Page 21 of This Time Around (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #3)

“ T his room makes such a lovely little hair salon,” Skye said as she curled a lock of Allie’s hair around a contraption that looked like she’d stolen it from a space station.

Allie shifted a little on the high-backed barstool Skye had parked in front of the mirror in a small, sunlit room on the first floor. Her grandmother had always called it the Maple Room for a tree that used to be right outside the window.

But the tree lay flat on the ground now, the victim of a bad windstorm several weeks ago, according to Skye. Allie still hadn’t rounded up an arborist to haul it away.

“I always loved the light in here,” Allie said. “My grandma used to read in that corner over there when we didn’t have guests staying in the room.”

“You must miss her a lot.”

Allie started to nod, but stopped as Skye wrapped another section of her hair around the curling iron. “I do. I keep picking up the phone to call her, and then realizing I can’t.”

“I never knew any of my grandparents, but I always thought of Vicky as the grandma I wish I had.”

“It still smells like her in this room,” Allie said. “She used to keep these big vases of roses everywhere in the house.”

“It’s potpourri. I bought some with rose petals in it, and your grandma loved it so much that I started buying huge bags of it so the place would still smell like home whenever the nurses brought her to visit.

” She met Allie’s eyes in the mirror and gave her a small smile.

“Sorry, I don’t want to make you cry when we just got your makeup perfect. ”

“It’s okay. I’m not much of a crier.”

“Still, I’ll come up with something better to talk about.” Skye seemed to think for a moment. “What’s the latest on the woodpecker situation?”

Allie sighed. “I took pictures of the damage and showed them to a guy at Home Depot after Jack left yesterday. He told me I should put up a bunch of pinwheels and metallic streamers to scare them away.”

“Is that why the front of the house looks like a Mardi Gras party?” Skye laughed and released Allie’s hair. “I thought you were just getting into the spirit of your reunion.”

“Nope, it’s for the woodpeckers. And Jack’s reunion, not mine. I’m just going to keep him company.”

“Mm,” Skye murmured, sounding dubious. Or maybe it was just the bobby pin she’d stuck between her teeth.

She used it to anchor a curl into a little upsweep she’d created at the crown of Allie’s head, then picked up another lock to twirl around the barrel of the curling device.

“So you graduated from college at different times, but you went to high school together?”

“Yes. He was my date to the senior prom.”

“No kidding?” Skye beamed in the mirror. “So you were high school sweethearts.”

“Sort of,” Allie admitted, not sure how much of the story she wanted to tell. “We were friends all through middle school and high school, but just friends. Prom was kind of our first official date, but we dated in secret for about nine months before that.”

“Why in secret?”

Allie shrugged, a little embarrassed at the memory. “I didn’t want my parents to know. My family was sort of?—”

“Protective?”

“Yes,” Allie agreed, though that wasn’t what she’d been about to say.

Prominent. Judgmental. Pretentious.

Take your pick, and none of them were that flattering. She still remembered the first time she’d broached the subject of Jack with her mother.

“I’ve been seeing this boy,” she’d said. “Actually, we’ve been friends at school for a long time. He’s really cute and smart and funny and ? —”

“What do his parents do?” Priscilla’s scowl had sent a burst of ice water through Allie’s arms.

“I—um, I’m not sure. His mom is a secretary at an elementary school, I think. His dad isn’t around.”

“And this boy ? —”

“Jack.”

“Jack,” her mother had repeated, pronouncing the word like a disease. “Where’s he going to college?”

“Um, he’s not sure yet. Maybe community college for a couple years to save money, and then ? —”

“So it’s not serious, then.”

The words had been a statement, not a question. Allie remembered the flare of anger in her belly, but she’d tamped it down. “I want you to meet him.”

And so he’d met her parents. Her father had been guarded, but charming. Her mother had been chilly, and remained chilly for the next two years, through family dinners and Jack’s surprise scholarship and the two of them moving in together and the engagement and?—

“Turn a little to your right,” Skye said, jarring Allie back to the present. “Perfect. I just want to make sure I’ve got the other side even.”

“I really appreciate you doing this.”

Skye smiled at her in the mirror. “Every woman should look gorgeous for a reunion, even if it’s not her own. Will you know people there?”

“Maybe a few. I’m really just going for Jack.”

“Jack.” Skye grinned and wrapped another lock of hair around the curling iron. “Was he that hot in high school?”

“No. I mean—he was hot, yes. Really hot. But it was more of a youthful hot. Less edgy, you know what I mean?”

Skye nodded. “I know exactly what you mean. His eyes—they look old, but not in a bad way. Sorta soulful. Like he’s seen things.”

“Yes,” Allie mused. “That’s it exactly.”

She fingered the edge of the sheet Skye had draped around her to keep any wayward hair products off her dress. She thought about what Jack’s eyes might’ve seen, things she hadn’t been a part of. A life that had unfolded completely without her.

“Tell me about the guy you were dating,” Allie said. “The one who was living here with you when my grandma hired you. Brody?”

She watched Skye’s expression turn solemn in the mirror, but she didn’t look heartbroken. Just a little wistful.

“There’s not much to tell,” Skye said. “He just woke up one day and said he didn’t love me anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Allie said. “Sometimes it happens that way.”

“Yeah. I didn’t take it very well at first. I emptied his underwear drawer on the front lawn, sent him pleading text messages at all hours of the night. That sort of thing.”

Allie smiled. “Pretty sure we’ve all done things we’re not proud of at the tail end of a relationship.”

“True.” Skye bit her lip. “Actually, can I confess something?”

“Go right ahead.”

She curled another lock of Allie’s hair around the barrel of the curling iron, then twisted it slowly toward the crown of her head.

“Brody came from this really wealthy family. Tons of money, tons of nice things. After he took off, he just left a bunch of stuff here. And, uh—I might have hidden some of it in the attic.”

Allie’s arms prickled. She took a deep breath, unsure exactly what Skye was telling her. “Here? In this house?”

Skye nodded, but didn’t meet Allie’s eyes. “I was a little worried when I saw you up there the other day. I thought you might have found it and since we didn’t know each other well yet, I guess—” she shrugged. “I didn’t want you to jump to the wrong conclusion about me.”

Allie’s heart thudded in her ears, but she kept her voice even. “What conclusion would that be?”

“I don’t know. That I’m the sort of person who’d steal.”

“Steal,” Allie repeated, too stunned to form a complete sentence. “So that’s where it came from?”

“It’s not exactly stealing,” Skye said. “It’s been six months and he’s never asked about it, so it’s pretty obvious he’s forgotten he even left it here.”

Allie tried not to let her eyes boggle. A million dollars in cash? Surely even the richest bastard wouldn’t forget something like that. She licked her lips, trying to come up with an appropriate response.

“So ... do you have any plans to return it to him?”

Skye shrugged. “If he asks about it, I guess.” She met Allie’s eyes in the mirror. “Are you mad?”

“Mad? I’m not mad. Just ... confused, I guess.”

“So was I, the first time I saw them.”

“Them?” It occurred to Allie that they might not be talking about the same thing. She started to ask about the sex toys, then remembered her blunder with her father. For crying out loud, what the hell was everyone doing hiding things in her grandma’s attic?

Fortunately, Skye seemed oblivious. “Right. I mean, it’s not every day you stumble upon a collection of antique bongs.

Some he brought back from travels around the world—Thailand, Guatemala, I think there’s even one from Russia in there.

The one that has the elephant with a giant penis wrapped around his shoulders and?—”

“Um, yeah.” Allie couldn’t decide whether to feel relieved or ... well, more confused. But she knew she couldn’t let Skye know there was anything else to be concerned about in the attic, so she flashed her a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks.” Skye beamed, then took a step back and surveyed her work. “All done! What do you think?”

“Oh, wow.” Allie turned her head from one side to the other, admiring the cascade of soft waves Skye had created for her.

Her hair flowed loose and wavy, with a few curls pinned up in a beautifully haphazard twist. Skye had used some sort of magical product that made her hair silky instead of crunchy, and it smelled amazing.

The whole effect was rather delicate and romantic.

“I love it,” Allie said. “You’re very talented.”

“Thank you!” Skye beamed as a black and white tuxedo cat twined itself around her bare ankles and made a soft little mewling sound.

Its tail spiked straight up like a fluffy pipe cleaner as it sniffed a piece of paper lying next to the chair.

The tail swished once, twice, before the cat grabbed hold of the paper and took off running.

“Dammit, Maple!” Skye started to run after her, then stopped. “Oh, whatever. She’s always so sneaky. She’s one of two we haven’t been able to catch for spaying or neutering.”

“Did she really just steal something?”

Skye shrugged and went back to styling Allie’s hair. “At least it was just a piece of junk mail this time.”

“This time?”

“She’s a serious thief. Paperwork, gloves, rolls of toilet paper—anything she can carry in her mouth and run away with.”