Page 18 of The Liar's Wife

The brunette—Tosh—glanced at the clock, turning around to look at me. “Sure. As long as you don’t mind that I rotate between you and Kat?” I shook my head. I didn’t mind a bit. She jutted her head toward the chair, willing me to take a seat, but I wasn’t looking. Instead, my eyes were locked on the woman in the chair. Katie…or, well,Kat. Her small, brown eyes were locked with mine in the reflection, her mouth tight with apparent displeasure. Obviously she wasn’t in the mood to share hairdressers.

It was fine. I wasn’t in the mood to share husbands.

I offered a small smile before making my way across the room and taking a seat in the salon chair directly beside Kat.

Tosh smiled at me. “I’m Toshia. Have you ever been here before?”

“Palmer,” I told her, reaching out to shake her gloved hand. “And no. I haven’t.”

“New in town?”

“No, just…just in town for work,” I said quickly.

Toshia didn’t look convinced. She turned her attention back to start on Kat’s hair, painting some of the bleach on her dark roots and wrapping them in foil.

“We don’t get many people here for work, but I’m glad you stopped in. What are we going to do for you, Palmer?”

“I was thinking maybe just a few highlights. I…wanted a change.” Kat was still staring at me, her eyes drilling holes in methrough the reflection. Did she recognize me? Was she thinking I looked familiar? Had she stalked Ben’s social media and seen his pictures of me? Heard my name? “I love that color,” I told her.

“Thanks,” Kat said softly, bobbing her head. She seemed to be a strange mix of annoyed and paralyzed by fear, and I couldn’t deny that I felt the same, with just a dash of determination.

“Are you both…from here?” I asked.

Toshia nodded, with a quick laugh under her breath. “Born and raised. I’ve been doing Kat’s hair since she was a baby.”

“How nice.”

“Where are you from, Palmer?” Kat asked, one brow raised slightly.

“I live in Oceanside.”

“The big city, hm?” Toshia asked. “My husband and I love Oceanside. Do you know Sarah Allen? She’s from there.”

“No…I don’t think I do.” I played with my nails as Toshia continued to paint the highlights onto Kat’s hair. It was mesmerizing, watching the white paste be smoothed over the dark roots. I tried to focus on that when it got to be too hard focusing on Kat’s denial-filled gaze.

“I guess it’s different there, hm? Everyone here knows everyone. Isn’t that right, Kat?”

Kat nodded, glancing down at her phone. “Just about.”

“What do you do, Kat?” I asked, trying to draw her attention back to me.

She shrugged a shoulder, not looking back up. “Nothing. My husband works.”

Toshia blew air from her lips, popping her hip. “Oh, don’t be so modest, Kat. Kat here’s a successful food and travelblogger. They actuallypayher to go on vacation. Can you believe that?”

Kat placed her phone in her lap and met Toshia’s gaze, still avoiding mine at whatever cost. “Well, no onepays me to go on vacation. It’s actually more of a free vacation for exposure on my blog. And…ads are where my income comes from. That’s what I get paid for.”

Toshia rolled her eyes. “Logistics. The point is…this girl’s living the dream.”

And trying to steal mine.“That sounds amazing. And you said you’re married? What does your husband do?”

“He works on the railroad,” came her clipped answer as she looked down.

Surprisingly, we had a connection there. “My uncle worked on the railroad. It’s a hard job, but he loved it.”

“He’s away a lot,” Toshia said. “He’s on a job up in Canada right now. Next month could be Arizona or Illinois. He’s always traveling. I worry about Kat all on her own, but the woman’s fearless. Independent. She takes care of herself.”

Fearless enough to steal my husband. Independent enough to cheat on hers. She takes care of herself by being selfish.