She laughs. “Most people have nerves about someone new touching their hair.”
“Well, you’re the expert, so I know I’m better off in your hands than my own. Box dye and I have never met and don’t plan to.”
“Smart choice. Let me mix up your color and then I’ll be back.”
“Okay.”
Laney is gone for about five minutes before she comes back over with two bowls and brushes. Setting them on her rolling tray, she pumps the lever on the chair, raising me up, and then stretches on a pair of latex gloves. “So, now that you’ve been in Blossom Peak for a few weeks, what do you think about it?”
“Honestly, I thought little towns like this only existed in the movies or books. It’s really special, and so beautiful. The cherry blossom trees especially.”
Laney starts parting my hair into sections, separating it with clips. “You’re lucky you’re here right now when they’re just starting to bloom. One morning, the buds are barely there, and the next day, everywhere you look is pink.”
“I love it. The weather hasn’t been too bad either, which I appreciate. And the wine from your family’s winery is amazing.”
“Glad you enjoyed it. There’s plenty more if you need it.” She winks. “So tell me more about where you’re from?”
Part of me tenses up at the thought of talking too much about my past, but I don’t feel like I have to worry about Laney. Besides, Washington, D.C., is a massive city. “Um, I was living in D.C. before this”
“Wow. That’s definitely a different vibe than Blossom Peak.”
“I wanted to try something new… Moving on from things that no longer served me.”
Our eyes meet in the mirror. “I love that. It takes guts to make a change. Trust me, I know,” she says with a laugh.
“Speaking from experience?”
“If you had moved here last summer, the version of me you would have met was clinging to anger and resentment out of comfort. It took Fletcher coming back and not letting me run from him to finally let go of the past and embrace change.” Her eyes practically have hearts in them as she talks about her fiancé. “I’ve discovered so much about life since I finally relented to what I always knew.”
“Which was?”
“That the heart knows more than the mind ever will.”
Her words strike a chord within me. Sighing, I say, “I guess I’m just finally starting to learn that lesson.”
“It takes some people longer than others. Like my brother, for instance,” she says with a lilt to her voice, but nerves race through me at the mention of Rhonan. Honestly, though, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for him to be brought up. “He’s the king of holding on to the past.”
“I can see that, I guess.” Lord knows the man has been through loss with his mom, and then Ellis’s mom. You can’t exactly blame him for having a chip on his shoulder after that.
“Has he been a decent neighbor at least? Between his scowls and grunts?”
I chuckle. “He’s very good at those things, that’s for sure. But he’s actually turned out to be the best neighbor I’ve ever had.”
“Oh? Do tell.” Laney begins painting the color onto chunks of my hair while meeting my eyes in the mirror.
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“About my showerhead falling off the wall and your brother running over to my house because he heard my screams and thought I was being attacked?”
Laney freezes as her lips spread into a grin. “You’re joking…”
“Trust me, I wish I were, especially because I was completely naked.”
She bites her bottom lip to hide her smile. “What did he do?”
“Turned off the main water line and offered to let me finish my shower at his house.”
