Page 99 of All This Time

His voice has a broken rasp to it when he speaks again. “Could you cut my hair, please?”

“Now?”

“I mean, why not? It won’t take long, right?” He smirks up at me. “I’ll even give you a big tip.”

I raise both brows. “Is that code for something sexual?”

He laughs. “I mean, if you want it to be.”

I take my arm back and reach for my scissors. “Boys never truly grow up, do they?” Our eyes meet in the mirror in front of us as I lay out my clippers, scissors, and straight razor on my rolling table, reaching for an apron to wrap around his neck.

Ten minutes ago, I was intent on finishing up my paperwork and getting home to relax before another long day tomorrow.

But suddenly, a burst of energy flows through me, part nerves from the idea of cutting Fletcher’s hair—something I’ve never done, but can’t deny having thought about.

“In some ways, no,” he says, answering my question. “In others though, we change so much that it scares the ever-living shit out of us.”

I button the apron and smooth it out over his chest and shoulders. “What do you mean?”

He grabs my hand from over his shoulder, stroking the top of it with his thumb before pulling me back around to face him head-on. “Like when we realize how foolish we’ve been. How one decision can change the entire direction of our lives, but we have to be brave enough to try to fix it.”

The lump in my throat grows. “Oh.”

He reaches out and toys with the necklace lying against my collarbone. “This was your mom’s, wasn’t it?” Fletcher’s fingers pass over the pink diamond stone in the necklace I put on the other day after seeing the woman at Dilynne’s garage with the same one my mother had. I usually only wear this necklace on special occasions, but a part of me felt like I needed her with me recently, especially after that day, and I have a feeling I know why.

“You—you remember that?”

“I remember a lot of things, Laney.” His head tilts to the side as he runs the chain between his fingers. “She loved pink diamonds.”

“She did.” Our eyes remain locked before I shake myself out of the moment, take a step back, and plug in the clippers. “So, how short are you wanting?”

His hand passes through his hair again. “Whatever you think would look good for the wedding.”

“It’s your hair, Fletcher.”

“And you’re the expert. I trust you.”

Opting for a shorter look on the sides and slightly longer length on top, I get to work, concentrating a little too hard but hard enough that I can convince Fletcher that I can’t talk and work at the same time. But then he drops a verbal bomb.

“I’ve been giving my dad money for the past few years now.”

My stomach drops and the clippers go still in my hand as I lift my gaze to the mirror. “Why?”

“I wish I could tell you, but I ask myself the same thing every time, Laney.”

My hands drop to my sides. “But after everything he did to you…”

His head spins in my direction. “You think I don’t know that it’s fucked up? That I give money to the man that used to hit me and bruise my body?”

“I’m not judging you, Fletcher,” I say softly. “I just… What about his job?”

His brow arches. “I’ll let you guess where his paychecks go.”

“Alcohol,” I answer instantly.

He snaps his fingers. “Bingo.”

It’s like pieces of the puzzle are all starting to fall into place. While I’ve been happy that Fletcher hasn’t been around, I failed to consider that he’s been avoiding his own past by not coming back to Blossom Peak nearly as often as he could.