Chapter Fourteen #2
“There’s not much to tell,” Chloe said. “I own this place. I moved here five years ago from Virginia.”
“Do you have a special someone in your life?” Bunny asked. “Spouse? Romantic partner?”
She immediately thought of Brian—of the kiss they had shared. A kiss that could have led to so much more. “There’s a guy I like,” she said. “But it’s complicated.”
“Why? Is he married?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Some women are into that—going after married men.”
“Not me.” Chloe placed Bunny’s hand back in the soaking solution and picked up the other.
“Me either,” Bunny said. “But I have a good friend who lost her husband that way. It was really awful.”
“I imagine it was.” Chloe was used to clients rattling on about whatever worry or obsession was on their mind, and she only half listened.
The rest of her was thinking about her wrecked apartment.
She needed to call the sheriff’s department sometime today and see when she could go back to her place.
Then she’d have to tackle the daunting task of cleaning up.
“If another woman ever went after my man, I’d put the fear of God into her,” Bunny said.
The real anger in her voice pulled Chloe’s thoughts away from her own worries. “I guess that would be pretty upsetting,” she said.
“When I got done with her, she’d never go near him again.”
Bunny’s tone sent a chill through Chloe. “Is your husband here in SkyCrest with you?” she asked.
“No. He had to stay home to work. I met up with friends for this trip.”
“Where is home?” Chloe began pushing back Bunny’s cuticles.
“Atlanta.” She laughed. “No snow there. This is a nice change.”
The door opened, admitting Nadia and another of the stylists, Elena. Nadia raised her eyebrows at the sight of Bunny in the chair, but said only, “Good morning,” and went to her station.
Chloe finished the manicure while Bunny told the long story of all the trouble she had had switching her return flight from Atlanta to Florida so she could be with her mother. She wound up about the time her nails were dry. “That looks much better,” she said, admiring the bright pink polish.
She paid in cash, leaving a generous tip, then embraced Chloe and squeezed tightly. “You take care now,” she said, then hurried away.
“I can’t believe she had the nerve to show up here today after ghosting you yesterday,” Nadia said when Bunny had left.
“She had a good excuse for her no-show,” Chloe said.
“Her mother in Florida had a heart attack, but the neighbor who called her didn’t know how serious it was or even what hospital her mother was at.
Bunny spent hours tracking her mother down, then there was some confusion over her condition. It sounds like it was quite upsetting.”
“She still should have called,” Nadia said.
“She was very apologetic,” Chloe said. “And at least she had the integrity to come to me and apologize in person.”
“I guess so.” Nadia pulled up the schedule on the computer. “As long as you’re okay with it.”
“I am. I have other things to think about. While I was at work yesterday, someone broke into my place and trashed it.”
“What?”
Chloe motioned her into the back room and told her all about the break-in and the damage done. “You should have called me,” Nadia said. “You could have stayed with me.”
“I found a place to stay,” Chloe said.
“Where?”
“With a friend.”
“Who?”
“Um, I’d rather not say.”
“It’s a guy, right? I can tell by the way you’re blushing.”
Chloe didn’t answer, but something in her face must have registered. Nadia grinned. “Good for you, girl.”
Was it? She really liked Brian, but was their relationship a smart idea? His lawyer had warned him against associating with her, and the cops found the two of them suspicious. With both their lives in such a mess, did they have any business trying to sort out a romance?
“You’ll need help cleaning up after the break-in,” Nadia said.
“The sheriff’s deputy told me I should hire someone,” Chloe said.
“I’ll help,” Nadia said. “I’m sure some of the other stylists will, too.”
“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“Why not? It’s what friends are for.” She grinned. “Besides, I want to meet this new man of yours and he’s bound to want to help, right?”
The arrival of a customer ended the conversation. Grateful for the distraction of work, Chloe told herself she would deal with her messy personal life later.
By the end of the day, she was tired but looking forward to another evening with Brian.
Someone from the sheriff’s department had finally gotten back to her late afternoon to tell her she could have access to the place again.
She needed to call a locksmith about changing the locks and figure out whether to tackle cleaning the place herself or to hire someone.
Her shrinking bank account told her she should do the job herself, and Nadia had offered to help, but the size of the task and the prospect of friends sorting through the wreckage made her want to curl into a ball and weep, though she didn’t have time for that, either.
One by one the other stylists said good night. Chloe swept the floors and wiped down the counters, emptied the trash cans and called it done. She turned down the heat and went to retrieve her purse from the drawer up front.
The drawer was empty. The purse—along with her wallet, keys, and the picture of Cameron Douglas and his family—had disappeared.