"I'm doing his hair!" the third girl declared.
"I'm doing hers," the other said. "Won't be my first opal."
"Is this your daughter?" Faith's stylist asked.
"No," I said. "Sadly. But I'd claim her if I could. This is my protégé."
Then Cy's voice came from the back room. "Yeowch!"
Ash just ducked his head. "And that's his crack."
Soon enough, we were all in chairs. Luke was beside me, with the same lady who'd waxed Cy trying to get him to tell her what he wanted. Luke tried saying, "Just a little off the top, I guess," only to have Faith tell him no. According to her, he needed something handsome and cool.
"Whatever she wants," Luke gave in.
I lifted my hand, getting his stylist's attention. "He wears a cowboy hat at work. Maybe a high fade, longer on top, light pompadour, with a trim on the back of his neck?"
"Don't know what that means," Luke admitted.
"Less drastic version of Cy's," I explained. "Trust me, Luke."
"Ok," he agreed. "What she said."
Soon enough, Faith, Ash and I had foil on our heads. Luke's hair was mostly on the floor and he looked good. Cy took his place, and more hair fell, but when he was done, he stood and turned Luke toward the back.
"Ok," he said. "We need to talk about male grooming habits." And the stylist laughed as she followed after them.
"I'm not waxing," Luke told him.
"Oh yeah you are," Cy assured him. "Just remember to take a deep breath."
And Ash lost it. I was biting my lips together so I didn't giggle. My own stylist couldn't quite hold it in. Fortunately, Faith didn't get the joke. She turned around to look at us.
"What?" she demanded.
"Sounds like your Dad is getting his first full makeover," I told her. "You think he's gonna give in and wax his chest?"
She scrunched up her face. "No way."
"Maybe his eyebrows," Ash suggested, making it clear that this had already been planned. "I mean, take care of that unibrow thing he's trying."
"Boys do that?" Faith asked.
"Oh, I'm getting my brows waxed soon as my hair's done," Ash promised.
"Your chest?" she asked.
Ash chuckled. "I would if I needed to. Violet used to do her legs."
"Lasered that off," I admitted.
Then Luke chickened out. "Oh, nuh-uh," he said, pushing open the door to make it even easier to hear him. "Not happening."
"Need help holding him?" Ash asked.
"Might," Cy called back. "Unless he decides he's not going to make a scene."
The stylists were all laughing again, but none of them said a word. I was pretty sure they knew what was going on. Probably more than me. I was guessing, but Ash made the appointment, and he would've checked to make sure this salon actually handledallthe waxing. I wanted to ask, but with Faith listening to everything and paying a little too much attention, I knew I couldn't.
