Page 71 of Pucking Fate

“As long as we’re not imposing.”

“Never,” Elle replies. “Help yourselves!”

A few minutes later, as promised, Elle finds us hanging out in the little sitting area. “So? What do you think?” she asks, her hands braced on her hips.

“I love it. I should’ve given you a heads-up to try to get an appointment for a trim.”

“Well, come on back,” she says with a smile. “Audrey can keep an eye on Finley since she’s sweeping up and he seems to like watching Animal Planet.”

“I don’t know. Are you sure? You shouldn’t have to work during your lunch break.”

“I’ve already had lunch, so it’s just an empty spot,” she explains, then waves me forward. “Come on.”

“If you’re sure,” I tell her, then to Finley, sitting next to me on the small sofa, “Stay right here, okay?”

“Okay,” he replies easily enough.

As I sit down in one of the salon chairs and Elle starts combing my hair, I try to remember the last time I had a haircut. Last year? Year before?

“What are we thinking? A little trim or a big change?”

“Ugh, no. I hate change,” I tell her. “Could you just take as much as you think it needs for the dead ends? I actually can’t remember my last cut,” I admit sheepishly while she fits the black cape around me.

“Then you are due one today.” Wetting my hair with a squirt bottle, she says, “I’m so glad you decided to come down. Are you staying the weekend with us?”

“Oh, Elle. I’m an awful sister-in-law,” I confess. “I should’ve warned you we were coming and asked if we could stay with Preston.”

“You know the answer is always going to be yes. Besides, it’s his apartment, not mine. I just stay over occasionally.”

“Occasionally?” I ask, grinning at her in the mirror’s reflection.

“Fine. I stay with him most nights. But there is more than enough room for you and Finley. He’s been so worried about you two.”

“Of course he has,” I mutter with a roll of my eyes. “We’ve been fine. We miss him, not his overprotectiveness or his wallet. I’m actually still waiting not-so-patiently to find out about that activity director position.”

“Right. The one that will decide your fate; get it and you stay in Maryland, don’t get it and you move here. Tell me more about it,” Elle says as she breaks out the shears.

We spend the next fifteen minutes catching up before Elle uses the hairdryer to dry my hair and blow away the loose hair from my cape. In the silence, my mind wanders over to thinking about Christian, how to tell him we’re visiting, and whether or not he’ll be invited to Preston’s.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Elle says, meeting my gaze in the mirror when she puts the dryer away.

I force a smile. “It’s nothing, really.”

Elle gives me a look. “Girl, part of my job is to gossip and find out what’s going on with all my customers while I work. And I can practically see your thoughts churning.”

I let out a sigh because Elle is so easy to talk to, it’s hard to resist sharing. But I’m not sure if I want to talk about him. “It’s just… complicated,” I say, my voice quiet.

“Christian?” she asks, her hands pausing from brushing out my hair.

I nod. “He’s doing so great with Finley and with us, but I just… I can’t shake the feeling that it won’t last. At least not with me. That he’ll get bored or distracted or… forget about us, me, once the season starts.”

Elle turns me in the chair to face her, her eyes serious. “I know it’s hard to do, but you can’t hold on to the past forever, not if you want to move forward. It’s going to take some trust, though.”

I cross my arms over my cape, a little defensive. “But what if he hasn’t really changed? What if he hurts me again? I still haven’t recovered from the first time.”

Elle lets out a sigh, leaning back against the counter. “Look, I get it. I really do. You’ve been burned by him before, and it’s hard to trust someone who’s hurt you. But Christian… I think he missed you, even when he was sleeping around. I’m certain of that, actually. He missed you before he knew you two had a son together.”

I bite my lip, thinking back to the way Christian’s face lights up every time he sees me and Finley. He’s making an effort, not just for our son but for me too. There’s definitely something deeper, more genuine there, just like when we were dating. But still, the fear lingers.

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