Chapter 41
41
FIONA
I was comfortably settled in a pedicure chair, my feet soaking in sudsy hot water. The massage feature was on, and little rollers were kneading my lower back.
“I see that smile,” Dottie said from her spot next to me. “Either you’ve never had a pedicure before, or Dax makes you happy.”
I rolled my head to the side to look at her. “Can it be both?”
I’d rather her think it was the pedicure chair than amazing sex though.
“You deserve to be pampered, honey.”
The nail tech sat at the little stool and went to work trimming the nails on my left foot .
“I think Dax is in love with me,” I said.
Her eyes lit up with glee. “I think so, too.”
She didn’t have bionic hearing, or so I assumed. “Why do you think that?”
She waved her hand. “The way he looks at you.”
Looks at me?
“How’s that?”
“Like he wants to eat you up and perhaps strangle you at the same time.”
I couldn’t help but laugh because her guess was probably pretty accurate. “I think I drive him crazy.”
“In all the right ways.”
“Dottie, I don’t think I know what love is,” I admitted, watching the nail tech instead of meeting her wise gaze. “I mean, I didn’t have good examples growing up and work is all about bad guys. My life isn’t like what you have here in Coal Springs. All hay bales and painted pumpkins.”
Dottie raised her foot from the sudsy water and set it on the towel covered footrest for her nail tech to get to work.
“Right now, your life is what it’s like here in Coal Springs.”
I didn’t tell her I’d stayed in town after knowing Hannah wasn’t around to snoop around a pickle shop.
“Based on the sash you won, you’re pretty good at painted pumpkins,” she added.
I couldn’t help but smile at the goofy night. “That was fun.”
“You get to choose how your life goes.” She reached out and patted my hand. “I know, honey, your childhood was rough going. That you were driven to put your father in jail says it all.”
I nodded.
“I’m proud of you for that. So proud. But how long has he been in jail?”
“Five years.”
“He’s still winning, honey.”
I frowned as I switched feet for the nail tech.
“What? No way. He’s in jail for the rest of his life.”
“Your goal was to get him to pay for his crimes. He is. You’re still going after the bad guy. But different ones now. Why?”
“Because they do bad things.”
She nodded. “Yes, but did you want to save the world or just rid the world of your dad?”
I chewed on that for a bit. The nail tech pumped some lotion onto her hands and started giving me a foot massage.
“If you want to save the world, then go get ‘em. But you need to be happy, honey. What makes you happy?”
“Your food,” I admitted easily.
She grinned, somewhat bashfully. “You stay in Coal Springs, and you can have all you want.”
“What do you mean, stay in Coal Springs?” I asked, wide eyed.
“Move here. Stay. You’ve made so many new friends. Even Marcia Highcliff likes you.”
I wasn’t going to ask how she knew that.
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “She’s a piece of work. ”
“She is and she doesn’t like many people. Including her own daughter.”
I frowned. I met Briana and they got along fine, so I had to assume she meant Hannah.
“The craft night crew wants you on the team.”
“I’m not moving to a new town for craft night.”
“There are other fun things to do around here.”
“I’d need a job. I’d be bored in five minutes.”
That didn’t seem to be the case. I’d been here three days, and this pedicure was the first time I sat and did nothing. I seemed to be busier here–without working–than I was in Denver.
“They’ll hire you at the police department lickety split. With your credentials and having an insider” –she pointed at herself– “you could be on the job next week.”
The nail tech held up the bottle of polish I picked from the rainbow of options. I nodded, pleased with the pale blue color.
“There’s no crime here,” I countered. Except for the drug trafficking happening on Main Street.
“Maybe a life with more than bad guys might be just what you’re missing.”
Maybe.
“As for how you know you’re in love? Are you happy? Does that person make you happy? Does that person walk beside you and prop you up?”
Dottie’s nail tech started to apply a fire engine red to her toes .
“He’s beside me all the time. Like my own personal Scooter.”
“That man is not a labrador. He’s a doberman. Although I have a feeling he’s a cat person.”