“Depends on what kind of color.”
Her heavily lined mouth tipped up in the corner. “Not into blood red?”
“Not particularly. But I’m game for low lights for some dimension. I usually stay ultra pale blond but maybe a richer one in there instead?”
She nodded. “I’ll think on it. For now, let’s wash you out and see where we’re at.”
Ramsey slowly warmed up to me with the hours it took to get my hair looking less like straw and more like the hair I remembered. Between the heat damage and the extensions, not to mention the hairspray and junk I used to make sure my hair didn’t look like a dripping animal by the second half of a show, it was beyond damaged.
She used foils to paint on some darker colors. I saw them in the mirror and tried not to freak out at the color of the dye going on my hair. When I noticed a dark purple, I decided closing my eyes for the rest of this part of the session was a better idea.
It was just hair.
I could find some cute hats.
Megan checked in on me a few times, bringing me water and a Diet Coke. It ended up being far longer than four hours, so I treated the salon to pizza from Papa Pete’s. I checked in with my mother a few times letting her know I was doing well.
Ramsey left me in the chair at the sinks with a deep conditioner for a long damn time. At least she put a towel around my shoulders so I didn’t get a headache from the sink digging into me. Finally, she came back and washed my hair one last time. She wrapped my hair in a warm towel that almost made me groan out loud.
I sat back in the chair and when she pulled off the towel, I gasped. The brassy blond had been replaced with a gorgeous ashy beige blond with flashes of mahogany and caramel that peeked out.
“Wait until you see it dried.” Ramsey held up her tiny hair dryer and a massive round brush.
“I can’t wait.”
Then I noticed another person in the mirror, behind us.
My stomach jittered at Tate’s massive shoulders taking up most of the space. I couldn’t talk to him over the sound of the hair dryer. His hair was freshly shorn and his beard trimmed to show far more angles than yesterday. He wore a tight black T-shirt under a brown and black plaid flannel that made him look even bigger than last night. I couldn’t see the rest of him without craning my neck and Ramsey would probably bonk me on the head with her brush if I moved anyway.
Then all my hair was falling forward as she did whatever she was doing with the brush and her not-so-quiet genius. By the time Ramsey pushed my hair back, he was gone.
Shoot. Had he left?
When she turned off the hair dryer and turned me around, I saw him leaning against the wall near the cabinet. A shelf with a few trailing leaves from a series of potted plants curled around his head.
“Funny meeting you in here.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets. “Guess we had the same idea.”
“Oh, did you get fifteen pounds of hair taken off you too?”
He laughed. “Felt like it.” His gaze flicked over my hair, then to Ramsey. “How’s it going, Ramsey?”
She grinned. “My before and after is epic. Check it.” She turned me to face the mirror.
“Holy crap.”
Now that it was dry I saw the riot of colors falling around my shoulders in shaggy, soft waves. She’d kept me blond but whatever purple magic concoction it had been left my hair looking icy cool with flashes of warmth with the mahogany and caramel. I sunk my fingers into the waves. “Are these mine?”
“The curl might relax a bit more, but after having all that weight on your hair it’s kind of in shock. If you can avoid usingheat for the next few weeks, I’d bet it will be even better. Use your hair dryer on the cool setting.”
“I can definitely do that.” I grinned up at Ramsey. “Genius.”
“I know.” But I could see the flash of pride in her eyes.
“Whatever you charge isn’t enough.” I leaned forward to get an even better look at it and couldn’t stop touching it. “It looks amazing.”
For the first time, I saw her look uncomfortable.
