Chapter 10 Lainey #2
“Deep breath, bestie! I am doing good,” I reassure her with a smile. “The first thing I want to tell you is that I have made a major hair decision, and I am ready for you to make it happen.”
Kendra drops her worried hands from her cheeks and lets out a squeal that I swear dogs in the next town could probably hear. The two other old ladies in the salon are probably going to have to reset their hearing aids if they have any. “Are you pulling an April Fool’s joke on me right now?”
Laughing I say, “Noooooo, it’s still March. Also you know I can’t stand that ‘holiday,’ so I would never do that to you.”
“True! Okay, tell me ev-er-y-thing! What made you finally decide to change things up? What are you wanting to do?” Excitement buzzes over Kendra like a wave of bees ready for her twitching hands to attack my head the second I say go.
I would be slightly terrified if I didn’t know that she was so talented at everything she does, including wielding her shiny shears.
“Remember when I wanted a long bob, and Brett told me it was a bad idea?” I ask, frowning.
Glowering, Kendra scrunches up her nose, slams a hand on her hip, and rolls her eyes at me. “And remember that I told you he was an asshole and had no idea what he was talking about. Fuck him.”
“Exactly. Let’s do it. I want you to do the bob, with long layers on the ends.” I can’t help but smile and feel proud of myself as I lock in my choice. It feels good to do this for myself and only myself.
“Shoulder length?” Kendra asks, remembering what I wanted from previous conversations.
“Yeah, I want it to barely brush them.” I show her with my hands.
“Let’s freaking do this!” Kendra claps and pushes me to the washing station.
It is like I told her she just won the lottery.
I know that as happy as she is to cut my hair, she also knows this is a big step for me.
She tips me back and wets my hair with the perfectly warm water in the deep sink.
I love this part, when she massages my head and I can close my eyes and just be for a few minutes.
The honey scent of my favorite shampoo, which Kendra knows I prefer, floats through the air as she says, “I need to know what else has been going on with you. You told me you have things to catch me up on. We didn’t have our wine night this week, and as HUGE as this hair sitch is, I know there’s more, right? ”
“There is more,” I sigh, and peek open my eyes to see her bright silvery-blue eyes looking at me expectantly while she works the lather through my long locks one last time. “So, do you remember the firefighter?”
“Uhhhhh you mean the hot-as-fuck hottie that saved your cute pyro butt and took your journal? How could I forget? I have been dying to know what happened. Did he give you back the journal?”
“No, no, he hasn’t had nearly enough time to transfer over what was written.
But a looooot more has happened.” Kendra rinses my conditioner, wrings out my hair, and wraps a towel around my head.
She tips up my chair with a practiced ease and we make our way back to her station.
Sitting down, I settle in for what comes next—my hair transformation and catching my best friend up on all things Remington LeBlanc.
An hour and a half later I feel lighter.
I feel settled in myself. Cutting off my hair really did give me a huge boost and pep to my confidence.
When Kendra spun me around dramatically in her chair, because of course she wouldn’t let me see a damn thing until she was done, which included a full blowout and soft beach waves, my jaw dropped.
I looked like me, but a me that was . . . more.
It was like I cut off the dead weight and expectations of others that I was carrying. I let go of a piece of myself that I was holding on to so tightly, trying to please everyone other than myself. My head felt lighter, my neck felt less stiff, and my smile hasn’t left my face.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” I whisper to my best friend as she pulls me into a tight hug.
“You look just as beautiful as you always do, but I am so happy that it’s finally on your own terms, bestie,” Kendra says. “And you are going to make Remington fucking drool whenever he sees you next. There is no way he won’t be all over you.” She grins as she finishes organizing her station.
I narrow my eyes. “Well, it doesn’t matter because this hair and decision has nothing to do with him or any other man.”
“Damn straight!” Kendra cheers. She ate up every crumb I gave her when I spilled details about Remington.
I told her all about the texting, the flowers, the date .
. . and the not kissing me. I was embarrassed about that part, but of course she helped me get out of my own head, calming my anxiety before I could spiral about it again.
It was helpful to get her perspective because I hadn’t realized that she actually kind of knows Remington.
Her nana was from Fox Grove, so Kendra spent a lot of time here in the summers off and on.
Small-town life had her crossing paths with lots of people in this town long before she officially became a resident a few years ago when she moved into her nana’s place.
Kendra is convinced that Remington is totally into me and trying to be a gentleman.
I am sure she’s right, but damn it, I still really wanted him to not be so gentlemanly last night.
“Alright, thank you for this wonderful metamorphosis. I’ve got to get going so I can grab a few groceries before I hop on my last afternoon meeting. I am really glad you could squeeze me in this morning and we could catch up.”
“Same! I need you to come to the studio next. New mugs are happening for my summer line, and I need to show you the samples. I know there is one you are going to want for your collection for sure. Think strawberries.” Kendra beams with a flourish of her hands.
“Don’t I want all of them for my collection? I’m your number one fan!” I say back with a smile as I bounce back out into the warm spring day with a wave at my best friend.
A soft breeze blows through my freshly cut hair, and I know this really is a new beginning for me. But it didn’t start with a haircut . . . It started the night Remington helped finish one fire and set a brand new one.