“No sweat.”
“And from the way people have been looking at me, I’m afraid I’m definitely going to have to work in a haircut tomorrow, too.”
Again, that same expression in his eyes. What few words he said were short and curt, even as his hands, his magic hands, lingered as he soaped and rinsed, and finally, let her stand up so he could fold a towel around her.
“Griff.”
He looked up.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” he echoed, his tone tight as a snap. But then he went back to his lazy, laid-back tone. “You’re going to take a nap, sugar. Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s going to be one hundred percent fine.”
“You know this how?”
“Because tomorrow-we’re getting to the bottom of this. Whatever sabers we have to rattle. Whatever it takes. You’re not going to be hurt again. There aren’t going to be any more fires. You can take it to the bank, we’re solving this once and for all.”
Lily heard the anger in his voice, and loved it-not that he was worried about her, but that he finally felt free with her, to let out that unsettling anger that so troubled him.
Yet her heart suddenly twisted in a totally unexpected knot. She, too, had had it with fires. She had had it with exhaustion and fear and worry. She thought she’d come to this town of her childhood to find answers.
Yet the irony hurt worse than any burn. If, by any chance, she and Griff did find the answers, her reasons for being in Pecan Valley disappeared.
She had no more reason to be with Griff.
No reason to stay.
Chapter 12
Lily woke up in a first-class grump, starting with the note on her pillow. Griff unwillingly had to return Jason to his mother, at least temporarily, and then he was headed for the sheriff’s.
He wanted her to rest and sit tight.
Right.
One look in the mirror sent her jogging for a phone. Her singed hair looked like something out of a horror movie. No matter what she wanted to do with her day, she was stuck getting a few chores out of the way first. As often as she’d ranted about getting a haircut since she got here, now she had no choice but to call Mary Belle. The sheriff’s daughter promised her she’d clear the schedule for ll:30-leaving Lily enough time to run through a few stores on Main Street.
Temporarily, she had nothing to wear but a shirt and shorts from Griff, which no amount of makeshift belting was going to pass for acceptable clothes. She had her purse, so at least she had a brush and lip gloss-and her phone. She’d barely headed out the door before getting the first barrage of calls from her sisters.
“I’ll send you money. Get all the clothes you need,” Cate started with. “And buy a first-class ticket to me. I don’t care what it costs. You either get out of that town, or I’m flying there to get you myself.”
Sophie’s call was more of the same, just in a softer tone.
The truth was, Lily hungered to see both her sisters. And she could hardly stay in Pecan Valley much longer. Once, her answers had seemed terribly important to her-but not as important as a whole town burning up because of her. Leaving needed to be her priority. It was just…leaving town also meant leaving Griff.
How a woman could fall so fast, so hard, so irrevocably, she couldn’t fathom. For her whole life, it had been so, so easy to stay untangled. She’d never risked loss-at least the kind of loss where the hurt might never really heal.
Damn it. How was she supposed to forget Griff?
Most stores on Main Street opened at ten. It took almost that long to pull herself together, between her bandaged hands and edgy mood. Clouds were bunching and punching overhead, threatening rain, adding humidity to an already gasping temperature. She hit the drugstore first, picked up the obvious toiletries, like deodorant and toothpaste and cosmetics, then stashed those in her car.
There were several clothing stores and boutiques on Main Street. She didn’t have a clue what they offered. She just wanted to pick up enough basics to wear for a few days. So she started with the first one-Jane’s Boutique, the sign said. Opening the door set off a tinkling bell, and almost immediately she panicked.
It wasn’t a day to be fussy, but the manikins were decked out in bows and prints and polka dots. She almost headed straight back out, but the thirtyish brunette behind the cash register spotted her and immediately approached with a smile. “You have to be Lily Campbell. I see those hurt hands, you poor thing. The whole town’s buzzing with how you helped saved Louella’s house and Louella…come in, come in. I’ll help you. I can see you can’t do much with those hands. I’ll bet they hurt like the devil?”
They did. Everything seemed to hurt like the devil-but it did help, coming in town today, being greeted everywhere, so far, with smiles instead of suspicion. Jane didn’t do much talking, but behind her pretty eyes was a shrewd saleswoman. Packages on the counter added up. No bows, no doodads. A white lace bra, a navy satin one. Matching underwear. A sundress in pale blues. A breezy skirt and cami that could go to dinner, or just about anywhere else. A coral top, cream shorts-those she decided to wear, with Jane’s help.
The shop had earrings, bangles, shoes, bags, all the “stuff” to put it altogether. Lily didn’t intend to buy so much-if she was flying home, she just didn’t need that much from here. But Jane seemed to sort through the fussy stuff and come through with exactly what Lily liked, and it all added up. When she headed back out, her arms were heaped with packages, and naturally, by then it was pouring. She only had minutes to stash the clothes in her rental car and dash through the rain to the hair salon.
To her surprise, the only body in Mary Belle’s was Mary Belle-who appeared to be pacing in front of the storefront windows when Lily ran in. “I told everyone to take a two-hour lunch break,” she greeted her with. “Give us some time to chat. And I didn’t want anyone handling you but me.”
It was a kindly thing to say-but somehow Lily felt a sudden shiver. Of course, she was damp at the edges from her run through the rain, and the salon was more than cool. The shop looked like its owner. No soothing decor for Mary Belle; she’d opted for bright slashes of orange and yellow, seats in shiny purple.
“I don’t need much. Just a trim,” Lily said immediately.
“You need way more than a trim, honey. That fire sure singed you on one side, didn’t it? But don’t you worry. You’ll look like a new woman before I’m through with you.”
Again, Lily felt a frisson of unease. It was stupid. The mix of air-conditioning and intense humidity were creating the chill, nothing else.
She followed the other woman to the back, where Mary Belle wrapped her in a wild polka-dot cape and motioned her to the hair washing chair.
“You’re going to love this,” she informed Lily. Which was the truth. It was impossible not to love the scalp rub, the massage of warm water and fragrant shampoo products.
“I love this place,” Mary Belle said conversationally, yet there was the oddest tone in her voice. Regret? Sadness? “I built the shop from scratch, all on my own. Was never much of a student in high school. Not one of those college-bound types of girls. I always attracted the boys, of course, with my looks. But all they ever did was break my heart, and leave me pregnant with the bills for divorce. This place…this was all mine. I never let a man’s name get on it. If it were my choice, I’d never let a man through the door.”
Lily’s eyes were closed as Mary Belle rinsed out the shampoo, then massaged in conditioner with expert hands.
“It’s a wonderful place,” Lily said, for lack of anything better to comment.
“It’ll kill me to lose it.”
Lily assumed she’d misheard her. The comment made no sense-but the water was running, the conditioner being rinsed out, then a towel plopped on her head and the seat raised.
“Now for the trim,” Mary Belle said. “And I do promise. You’re going to get the trim of your life.”
