Page 38 of All In
“Hey.” I came over to her. “You good?”
“Sure,” she said, smiling weakly. “Just…more memories.”
My stomach twisted around one of them—an ugly memory. The day Jonah and Kacey came here together was the day we had to admit Jonah was getting worse. The day that marked the beginning of his downhill slide.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you around.” I led her down to my station. The shop was slow that day, and both Zelda and Edgar were between clients.
“Guys, this is Kacey Dawson,” I said. “Kacey, that’s Edgar Morrello and Zelda Rossi.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Kacey said.
Zelda smiled and gave a small wave. “Hi.”
“Good to meet you, little lady,” Edgar said, in a warm, genuine, with no trace of a joke imbedded in it.
Kacey perched on the side of my chair, swinging her legs back and forth. She wore skinny jeans, black ankle boots, and an oversized Rocky Horror Picture Show T-shirt. Her hair was down, her makeup spare. She looked effortlessly sexy.
“Did they know Jonah?” she asked softly, with a backward nudge of her head. “I don’t remember them at the funeral. Then again, that day is all a blur.”
“They were there,” I said. “And I don’t remember much about the funeral either. I’ve dedicated the last six months to blocking it out.”
She smiled and a short silence fell between us.
“Do you know what you want yet?” I asked. “I owe you a tattoo.”
“I still haven’t decided.”
I jammed my hands into my jean pockets. “Maybe the glass that Jonah gave you? The universe orb?”
Dumb suggestion. You’d never capture it perfectly.
Beneath that thought, I hoped she’d say no. I didn’t want to use my art to render Jonah’s on her skin.
Kacey frowned and thought for a moment. “No. I don’t know what I’m supposed to get but that’s not it.”
“What you’resupposedto get?”
“Yeah, I have this weird feeling that it’s something specific. Something only you can create for me. But I don’t know what it is yet. It’ll come to me.” She looked up and laughed a little. “Maybe I need to pay Olivia the Fortune Teller five more dollars and let her tell me.”
I smiled, trying not to look too relieved.The heart wants what it wants.I think I read that somewhere. My heart, apparently, was a selfish asshole.
“Speaking of advice from the Other Side, have you thought about maybe buying this place?” Kacey asked. “Vivian was telling me your boss is on the verge of retirement. Maybe he wants to sell.”
I cleared my throat with a glance toward Zelda and Edgar. Thankfully, both were preoccupied with new clients.
“Hadn't thought about it. This place is pretty small and not really what I had in mind, in terms of style.” I leaned closer to her. “And it’s not exactly common knowledge around here that I’m looking to get my own shop.”
“Why not?”
I opened my mouth and then shut it again. “I don’t know. It’s just…not something I talk about.”
She arched her eyebrows.
I held up my hands. “What? I don't need a bunch of people knowing my business.”
“Aren’t they your friends?”
“I guess.”
