Chapter 2

 

“Evelyn,” Carley hissed. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she shook her head at Knox, who was already working on undoing his buttons. “You should definitely not take your shirt off.”

His lips curved into a slow grin that had her insides doing a loop-da-loop and chanting, “Take it off” like they were at a male revue. “It’s okay, darlin’. I’m wearing a T-shirt underneath.” He pulled the sides of his shirt open like he was a superhero revealing his suit underneath, and a disappointed sigh at the white cotton underneath instead of muscled abs could be heard from at least one of the women in the shop.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Evelyn muttered, voicing what they were all thinking.

“Would you behave?” Carley scolded as she playfully swatted at Evelyn’s knee.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she asked, her bottom lip going out in a pout. “Don’t you know well-behaved women rarely make history?”

“History? You’re eighty years old. What history are you still trying to make?”

Evelyn huffed out an indignant breath. “I’m only seventy-nine and a half.”

Carley arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Well, I was at one point,” she said, settling herself into the chair in front of the sink.

“The water should be warm enough now,” Carley told Knox as he folded his uniform shirt and set it on the counter. “Just start running it all over her head and rinsing that solution out.” She motioned for Brandi to take a seat and started pulling foils from her hair and dropping them into the sink.

“Got it,” Knox said, checking the water with his hand before spraying it over Evelyn’s head. He reached for one of the rods. “Should I start taking these curler things out?”

“No!” she and Evelyn said at the same time.

“Don’t do anything except run water over her hair and wash the solution out. It takes like five minutes to get all of it rinsed away,” Carley told him.

“I can do that.” He held his hand over Evelyn’s eyebrows to shield her face from the water. “It’s really not that different from when I give my dog a bath.”

“Watch it, buster,” Evelyn said, whacking a hand toward his knee.

“I’m just kidding, Miss Evelyn,” he said, with a chuckle. “But I do think I’m getting the hang of this.”

Carley had tossed the used foils and was rinsing Brandi’s hair, but she looked over to watch him move the nozzle in a circular motion, efficiently spraying water over Evelyn’s curler-covered head.

The older woman reached over her shoulder and patted his hand. “You’re doing great, honey.”

He offered her a pleased smile. “Thanks, Miss Evelyn.”

He really is, Carley thought as she rinsed the last of the color from Brandi’s hair, then worked through a glob of shampoo. But she didn’t trust him to do the finishing solution or the next steps—not that the finishing solution and curlers were complicated, but she’d still feel better if she did them herself. “Okay, switch,” she told him.

“Switch?”

“Yes, I don’t have time to start Brandi’s haircut, so you come over and give her a deep moisturizing treatment while I finish Evelyn’s hair.” She peered down at Brandi. “Is that okay with you? The treatment is on the house.”

Brandi’s cheeks colored pink. “Yes, of course… I mean sure, it’s okay with me…if he wants to…” She shook her head, then closed her mouth and her eyes and sank further down into the chair.

Knox moved to the other side of the sink, and Carley was all too aware of his broad chest and bare muscular arms as he slid around her to trade places. She nodded to a blue bottle behind the sink. “Squirt three pumps of that into your hand, then work it through her hair from the roots to the ends.”

“Got it.” He followed her instructions, and Brandi let out a groan of pleasure as his fingers worked over her scalp.

Her eyes popped open, and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. Did I make that sound out loud?”

Knox lifted one shoulder in a small shrug.

“Yeah, ya did,” Lyda offered from her chair. She’d given up on the hair dryer and was leaning forward to be part of the conversation.

“I’m so sorry. Pretend you didn’t hear that,” Brandi told him, closing her eyes again. “That head massage just feels amazing.”

“I understand,” Knox said, tilting his head toward Carley. “I’ve been told that I have magic fingers.”

Carley swallowed and lowered her gaze back to the rods she was releasing.

But Evelyn’s head was twisted toward Knox. “Hey,” she said. “I want a deep moisturizing treatment with an amazing head massage too.”

“Me too,” Lyda said, checking the diamond-encrusted watch on her wrist. “I don’t have to be at my event for four more hours. I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Me first,” Evelyn said. “I can barely remember what magic fingers feel like.”

Carley nudged Knox in the side as she playfully scolded him. “See what you’ve started?”

He chuckled as he helped Brandi to sit up and was wrapping a towel around her head when the phone rang. After a quick glance at Carley, who was only halfway through removing Evelyn’s permanent rods, he held up his hand. “Don’t worry. I got this.” He strode across the room, his long legs easily eating up the floor, and picked up the phone on the third ring. He winked at Carley as he spoke into the receiver. “Carley’s Cut & Curl. Deputy Knox Garrison speaking. How can I help you?”

Carley grinned down at Evelyn. “I’ll bet whoever’s calling is shocked to hear his voice.”

“They might try to schedule something more than a haircut,” Evelyn replied, wiggling her eyebrows.

“You are killing me today. When did you get such a dirty mind?”

“Oh, I’ve always had it,” Evelyn said. “We just don’t normally have handsome cowboys with magic fingers around to inspire me.”

Their conversation was interrupted as Knox’s voice deepened and took on a more authoritative tone.

“What kind of an emergency?” he asked. “Are you hurt? Is anyone bleeding? Can you get somewhere safe?” He listened a second then replied, “Ma’am, I can’t understand you when you’re yelling like that. Do you need to hang up and call 911?”

He held the phone away from his ear, and the caller’s voice could be heard screeching through the receiver. “Yes, I am the police. And no, nothing bad is happening at the salon. Carley’s here, she’s just busy so I’m helping her out. But you said this was an emergency, so I’m trying to ascertain if I should send a squad car or an ambulance.”

More screaming came from the phone, then Knox’s brow furrowed in concern. “A skunk, you say? Sounds like you don’t need an ambulance, you need to call animal control.” He winced as the volume of the caller’s voice rose an octave. “Now, ma’am, there’s no need to use that kind of language. I need you to take a breath and calmly tell me your name and what in blue blazes is going on.”

Carley’s hands moved by rote as she circled the sprayer over and around Evelyn’s head. None of them spoke as they were all riveted by Knox’s call.

He nodded a few times as he listened intently and slipped in a couple of murmured, “Gotcha’s,” and an “I understand.”

“Okay, hold on,” he finally said. “I’ll ask her.” He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “Margie Ruggle is on the phone, and best I can make out, she tried to bleach her own hair with some,” he paused, “four letter word that rhymes with plucking, gosh-awful box solution she got down at the drugstore, and now she’s washed it out and it’s still half gray, and half black, and she looks like a skunk.”

“Oh, dear,” Lyda said. “That does sound like an emergency.”

Amber nodded in agreement.

Knox turned his head toward Lyda and raised his eyebrows. “Certainly not the kind of emergency I’m used to dealing with. The way she was carrying on, I couldn’t tell if she had a skunk in her house or if she’d just been stabbed and was bleeding out.”

“Well, it definitely sounds like a hair emergency,” Carley said. “Tell her not to do anything else to it. Like seriously, don’t even touch it. Just come down here to the shop and let me take a look at it.”

He peered around the salon at the already waiting customers. “You sure? It seems like you’ve got your hands full.”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. It’ll be fine. This is what I do.”

“So, you’re kind of like a hairdresser superhero, fighting color emergencies one hair crisis at a time.”

“Something like that,” she said with a laugh. She liked that he thought of her as a superhero. She’d certainly never considered herself as anything so important.

Knox relayed the message to the caller, then hung up the phone. “She said she’d be here in half an hour.” He rubbed his hands together as he crossed back to Carley. “What else can I do?”

Carley shook her head. As much as she and the other women in the salon were enjoying the attention of the cute cowboy, her current hair crisis was handled. “Nothing else. I’m good now. I appreciate the help, but you’d better get out of here or I’m gonna have to add you to the payroll.”

He laughed, a deep rich chuckle, and the sound of it did funny things to Carley’s spine. “All right, if you’re sure.” He grabbed his shirt from the counter, then gingerly picked up the broken wooden box before tipping his hat as he headed toward the door. “Have a good afternoon, ladies.”

“Thanks for coming by,” Carley said. “And for all your help.”

“Stop by anytime,” Lyda offered, as if she were inviting him back for tea. “And don’t forget to grab those Twinkies.”

“I won’t,” he said, giving Carley one last glance before he headed out the door.

“That man is positively swoony,” Lyda said, fanning herself with her magazine. “I’m tempted to break something else at my house just to have him come back over so I can watch him fix it.”

“I think you have too vivid of a fantasy life.” Carley teased her as she guided Evelyn toward an empty stylist chair.

“I don’t think yours is vivid enough,” Evelyn told her as she planted her fanny in the seat and spread the pink cape she wore over her lap. “That deputy is clearly interested in you.”

“Oh, no,” Carley said, brushing off her comments as she dabbed at Evelyn’s hair with a towel. “I think he was just being nice.”

“He didn’t offer his number to anyone else in the salon. Or mention that it was his personal cell. Twice. I think you should call him. He seems like a great guy. And so cute.”

Carley picked up a comb that had teeth on one end and long silver tines on the other and used it to pick out the curls springing up around Evelyn’s head. “I appreciate the thought, but it doesn’t matter how great…or how cute…he is, I’m not getting involved with another man.” She lowered her voice as she leaned closer. “You know why.”

The older woman’s expression pinched in anguish. “I know. But that deputy is nothing like my grandson. Knox Garrison is a good man.”

Carley let out a sigh as she locked eyes with the other woman in the mirror. “I thought your grandson was too.”