this is going. I have a ridiculously talented older sister too.”
She holds up a finger. “There’s more. My other sister, Callie, is a freaking genius. She’s in law school, and she’s married to Angie’s cousin Donny.”
“You’re married to a Steel too,” I remind her.
“Right. But I’m talking about before all that.”
“Okay. Go on.”
She draws in a breath. “Mmm… I love the smell of vintage.” She pauses.
“Anyway, my family bought a ranch adjacent to the Steel property years ago. We were all in elementary school. I’m the same age as the four youngest Steel girls, so we became friends.
The five of us hung out quite a bit. But I felt left out a lot.
Like they’d forget to include me. I don’t think they did it on purpose, but they’re all family, and I’m not. I wasn’t then, anyway.”
“Did you talk to them about it?”
“No. Not until recently. Bree felt terrible about it, and she ended up inviting me to go to Europe with her along with Jesse and Rory’s band. So I went, and things got better after that.” She beams. “And that’s where Dave and I fell in love, too.”
“Wow.” I widen my eyes. “To fall in love overseas… That’s the stuff romance novels are made of.”
She laughs at that. “I know. I’d crushed on him forever, too. I honestly never thought he knew I was alive. Dave was a huge womanizer, and I figured I was just a fling for him.”
I nod.
Boy, can I relate, but I don’t say so.
Am I just a fling for Henry?
I’m not even sure I was a fling. I was a quickie in a barn. A fling implies some sort of emotional element, shallow as it may be. Henry made it clear that he doesn’t give a flying fuck about me.
It was a fuck. Nothing more, nothing less.
And I’d do well to remember that for the rest of this weekend.
I move closer to a gorgeous cherry table and run my fingers along the edge. “This town is weird,” I say quietly, not meaning it in a bad way.
Maddie doesn’t look up. “Yeah. But it grows on you.”
I glance around again. The ticking of a grandfather clock fills the silence.
Maybe it already has grown on me.
One part of it, anyway.
Except he’s a mess, and he’s ghosting me.