She let out another cry of distress at how this had come out. She turned to Miriam, an apology already springing to her lips, but her friend was clearly holding back a chuckle.
“No, no,” Miriam said, waving her off. “You’re not wrong. About either part, I suppose. It’s maybe not the mostyouhair I’ve ever seen. I do think it’s bold, though, and I think you should be proud of yourself for being bold.”
This was a very positive spin on things. Cadence wanted to believe it, but she didn’t feel as reassured as she might have hoped.
“I look like one of those poodles who do dog shows!” she wailed.
It was Eleanor, to her surprise, who let out a snort of laughter at that, although she quickly stifled the sound with a hand to her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” their hostess said when all eyes cut her way. “I just… that’s a very funny way to put it.”
June was next to break. “I’m picturing you with one of those little bows that people put on their dogs,” she said, laughter bubbling through each word.
“Perms were veryinwhen I was young,” Miriam said. “Remind me to dig out an old photo of me with my hair permed way back in the day. I promise that you will no longer feel quite so bad about your own ‘do.”
“What inspired this?” Diana asked.
Cadence explained her interaction with Tyler, and the grueling hot yoga class before that. The more she got into the story, the more she could see the humor in it all, and by the end of her tale, all five of them were laughing so hard they were clutching their stomachs.
“Okay, okay,” Diana said at the end, wiping tears of mirth from between her eyes. “But what did Izzy say when she saw it.”
Cadence rolled her eyes, although she was still grinning. “She said, ‘Oh Mommy! You look beautiful… just like my dolly.’”
Cadence gave Diana a meaningful look, which made her friend gasp.
“Ohno,” Diana said. “Not the spooky one?”
“The spooky one, obviously,” Cadence confirmed. Then, for Eleanor’s sake, as their newest friend didn’t know the context of this story, she explained, “Maybe two years ago, Tyler and I took Izzy to this flea market in Rhode Island on the way back from… I want to say a trip to see his sister. We saw it on the side of the road, figured, hey, we could use a break from the car. This seems good.”
“Wait, wait,” interjected Miriam, who had heard this story many times. “When you told me this story, you said you thought it would beharmless. Say it that way. Builds narrative tension.”
“Yeah, thisisa book club,” June quipped.
“Okay,” Cadence said, “so Tyler and I thought,this is a harmless diversion. Now, that was clearly a jinx, because Izzyimmediately latches on to… well, you know how sometimes dolls feature heavily in scary movies?”
“Oh no!” Eleanor said, laughing, her eyes wide. She clearly saw where this was going.
“Oh yes,” Cadence agreed. “We tried to talk her out of it, but this oh-so-helpful seller was like, ‘Oh, I’ve had this on offer for ages. Nobody ever wants it. The little girl can have it for free.’”
“Ohno,” Eleanor repeated.
“Uh huh,” Cadence said. “Now we’re stuck with this thing. It’s so spooky! Izzy thinks it’s the most beautiful doll she’s ever seen.”
“I try to avoid letting Benjamin ever see it,” June confessed, “because I don’t know what’s worse, if he’d have nightmares or if he’d want one of his own.”
“Ihad nightmares after the first time I saw it,” Diana muttered.
Cadence shook her head. “So Izzy thinks I look great, which I’d normally consider a huge compliment. But in this case, maybe not so much.”
“You poor thing,” June said sympathetically, although she hadn’t stopped laughing. “Well, as part of my storied-career history, I do have some experience doing hair. Want me to see what I can do? We’ll give it a week or two to let your hair recover from the chemicals, but then we can definitely try to make it a little less… dolly-like.”
“Oh my gosh,yes,” Cadence gushed, reaching out to clasp June’s hand in gratitude. “Yes, yes,please.
“I got you, girl,” June reassured her friend with a smile. “Just go heavy on the conditioner this week to really rehydrate, and we’ll go from there.”
“My hero,” Cadence said, causing June to playfully preen. “But okay, please distract me from this hair nightmare. Did you find a place for that picture yet?”
Diana scrunched her nose. “Not yet. Sorry. I’ve been too busy obsessing about my upcoming date to obsess about home décor choices.”
