Page 30 of Beck & Coll
“That’s right,” Collins agreed. “I got so caught up in getting the salon ready for Khylie Faye that I forgot to check and see if you guys even had any availability.”
My mother gave her a look. “For you, Collins? I will make a room available. Let’s head to the desk and see what we can do.”
As we headed toward the reception desk, my mom spoke again. “Speaking of Khylie Faye, she posted videos of the resort, the garden, the salon, and her hair style. Malena met me at the house this morning. She couldn’t even wait for me to make it to work to tell me that the videos had gone viral. Then, as soon as I stepped into my office, Rylynn,” she turned to Collins, “she’s over bookings and reservations, told me that they practically crashed the system last night. And everybody wants to book at the salon. I guess Ms. Khylie Faye neglected to mention that we opened it up exclusively for her.”
“Wow. I enjoyed doing Khylie Fye’s hair.”
I wished she hadn’t said that because I knew my mother.
“Being back in a salon felt good… familiar.”
My mother grinned her patented “Strong” grin. “Collins, since you enjoyed it so much, would you consider taking on a few customers while you’re here?” She paused for a millisecond. “Of course, you would be compensated, and your stay for the remaining days will be comped. I was thinking that we could market it as a visit from guest stylist Collins Kingsley, the former owner and operator of the world-classPosh Momentsof Chicago, Illinois.”
“This is something that you just thought of, and you already have a whole marketing campaign ready to go? Mom?—”
She turned her “no nonsense” gaze on me. “Beckham Mekhi Strong, don’t you have wilderness adventure guests waiting on you at the tour office?” She gave me a frown, her eyes squinted into thin slits.
I pretended not to notice. “Coll, baby, this is your vacation. Do you really want to spend it doing hair? Didn’t you come here to get away from doing hair? I’m confused.”
“I came here to have new experiences, and?—”
“Right,” I agreed. “And doing hair, being on your feet all day, that’s not a new experience for you.”
“It’s not.” She conceded. “But I really do love it, Beck.”
And I knew she was telling the truth based on the smile she was wearing.
I sighed. “I just don’t want you to regret spending your last few days inside the lodge, inside the salon, instead of outside enjoying nature.”
She gave me a blank stare. “Have you not noticed that nature doesn’t seem to like me?” She turned to my mother. “So far, I fell off the trail into the brush while we hiked in the Paradise Mountains and fell in Beck’s disgusting fishing boat. Today, he had to rescue me after I fell into… whatever body of water is by the Jackson Falls waterfall.”
Beverly Strong’s jaw dropped in concern. She turned to me. “You let her fall into the Jackson Falls Creek?”
“I didn’t let her—” I began before being cut off.
“Oh, child.” My mother pulled Collins into an embrace. “That creek is fed from the run-off of the glaciers. It must’ve chilled you to the bone.”
“And did.” She moved her gaze to me. “But Beck jumped in and got me out of there. He warmed me up and made sure I was good.”
Even after Collins’s commendations, I still somehow ended up getting popped in the back of the head by my mother.
“He’d better had.”
“So, are you doing this?” I questioned Collins while simultaneously rubbing the back of my head. “Are you spending the last few days of your vacation doing hair?”
Even though Iwas booked into the Sunset Cliff Cottage through Wednesday morning, I opted to go ahead and check out on Tuesday. I moved into the junior suite at the lodge that Mrs. Strong gifted me. Of course, it wasn’t as luxurious or opulent as the Sunset Cliff Cottage. Nor was the view of the Sienna Sunset Heritage Garden as breathtaking as the view of the river and the mountains. Still, it was a lovely suite.
Beckham brought my bags up for me and put them in the bedroom, while I did a video chat with my mom.
“Girl,” my mother began, as soon as her pretty face appeared on the screen. “Your sister showed me the video of the salon at the lodge. You know, the one where you did the girl’s hair?You’re supposed to be on vacation, Coll. Why in the world are you doing hair?”
“That’s what I asked,” Beckham called out as he entered the main room of the two-room suite.
All of a sudden, my mom’s face was pushed to the side, and Perkins’s face appeared on the camera. “Who was that? I heard a man.”
My mother grunted. Perkins disappeared, and my mother’s face reappeared.
I chuckled. “What are y’all doing?”
