Chapter 25 Jade
Jade
Jade’s eyelids snapped open. She reached across the bed, making contact with the warm imprint of a body now gone.
Heavy breathing rose from the floor. What had woken her …
? Grunting sounds. Poor Lucy. Just shy of six months pregnant, and this past week it seemed her body was kicking and fighting as it edged into the third trimester.
‘Where’d she go, Chucky?’ Jade murmured.
She grabbed the top blanket, wrapped her naked body, and eased herself out of the bedroom. ‘Lucy?’
‘In the kitchen,’ a groggy voice replied.
Lucy lazed a wave, her leg tossed up on the counter as she stretched her muscle and a half-drunken glass of milk next to her ankle.
Jade kissed her shoulder. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Did I wake you?’
Yes. ‘No, I just noticed you were gone.’ She yawned. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Not really.’ Lucy grimaced along with some fire breathing and dropped her leg. ‘My back is killing me. It’s like this weird electric spiderweb shooting spikes down my hips and legs.’ She heaved her other leg off the counter and groaned.
‘Come on, come back to bed.’ Jade pulled the blanket tighter around her chest, the winter chill in the room springing goose bumps up her arms. Tomorrow, pyjamas. ‘I’ll massage you.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I know.’ She ushered Lucy back to the bedroom. Lucy groaned as she eased back onto the mattress. After throwing on Lucy’s way-too-short yet ultra-plush bathrobe, Jade pumped lotion into her hands.
Lucy shifted to her side and shoved a pillow between her legs.
Jade pushed against her lower back and hips with firm pressure, and soon eye flutters replaced Lucy’s gritted teeth.
The dads were grateful for Lucy, of course, but did they really know about nights like this?
No doubt Lucy hadn’t told them, probably preferring to swap goofy GIFs and raunchy comments with Drew rather than admit she was restless and in pain and literally up at all hours of the night.
When Jade started the relationship with Lucy, she knew what she was getting into.
Still, she’d be lying if she said it was easy.
Watching her partner transform, shifting from her goofy self to cautious, fluctuating being misty-eyed and forgetful, was harder than she anticipated.
For every time she was annoyed at Lucy for spacing out or not picking up on social cues, she was livid at herself for being selfish.
And Jade wasn’t sharing the way she should, she knew that, but Lucy had so much going on.
Did she really need to hear about Jade’s workplace drama or her favourite colour line getting discontinued?
When this was all done, they’d have time.
A lifetime, in fact. Right now was Lucy’s time.
Lucy’s muscles loosened under Jade’s pressure. Her chest lifted and lowered, and when her breathing grew even deeper, Jade peeked at her face. Yep – asleep.
Jade eased away and slid back into a sleeping position. She put her index finger up to her lips, said ‘Shhhh’ to Chucky, then reached down to rub his head before closing her eyes.
Three hours later was not nearly long enough.
How did parents of babies live with interrupted sleep?
Jade dug a knuckle into her sawdust eyes, dragged herself into the shower, and left the house before Lucy woke up.
She normally wouldn’t get to the salon this early, but today was a big day.
With the Minneapolis Times interview scheduled for this evening, she had a gazillion things to do – swing by the grocery store, grab a fresh flower bouquet, clean every inch of the salon until it sparkled, change clothes, refresh her make-up …
The fresh, overnight snowfall dusted the lawns and tree branches, and she cracked the window to breathe in the bone-dry, crisp air.
Normally when snow fell this late in the season, she was officially over it and ready to see green.
But even though it was April, the snow was a pretty, magical blanket.
She tapped her steering wheel, turned up the radio, turned down the radio, cracked the window even further, and breathed through her racing heart. Interview. She was getting interviewed by a freaking journalist, and now the steering wheel was turning slippery under her damp palms.
Elizabeth was always the eloquent speaker, not Jade.
During family holidays, she gave the toasts and the speeches.
In boardrooms, she commanded the space. She’d even been on a few business podcasts, and even though Jade didn’t grasp the content, Elizabeth’s delivery was flawless.
She had that gravitational pull where people wanted to breathe her air, like maybe her star power would rub off on them.
Jade both hated that trait almost as much as she was attracted by it, fluctuating between feeling ignored, feeling like someone had stolen her thunder, and feeling relieved that competent Elizabeth was by her side when she stumbled.
If Elizabeth were here, she’d sit next to Jade, pepper Jade’s words with commentary, and complete the story circle Jade had been mentally struggling with.
But now, Jade was flying solo. She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled heavily through her mouth.
The journalist had sent a list of preliminary questions a few days ago.
Things ranging from what made her salon unique to why she thought the community gravitated towards it, how she’d managed to grow the business so quickly, and what made her the proudest about her salon.
One question, however, was what made her decide to move here from Chicago.
She emailed and asked if she could strike that question as it was a ‘personal family matter’.
This interview was not the time to dive into her gut-wrenching divorce and need for a fresh start.
Jade cleared her throat. Rehearsal time. ‘Honestly, I think the community rallied so much because when you step into the shop, it feels like family.’ Ugh. Did that sound idiotic? She’d said this line twenty times in the past few days, but now she was questioning every word.
The word family didn’t flow. She tried to ignore the drop in her stomach as her thoughts turned to Shayna.
Since Jade had fired her, she had not heard one single word from Shayna.
Every time Jade thought about the situation, she turned queasy.
She really hadn’t taken the time to process what happened, the betrayal, and the sadness that followed.
But she’d taken action. That was the most important thing, right?
She shook her head and pulled into the parking lot.
‘The stylists try hard to learn the names of regulars, even if they aren’t clients.
And the rumour is that I have the best tea cookies in town.
’ That was supposed to be funny, but maybe people would get confused.
Should she talk about having the quickest balayage application in the Midwest, or keep it about the cookies? Ugh.
After turning off the ignition, she checked for mascara flakes in the vanity mirror.
She paused and looked at herself. ‘You did it,’ she whispered with a grin.
Damn right. Without Elizabeth, without her family, even without Lucy.
The community had nominated her for this award based on her hard work, merit, their love for her salon, and Jade’s grit.
She had something that was truly just hers.
I fucking did it.
If the fresh snow hadn’t been a potential safety hazard, she would’ve skipped across the parking lot.
A solid cup of coffee down, two clients completed, and the door jingled.
‘Mrs Dieterman.’ Jade held out her arm. ‘I got fresh cookies for you.’
Mrs Dieterman whooshed away the comment and gripped Jade. ‘Today’s the big day, huh?’ She had an uncharacteristic smile. ‘Getting interviewed by the paper.’
Her chest fluttered, and Jade bit back a grin. Last week, after her weekly shampoo set, Jade had mentioned the article in passing.
And Mrs Dieterman had remembered.
Mrs Dieterman’s gaze flickered up and down Jade, from head to toe, a deep frown on her face.
‘Tell me you’re not wearing this outfit for the pictures.
’ She sat in the shampoo chair and lowered her head slowly back into the sink.
‘Promise me you’ll wear a nice shirt, for God’s sake.
Not much we can do about that pink hair of yours, but at least a button-down should help. ’
God, Jade loved her brutal honesty. Reminded her of her shoot-from-the-hip grandma, who was borderline rude, sure – but always full of good intentions. Jade laughed and tugged at her off-the-shoulder, ripped Nirvana sweatshirt with a black bralette. ‘So … not this?’
Mrs Dieterman scowled but quickly softened. ‘Back in the day, the a.m. radio station interviewed me. That was a huge deal, you know.’
Jade lathered Mrs Dieterman’s hair and began scrubbing. ‘What were you interviewed for?’
‘I had won a barrel shooting contest at the local county fair. Beat out the men, too. I ended up going to five different county fairs that year to compete and won four of the five.’
Wow. Mrs Dieterman’s cool factor had just skyrocketed. ‘No way. That’s really impressive. Wish I would’ve been around to see it.’
Suds rolled down the drain, and Jade brought her back to the station.
‘The attention after the interview surprised me,’ Mrs Dieterman said, settling into the chair.
‘I was a local celebrity, if even for a moment. You have all these news stations, and this internet crap. Back then, we didn’t even have television.
People glued themselves to their radio just like you kids glue yourselves to your phones. ’
‘Such a different time, huh?’ Jade snapped the cape around Mrs Dieterman’s neck and grabbed the rollers.
‘So, I say, you better prepare yourself for some stardom.’
A blush swept Jade’s cheeks. ‘I don’t think it will be quite like that. I suppose we might get a few new clients from the article, but …’ Or maybe more?