Page 17 of No Place Like Home (Orlinda Valley #3)

I guess I should have listened. Shit. Do I what?

—or more importantly, what would I be agreeing to if I said yes?

I pulled into the parking lot of Shear Perfection and parked next to my mother.

Of course she was here. Where else would she be?

And she made me clean her kitchen because she had somewhere “important” to get to.

Ha! Luckily, I could use her as the scapegoat.

“I don’t know, Darce. Why don’t you wait and ask Grandma? ”

I heard a click , and then she forced her way between the seats and onto my center console. “Umm, are you allowed up front? ”

“The car’s not moving, Uncle Rowan,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s safe. Duh.” She rolled her eyes and held her hands out, palms up, like the sassy five-year-old she was. “But you really want me to ask Grandma?”

My hands got sweaty. Why was this miniature grown-up making me sweat? I was the adult here, so I needed to put my foot down. “Yes, Darcie, that’s exactly what I want you to do.”

I held the door open, and she jumped out and huffed out a breath. “Fine.” She stalked toward the door with her nose high in the air.

“What the hell did I agree to?” I asked under my breath as I closed the door and jogged to catch up with the little fireball of a niece I had.

“Grandma!” Darcie swung her arms dramatically as she walked toward my mother, who was sitting in Kaye’s chair. Kaye leaned on her station, an amused expression on her face.

“Hello again, my favorite granddaughter.”

Darcie held up her hand and my mom sat tall and pinched her lips together.

Diane and Kaye giggled.

Mrs. Ledbetter, who had been one of my teachers in high school, sat in Summer’s chair. “Rowan, welcome home,” she said.

“Thank you, Mrs. Ledbetter. It’s great to be home.” I smiled at her, then at Summer, who suddenly became uber-focused on doing her client’s hair and ignored me totally.

“Hey, Summer,” I said, refusing to be ignored. Besides, it would be weird if I didn’t acknowledge her.

“I’m working,” she replied, not looking up. “I talked with you this morning. ”

“Grandma, I asked Uncle Rowan a question in the car, and he said I needed to ask you.” Darcie crossed her arms over her chest. “I just think he wasn’t listening to me and needed someone to pass the buck.”

Laughter filled the room. “Baby girl, where do you get these words?” my mother asked.

“It doesn’t matter.” Darcie said, swiping her hand through the air.

Damn. Is she really only five?

“I said to Uncle Rowan that my dad and Lilly were talking and said that they thought Uncle Rowan came home because he finally wants to admit he has feelings for Summer. Do you think that’s true?”

“What the fuck?” I asked as I choked on the water I’d gotten from the water cooler. I glanced at Summer. Her eyes were huge and her hands frozen over Mrs. Ledbetter’s hair.

Mrs. Ledbetter pinched her lips together, and when I glanced at the other women in the salon, they all had the same expression and gazes were fixed on me.

Wonderful. Just what I needed, to be in Orlinda Valley for only a few days and already be on the town’s gossip loop.

Kaye said, “Well there, little one, that’s something you should have asked your uncle.”

“I did.” Darcie said her arms flapping up and down. “See, he wasn’t listening to me and so I did what I was told and asked Grandma. Oh,” she turned toward me and raised her brow with her hands on her hips, “you owe me a dollar.”

I had to gain control of this situation.

Every woman over forty in the shop was staring at me, wearing silly, uninterpretable looks on their faces—except my mother, who was, I think, in shock.

Summer stomped into the kitchen, since Mrs. Ledbetter was one of the over-forty women who were staring at us, laughter and questions in their eyes.

“Yeah, no.” I looked at Darcie. “This is none of your business, and you’re not getting a dollar.”

“Well, my dad said you’ve liked Summer since high school, but were just too into yourself to realize it and you owe me a dollar because you said a bad word. That’s the rules.”

The women in the room could no longer contain their laughter, and the entire salon rang with it. I’m glad I came home to be the laughingstock of the hair salon.

It probably wasn’t the first time, but still. “Fuck.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Darcie stuck out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “You owe me two dollars.”

“I . . . what? Why the hell would I owe you two dollars? For what?”

“Three now.” Her brows were again raised as she craned her neck looking up at me.

“There’s no way to get around this Rowan.” my mother said, finally gaining control of herself. “We all are held to the same rule. We cuss, she gets paid. Her father pays her a dollar for every cuss-word he utters.”

I glanced at her. “I’m not her father. I’m not paying up.”

“Doesn’t matter, Uncle Rowan. And I only said what I heard. You don’t have to be so rude.” She walked to my mom and hopped on her lap.

Kaye said, “Well, Darcie, sometimes adults get rude when something is true, and they’re embarrassed. ”

“Good Lord, Kaye.” I raised my hands in question. Why did she have to get involved? “You’re not helping.”

“Summer left. Maybe there’s something to this?” My mother said.

“Mom . . .” I stopped myself, then glanced toward the door to the kitchen that Summer had disappeared through. Well, better to clear the air now than never. I sighed and stalked heavily into the kitchen.