Page 63 of Sandbar Sunrise
But something held her back. Stone wanted to hand her this place on a silver platter. She should take it and run with it. She’d never dreamed of opening her own place. She never thought it was even in the realm of possibility. Maybe that was it. Maybe her friends all had big city dreams, and hers were small. And that was fine. Her dream turned out to be Dean and their life together. She’d had her dream. So she kept her hands down and did not take what was on that silver platter.
The hour before they opened the doors, for the first time, Stone pushed her again. “I’d be a silent partner. You already run this place.”
“No. I’m not in the market to run anything. The contract we have does not include me doing this permanently. Remember, I’m out after we launch. However, I do have issues with those managers we interviewed. I think one is?—”
“—Ha, see, they’re not you; that’s the issue. I think you’re selling yourself short. You could have salons all over the country.”
The man thought in terms of world domination. She thought in terms of checking to be sure the new shampoo girl knew to empty out the lint trap after they dried a load of towels.
“Ha, I could be a chain!”
“Wait, isn’t that fromSteel Magnolias?”
“Something like that. You’re good, Stone, I’ll give you that. Now get that box up there, could you?”
Stone lifted a box of their custom product onto the table.
“Okay, moment of truth.”
Stone watched as she opened bottles. She’d formulated a few products that she liked on Stone’s dime with one of the millions of companies he was connected to.
After they’d got the runaround from Kedren, Stone let her in on the secret. They could pretty much find a dupe and label it any way they wanted.
“They can only get the stuff here, with your staff; that’s pretty scarce, and scarce is good business.”
“You should know.”
She pulled the shampoo bottle out of the box, and her jaw dropped open. “It looks so good!!” She turned the bottle around in her hand. She’d selected the logo to match the name of the salon.
Stone had wanted to call it J.J.’s, but she refused. After a few brainstorming sessions and a call to Shelly, they’d come up with a name.
“The Do.”
It was a nod to Do or Die Job, and somehow, it also sounded modern. The Do logo looked great on the product line, too. The Do in Irish Hills.
They heard voices in the salon. It was time.
“Well, I know you don’t want me to give this place to you. But if you did, I would.” Stone was serious, and when he looked at her, she saw his admiration and respect. She now felt the same about him. He’d become a part of Irish Hills in a way she never would have believed back in the days when he was swooping in via limo with a team of lawyers.
She’d seen not a single handler or lawyer or assistant the entire time they’d worked together.
“I appreciate that. And it’s the thought that counts.”
The sweet moment turned into a frenzy of people coming in to get gorgeous and loving The Do. J.J. swam like a shark for hours among the hair stations, the shampoo bowl, and the mani/pedi room.
“I look like Helen Mirren!” Emma was admiring the style Vickie had shaped for her.
Emma had mostly rocked a modern bouffant hair shape since J.J. had known her. If it was good enough for Betty White, Emma said, it was good enough for her.
But on soft open day, Emma said she wanted to be a walking billboard, a real live model, for The Do. Vickie Linyard did her hair. And Emma wasn’t wrong. The bouffant was now a stylish bob with wispy bangs. Vickie had used a toner that had turned Emma’s sometimes yellowing white to icy brilliance.
“Better!” Goldie said as the two women admired their new hairdos.
Goldie was a high-pressure customer, too. Movie star hair was another animal. It had to bevava-voomat a moment’s notice. Mason Bennett was the man for that job. He was young and talented. He’d only recently finished school but had a passion for going to the latest hair shows and learning the newest techniques. J.J. didn’t think Mason would be long for Irish Hills, but if, while he was here, he could style an internationally famous Oscar-winning movie star? Well, there were worse ways to build a resume.
“This, this really works, I never part it that way.” J.J. eavesdropped as Goldie and Mason discussed the finer points of the placement of Goldie’s part. Emma agreed it was a radical change!
Meanwhile, Libby had her roots done, Viv got a facial, and Hope a pedi.
