Chapter 26
On Tuesday, Cindy’s day at the shop began with one of her favorite customers—Tiffany Taylor. The irreverent Tiffany was always good for a laugh, especially since she was pregnant with her third child. “Are you sure I’m going to fit in the chair?” Tiffany asked, eyeing it.
“Don’t be silly,” Cindy said, laughing. “Abby was saying the same thing when she was in, and she fit fine, too.”
“And she’s expecting quads, that overachiever. I feel like an absolute whale with one. I’m bigger than Maddie was at the end with twins.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Even she says so!”
Cindy covered Tiffany with the cape and ran her fingers through the other woman’s auburn hair. “She’s your sister. She’s paid to be mean.”
“That’s true.”
“When are you due?”
“Not until February.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“See what I’m saying? I’m already huge.”
“Was it like that with your girls?”
“No! That’s why Blaine thinks he’s finally getting some testosterone around the house. He’s convinced it’s a boy and says it has to be, because he can’t handle any more ladies. The poor guy is our bitch.”
Cindy sputtered with laughter at the description of Tiffany’s brawny police chief husband. “What’re we doing today?”
“Anything you want. I’m just gonna sit here, close my eyes and enjoy every second.”
“How about we start with a scalp massage?”
“I might have an orgasm.”
That was why Tiffany was one of her favorites, Cindy thought as she laughed again. She never knew what might come out of Tiffany’s mouth.
“You’re looking particularly perky today.” Tiffany groaned with pleasure as Cindy massaged her scalp. “You’ve got a glow about you.”
“Do I?”
“Uh-huh. In fact, it kind of reminds me of the way I looked after I first met Blaine—and well, just about every day since we finally got together. What’s his name?”
“Jace.”
“Oh, sexy Jace-the-Beachcomber-bartender Jace?”
“The one and only.”
“Damn, girl. He’s hot, and I know hot. Look at who I’m married to.”
“He’s pretty hot and sweet and all the important stuff.”
“That’s wonderful, Cindy. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. I’m rather happy for me, too.”
“Tell me everything and then come by the store to pick out something sexy to wear tonight in exchange for this incredible massage.”
Cindy went warm all over when she thought about wearing something sexy for Jace. “I might just do that.”
“You should! You deserve it. You deserve all good things.”
There it was again, the subtle nod to what her family had been through. As always, it struck at the little girl in her who was programmed not to acknowledge it, even though it was out in the open now.
“I almost want this for him more than I do myself,” Cindy said, forcing herself to move past the disturbing thoughts about things that didn’t matter any longer.
“That’s how you know he’s the one for you. When you want more for him than you do for yourself.”
Was Jace the one for her? She couldn’t say for certain.
Not yet, but she was starting to believe Tiffany might be right.
After only a few days officially together, she already couldn’t imagine going back to who she’d been before everything changed between them.
She’d had the best time watching the boys last night and could already picture them in her life going forward.
“Could I ask you something?” Cindy said.
“Anything. You know me. I’m an open book.”
“How soon did you know—for sure—that Blaine was the one?”
“Honestly? The minute I first saw him. I was in my sister’s room at the clinic.
It’d been an awful day. Mr. McCarthy had been badly hurt in an accident at the marina.
Mac was in the clinic with hypothermia after going in the water after his father, and Maddie was having early contractions.
I was with her when Blaine came to her room looking for Mac.
You know those stories you hear about explosions and how they suck the air out of the room? ”
Cindy nodded, transfixed by what Tiffany was saying.
“That’s how I felt when I saw him. Breathless.
But I was still married to Jim, the douchebag, so there wasn’t much I could do about it.
We saw each other a few times over the next couple of months, and it was the same every time—incendiary.
By the time I was free for us to act on our feelings, we were thermonuclear. We still are.”
“I need a cigarette,” Cindy said, fanning her face.
Tiffany cracked up laughing. “When you know, you know.”
“I suppose that’s true. I like that Jace and I started out as friends before anything else happened. There was always this aura of flirtation to it, but when I talked to him, he really listened to what I had to say. Even though he had other customers at the bar, he always ended up back with me.”
“That’s very sweet, Cindy, and friendship is a really good place to start something lasting.”
“It feels good.”
After she sent Tiffany on her way with her hair two inches shorter and new layers framing her gorgeous face, Cindy swept up the hair, refilled her water bottle and ate a granola bar. The bell on the door signaled her next client had arrived.
She stepped out of the back room to greet Lizzie James and her new baby daughter, Violet. Lizzie had called to ask if Cindy minded if Violet came. “Let me see!”
Lizzie put down the baby car seat and pushed back the top so Cindy could see the baby.
“Oh my goodness. Look at her.”
“She’s rather perfect, isn’t she?” Lizzie looked elated and exhausted. “I still can’t believe we get to keep her. It’s like a dream.”
The last time she’d come in, Lizzie had shared the struggles she and her husband, Jared, had been having with infertility.
They positioned Violet’s seat so she could see her mother.
“Let’s hope she’ll take a little snooze,” Lizzie said. “She usually does around now.” Lizzie released a deep breath as she tried to relax in Cindy’s chair.
“You look so happy,” Cindy said.
“I’ve never been happier or more exhausted, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“I couldn’t believe what I heard about the baby’s mother leaving her with you at Quinn and Mallory’s wedding and taking off.”
“I was so torn between elation and fear. My first thought was, ‘Good, go. You don’t want her, and I do. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.’ But Jared… He was out of his mind, telling me we couldn’t do it this way, that we had to find her.”
“Ugh, I can’t imagine how stressful that must’ve been.”
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever been through, even worse than when Jared and I broke up for a time. Not knowing if her mother was going to come back for her and say it had been a terrible mistake… Jared put an investigator on trying to find her. It was so nuts.”
“In the meantime, you were taking care of her.”
“And falling deeper in love with her by the second. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if I’d had to give her up. I would’ve come apart.”
“I’m so glad that didn’t happen, Lizzie.”
“God, me, too. Jessie, the baby’s mother, signed over permanent custody to us, and we’re in the process of adopting her. Jessie can still change her mind until it’s final, but she’s promised us she’s not going to. I’ve decided to believe her, so I won’t worry myself to death over that.”
“Congratulations. I’m so, so happy for you and Jared.”
“Thank you. We’re happy for us, too. Now that we have signed paperwork that says she’s ours to keep, it’s like we’ve both allowed ourselves to fall completely in love with her.
Jared is just over the moon for her. He gets up with her every night and stays up for hours with her sometimes so I can sleep. He can’t get enough of her.”
“That’s lovely,” Cindy said, moved nearly to tears by Lizzie’s joy.
“I always knew he’d be the most wonderful father.” She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue that Cindy handed her. “I’m sorry to go on and on. How are you?”
“You’re not doing that. You’re overflowing with joy, and it’s wonderful to see.”
“Thank you. I promise I’ll stop gushing in a year or maybe eighteen of them.”
Cindy laughed. “Gush all you want. You waited a long time for this moment. You need to fully enjoy it.”
“Oh, I am when I’m not craving more sleep.”
“From what I hear, they figure out the sleep situation sooner rather than later.”
“God, I hope so.”
“How are Cooper and Gigi doing?” Jared’s younger brother Cooper had recently fallen for reality TV star Gigi Gibson.
“They’re great, back in LA for now, getting ready to premiere the season of the show that she and Jordan filmed here on Gansett. They invited us to come out for the festivities, but we’re staying at home with Miss Violet for now. Mason and Jordan and Riley and Nikki are going out for it, though.”
“That’s very exciting.”
“I guess. To me, hanging with a newborn is far more exciting than the red carpet. But Cooper is so in love with Gigi—and vice versa. Jared and Quinn can’t believe their wild baby brother has been domesticated, but Gigi is perfect for him. She doesn’t put up with any of his nonsense.”
“They were in for haircuts before they left. They’re cute together.”
“They really are. We’re so thrilled for them. Anyway, tell me something fun that’s going on with you.”
“I seem to have gotten myself a boyfriend,” Cindy said, smiling at the way Lizzie’s eyes lit up with that news.
“Do tell!”
They were fully caught up by the time Cindy sent Lizzie and Violet on their way with hugs and a haircut that Lizzie said made her feel like a whole new woman. That was Cindy’s goal with every client, to make them feel special and pampered during the hour they spent in her chair.
She was about to step out to find something to eat when Jace came through the door, carrying a bag.
“I figured that even the island’s only stylist gets a lunch break, right?”
Smiling and thrilled to see him, she said, “She does, and you timed it perfectly.”
“Oh, I love when I have perfect timing.”
Cindy raised a brow. “Are we still talking about lunch?”
He stopped in front of her and kissed her. “We’re talking about all the things. I wanted to do something to thank you for watching the boys last night.”
“I loved every second with them.” She placed a hand on his chest, once again appreciating the finely honed muscles under yet another of the sexy Henleys he seemed to own in every color. This one was a heathered sage that brought out the green in his eyes. “Did you have your meeting with Mac?”
“He pushed it to one thirty, which gave me time to bring lunch to my new girlfriend.”
“She’s very glad you did. What are we having?”
“I got salad and a sub from the grocery store. What’s your pleasure?”
“Other than you?” She had no idea where that came from, but he seemed to like it.
Grinning, he said, “For lunch, Cindy. Focus.”
“Oh, I’m focused. And how about we split them?”
“That works.”
They set up their lunch in the reception area. He’d also brought her lemon-flavored water, which she opened and drank half of, and an iced tea for a midafternoon boost.
“You’re only allowed to drink a tiny bit of that.” Jace pointed to the tea. “We don’t need any migraines around here.”
“No, we don’t, and I only have a sip or two late in the afternoon.”
“I know. You told me that.”
“And you remembered. Big boyfriend points for that.”
His smile lit up his sinfully handsome face.
As Cindy stared at him, she wanted to pinch herself to believe this man was hers, that she was allowed to feel all the things for him and that he seemed to feel the same way about her. In her world, things like this happened to other people. Not her.
“What’s with the wrinkle between the brows?” he asked, smoothing a finger over the spot in question.
“I’m amazed by this, by us.”
“So am I. I’m amazed and thrilled and every other word I can think of.
When I came here, earlier in the summer, I had one goal in mind—get to know my sons.
It’s been so much more than that.” He took her hand and linked their fingers.
“Not only do I have a beautiful, sweet, sexy new girlfriend, but I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had in my life through my AA group, at the gym and the bar.
I’ve made an unlikely friend of the man who’s raising my sons and his wife.
And there’s this job opportunity with Mac.
” He shook his head. “It’s just incredible. All of it.”
“You’re incredible, and people see that. They respond to your genuine desire to start over and live a productive life. And for what it’s worth, you’re amazing with the boys. I was already falling hard for you but seeing you with them really sealed the deal.”
“That means a lot to me. I want to be good with them and to them.”
“They see that, and they like you, or they wouldn’t tease you the way they do.”
“They are pretty ruthless,” he said with a laugh. “I hate that Carolina got hurt, but to have this chance to step up for them… It means so much to me.”
“I know, and you’re doing a great job.”
He put his arm around her and kissed her right there in the window, where anyone walking by might see them.
Cindy couldn’t find the wherewithal to care if someone saw them.
“In case you were wondering,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers, “you’re not the only one who’s falling pretty hard.”
“No?”
“Not at all.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “I haven’t felt this good in, well, ever. I loved Lisa. I truly did, but my life was a mess the entire time we were together. I never got a chance to be this person with her.”
“I’m sorry for her that she didn’t get a chance to know this guy, because he’s very special.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“I do. For sure.”
“I hate to say I have to go.”
“I hate to let you go, but my next client is due in ten minutes.”
He gave her one more lingering kiss. “That’ll keep me until I see you later.”
“Thank you for lunch and the visit.” She walked him to the door, where he kissed her one more time.
“Thank you for everything.”
She reached up to fix the hair that she’d disturbed during the kissing portion of their lunch date. “I still owe you a haircut.”
“Something else to look forward to.”
“Good luck with Mac.”
“Thanks. Give me a call when you’re ready for a pickup after work.”
“We’re due at my mom’s at six thirty.”
“Sounds good.”
Cindy waved him off and disposed of their trash in the back room. Then she wiped off the coffee table and plumped up the pillows on the sofa. Chloe had made it such a warm, inviting space, and Cindy took pride in keeping it looking nice.
She took a seat while she waited for her next client and thought about what Jace had said about being on Gansett and the friends they’d made and the life they were making for themselves there. What she’d intended to be a brief stay had turned into so much more than she’d ever expected.
But she knew she shouldn’t be surprised. Gansett had always been a magical place to her, and now was no different.