Daisy let him take over. He had a gravelly voice. Time had roughed the tone, but his wife probably melted over it when they first met. His olive skin set off his brown eyes beautifully and the gray at his temples worked as a distinguishing feature. Daisy didn’t have to look far to find a picture of a much younger Vern and his grandfather in front of the shop among the images of heavyweight fighters and their pretty belts. They both wore white shirts and black aprons and smiles full of pride. She snapped a picture with her phone, excited to work it into the episode. Her subscribers would fall in love with Vern.
Her phone buzzed inside her purse, and since she wasn’t needed at the moment, Daisy checked the caller. She motioned to Vivian that she was going outside to take the call and ducked out. Beckett was wrapped up in another towel, his hands hanging loose like he’d fallen asleep. The bell over the door dinged and she was on the street.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetheart. I’ve been watching your posts—”
“She made me buy three new shirts!” Dad yelled over Mom.
Daisy chuckled. Her parents had plenty of money, but Dad hated change—of any kind. Anytime he found clothing he liked, Mom bought two of them. That way, when one wore out, she could slip a new shirt or pair of pants in the wash and throw the old one out without Dad being any wiser. If he did need to shop, Daisy and Mom conspired to tell him he’d lost weight and the clothing was too big. Whether he believed them or not, he always agreed.
Knowing her part in this, Daisy said, “Good. You’ve lost weight since you started golfing more—I’ll bet these fit better.”
“You think so?”
“I’ve only seen you on video chat, but it looks that way to me.”
“You’ll get a chance to see for yourself,” Mom cut in. “Our plane lands at three-twenty-two on Wednesday.”
Daisy’s blood pressure spiked and she clutched at her heart. “You’re what now?”
“Our plaaane.” Mom slowed down her speech.
Daisy sat there, trying to wrap her head around her parents in town, Beckett on her couch and the kissing thing, and Quinton depressed. There were too many variables to compute.
Mom’s laughter trilled through the phone. “Please tell me you haven’t forgotten about the Meet the Fans Conference.”
Suddenly everything zipped into place. “Of course not. I—nooooo.”
Shoot! She had a rough draft of her class somewhere on her hard drive. She’d started it over a month ago and, at this moment, couldn’t remember the topic.
She’d gotten so wrapped up in this makeover and Beckett and life that she’d spaced the commitment. That wasn’t good. Especially since KPaka Cosmetics would have a representative at the conference and probably in her class.
“I booked us a hotel near your house. I figured that would be easier for you to pick me up there than from one by the conference center where the traffic is heavy.”
“Yeah.” Daisy blinked several times as the tasks multiplied. When she and her mom planned attending the conference together, her life was much simpler. She’d even been looking forward to getting out of her bedroom for a day or two. Now she had to finish her class, pre-record her post for Friday morning, and pick her parents up at the airport. All this plus she’d planned to go on location to film the big Beckett reveal. “Hey, Mom? I gotta go; we’re filming.”
“I can’t wait to see how Beckett turns out. Do you think you can get him to come over to your place for dinner one night? I’ll put something in the crockpot.”
“I’ll barbeque!” Dad yelled over her.
“Your father will take care of dinner.”
Daisy chewed her lip. “I’m pretty sure Beckett will be there.”Considering he’s living with me.She wondered if she could convince Beckett to hide his things in the closet and pretend he wasn’t sleeping in her front room while her parents were in town. Dad was overprotective and Mom’s favorite lecture was about keeping the magic of chemical mystery alive before marriage. This was all going to be a bit tricky.
Chapter Nineteen
Monday passed by so fast, Beckett hardly noticed the time. The barbershop was an … experience. A wonderful, manly experience. More guys should go for a shave and a haircut. When Daisy first came up with the whole makeover idea, he’d pictured some froufrou salon that smelled like perm solution and handed out glasses of champagne, not Vern and his love of all things boxing.
“Boxing is a gentleman’s sport,” Vern scolded Daisy when she made a comment about the men trying to win a blinged-out belt.
Her cheeks sank. Beckett had to look away or he’d laugh knowing she was biting her cheeks to hold in her laughter. She hadn’t meant to rile Vern, but she’d done a good job of it.
Vern didn’t shave off the beard, but he cut it to a quarter inch long. At that length, the hair hung straight and he could comb it down with ease. The sideburns were a little shorter and blended into the hair on the sides and back of his head. The top was left long and he was able to do that sweet up-and-over style Quin did for the comedy club. He had to admit, he was polished like a new pair of Sunday shoes and almost as dark. Almost all the sun-bleached hair was left in Vern’s dustbin. The change was startling, making him do a double take when they passed a store window on the way out. He didn’t recognize himself—which wasn’t a bad thing.
On top of getting a great cut, the price was more than reasonable. Daisy tipped well and Beckett left feeling almost as good as he did when he left a village knowing they were taken care of. Not that he’d taken care of Vern—it was quite the opposite—but Vern was a small-business owner who supported his family and kept up an institution. Hopefully the big reveal episode would help business.
Beckett paused in the middle of brushing his teeth. Of course Daisy had chosen Vern’s Barbershop, not just for his comfort but because she wanted to help a local business. She wasn’t blind to the effect her posts had on companies, and she’d strategically used her fame to bless some random person’s life.
