“Remember, I told you that I have another bridal appointment scheduled this afternoon.”
“No, no, no!” Yaya shook her head and finger. “No! You cancel! I’m favorite client! You are my favorite Barbie girl!”
“Yes, you are my favorite client, but you only told me you were getting marriedtendays ago. I rescheduled tworegularappointments to be here to do this.” Jenna met her eyes in the reflection. “But I can’t cancel on my otherbridalto stay for the wedding, I’m sorry. I can’t. It’s her wedding day.”
Jennahadconsidered it. If it were anything other than a bridal she would have. Prom, graduation, anniversary, reunion,anything. It broke her heart that she couldn’t witness Yaya say I do. But she couldn’t let abridedown. The bride had booked her fourteen months ago. She’d done her practice look ten months ago. She couldn’t cancel ten days before her wedding. That just wasn’t in her DNA. Thankfully, her regular clients that morning knew Yaya, and both understood why she’d had to reschedule.
Yaya looked like she wanted to argue but then sat back in the chair with a humph. “Who gets married first week in December?!”
You, for one.
“Winter weddings are on the uptick.” Jenna pulled out another roller.
“Whenyouget married?”
“I did that already,” she reminded her. “Twice.”
“Yes. Same. But I do again.”
“You had a better experience than I did,” Jenna reasoned. “Wait, you were marriedtwicebefore this?”
“Yes, first time as part of cover for mission.”
“When you were a resistance fighter?”
“Yes, and then showgirl and owned a tobacco factory and artist and pilot,” Yaya listed.
“You were apilot?” Jenna knew about the tobacco factory, showgirl, and artist but not the pilot. This was why she loved talking to Yaya. Every time she spoke to her, she learned something else.
“Yes. In wartime you do whatever need to do.”
The woman had literally lived a thousand lives and had photos to prove it. ShewasJenna’s favorite client, not just in Hope Falls, but of all time.
“See fearless,” Yaya stated, Jenna was pretty sure about herself. “And love, scariest of all. Some good. Some bad. You try again. But love only thing that matters!”
“I have love.” Jenna loved Blake withallher heart.
“Yes, you love daughter.” Yaya waved her hand in front of her. “But daughter leave and then you alone.”
“I like being alone,” Jenna lied.
Jenna was reaching up to remove the second-to-last roller when Yaya yanked her hand down and flipped it over, so her palm was facing up right in front of Yaya’s face.
“What?” Jenna asked. “What are you doing?”
“See here.” Yaya pointed to a line on her hand. “Is love line. And this, this say who is love and if connect…” A wide smile appeared on Yaya’s face. “Ahhhh, good girl. You found love.” Yaya clapped her hands. “You know him. Now just say yes. Simple.” She reached up and patted Jenna’s face. Beaming. “Good, good, good. Good girl.”
Simple? Good girl? You found love?
“What?” Jenna looked down at her hand and then back up at Yaya, confused at what had just happened.
“I read palm. You found man. You meet already. Is soul mate. Love of life.” Yaya beamed, patted her cheeks again, with the biggest smile she’d ever seen on her face, then dropped her hands and brushed them together as if it was a job well done. “Is settled. Good, good, good.”
Jenna smiled back, not having the heart to tell her that just that morning she’d deleted all her dating apps and promised herself she’d not date until after Blake left for college.
If Yaya wanted to believe she read that on her palm and her love life was settled, especially on her wedding day, then what did it hurt?
She couldn’t be right. There was no way she was right. The only man she’d met that she had any interest in at all was her one-night stand, and he was…well she didn’t know where he was, but he was not in Hope Falls, that was for sure.
