Caroline disappeared to fetch her own drink, leaving Grace momentarily alone with the reflection of herself and Melissa. The stylist worked with practiced delicacy, untangling the lower half of Grace’s hair and misting it with water before clipping it up in sections.
"Are you excited for the ball?" Melissa ventured, nervously twisting a lock between her fingers.
Grace considered. "I’m more excited about the tree lighting tonight. I’ve never lived somewhere that takes holidays this seriously."
Melissa grinned. "Wait until you see what Olivia did to the town square. She made the whole place look like Narnia. There’s even fake snow cannons set up for midnight. It’s wild."
Grace smiled, but as Melissa leaned in to brush stray hairs from Grace’s neck, their hands touched. A cold, electric snap zipped up Grace’s arm. Her vision tunneled, then bloomed with an image that was so sharp and so sudden it left her breathless.
She saw Melissa standing alone behind the reception desk, the clock on the wall blinking 7:32. The salon was dark except for the blue glow of the screen, and in the silence Grace could hear the dull hum of the streetlights outside. Melissa’s hands shook as she popped open the cash drawer, counting out a handful of bills, first with nervous precision, then hurriedly, glancing over her shoulder. She folded the money into her pocket, then opened the ledger and carefully erased a line from the daily register before writing in a new number. Her face was pinched with something beyond anxiety. When she was done, she stared at her reflection in the computer screen, her eyes ringed with tearful purple shadows, and whispered something Grace couldn’t make out.
The vision dissolved as quickly as it had come, and Grace was back in the salon, the hum of dryers and faint croon of "Last Christmas" on the stereo filtering back into focus. Her body was rigid in the chair; she realized she’d dug her nails into her palm, hard enough to leave half-moons.
Melissa was oblivious, running a brush through Grace’s hair with gentle, even strokes. "Sorry if I’m tugging too hard," she said, sounding sheepish.
Grace forced a breath through her lungs. "Not at all," she managed, and in the mirror she saw her face had lost all color.
What was she supposed to do with this information? Drop it in Caroline’s lap and ruin a girl’s life? Confront Melissa, who might have a reason for what she’d done? Grace barelyknew either of them, not really. She was the new girl here, the outsider. It wasn’t her job to play judge and jury.
Still, she couldn’t shake the residual chill. The afterimage of Melissa’s haunted eyes lingered in Grace’s mind like the taste of burnt coffee.
"All set," Melissa chirped, fluffing the towel around Grace’s shoulders. "Ms. Shepard’s coming back now—she’s got the magic touch when it comes to long, beautiful hair, so I’ll let her work her wonders. Do you need anything else in the meantime?"
"I’m fine, thanks."
Melissa retreated to another station, leaving behind the faintest trace of perfume and the ghost of that desperate look.
Caroline reappeared, balancing two mugs and a phone wedged between her shoulder and ear. "Grace, you’d better brace yourself," she said, flicking the phone off and setting the mug on the counter. "There’s talk of a snowball fight tonight in the square. Harper’s already placing bets on who’ll get the first hit on Fire Chief Dalton."
Grace managed a tight laugh. "My money’s on Anna."
"Mine too," Caroline smirked, then studied Grace’s face. Her voice softened. "You all right? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Grace searched for a lie but came up empty. "Just a headache," she said, massaging her temple. "Probably nerves about the ball."
Caroline didn’t look convinced, but she accepted it. "That’s what happens when you let men get into your head. Consider this a distraction." She sectioned off Grace’s hair and began snipping with quick, confident motions, the scissors a comforting staccato in the background.
Grace stared at her own reflection. The thought gnawed at her: she’d always wanted her visions to mean something, to helpsomeone. But what if sometimes they only caused trouble? And what if doing nothing was just as bad?
Caroline caught her eye in the mirror. "Don’t overthink it," she said, as if reading Grace’s mind. "Tonight you’re going to look incredible, and everything else can wait until tomorrow."
Grace nodded, because that was easier than the truth.
But as the scissors flashed and the lights twinkled and the world spun on in its comforting holiday daze, Grace’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Caroline watched Grace’s reflection with the unblinking focus of a scientist about to dissect a rare insect. Her fingers kept working, deftly weaving and snipping, but she didn’t bother with the usual small talk. When she finally set the scissors down, her gaze flicked to the pale line of Grace’s jaw, the tension held in her shoulders.
"You going to tell me what’s really going on, or should I start guessing?" Caroline asked, voice low enough that only Grace would hear.
Grace’s first instinct was to deny everything, to let the moment pass and hide behind her old habits: deference, misdirection, apology. But her relationship with Caroline was too important for that. She moved to a new place. It was time for new habits too.
Grace cleared her throat. "I—" The rest caught in her chest. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, cape crinkling around her. "I had a vision. Just now, when Melissa was doing my hair."
Caroline’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t interrupt. She only glanced at the other stations—Melissa was busy chatting up a client at the next chair, laughing with that eager-to-please energy of someone trying to earn a tip.
Grace kept her voice barely above a whisper. "She’s been taking money from the register. After hours. She counts out thecash and changes the records so it looks right. I saw her—she was crying."
Caroline exhaled, slow and steady, as if she’d been holding her breath all morning. "Well, shit," she said. "I was hoping there was a glitch in the new software. Or that Olivia was having fun with me again."
