I close my eyes and nod. “I’m gonna trust you. Style, length, whatever. I trust you.”
Poppy sends me off to the shampoo bowl, where a girl named Anna gives me the head massage of my life. I’m practically sound asleep when the water turns on, and she gets me all rinsed and ready for my cut. After the wash, Poppy is still finishing with a customer, so she sends Anna back to dry me, and then another girl comes to give me a mini-manicure—just a nail soak, file, and cuticle trim—at the chair. I’ve got one girl working on my hands and Anna drying my hair, and for the first time, I let myself feel hopeful.
My life was like this once. Haircuts and spa days. Manicures, pedicures, and pretty clothes. I can be that way again. I can become the person I know I am meant to be. I lost my way for a short time, but I’ve learned. I’m stronger now. I have a daughter and a purpose. I lethope wash over me like the hot air from the dryer as Anna gets me ready.
By the time Poppy comes over to dry-cut me, my shoulders are relaxed and I’m ready for a nap. We chatter while she trims my length, taking a couple of inches off. She adds soft layers and asks me about what I plan to do once I’m all settled in the condo.
“I need a job,” I tell her. I tell her about my old job as a paralegal, and we chat about whether I would go back into the same field. “To be honest,” I tell her, “I’d like to do something else. I didn’t love the work when I had it, but I was happy to get a good job that paid well and had advancement. After two years out of the workforce, I’ll take anything.”
She nods. “I’ll have to ask my mom.”
“Ask Mom what?” Another woman sidles up to the chair and stands behind Poppy in the mirror. I can see the resemblance.
“Oh, this is perfect. Claire,” she says to me, “I’d like you to meet my sister. Her name is Clara.”
“Is this the famous Claire I’ve been hearing so much about?” Poppy’s sister sets a hand on my shoulder and gives me a squeeze through the plastic salon smock. “I’ve been telling Poppy to get you in here.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say.
While Poppy and her sister talk about their mother, I can’t help but marvel at the coincidence. I wonder what it would be like to have a sister? Someone to lean on instead of being alone. Besides my mother and nowAurora, I’ve never seen my facial features on anyone else. It would be a trip, for sure.
“Would you be open to that, Claire?” Poppy asks.
I look up and meet her eyes in the mirror. I was so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t know what she said. “Sorry. Would I be open to what?” I ask.
Poppy smiles. “My mom works in local government. I’ll ask if she knows anybody who’s hiring. She knows so many people in this town, you never know.”
I physically turn and look at Poppy, my mouth wide open. “You would do that? You would ask your mom to help me find a job?”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Clara says. “Mom can be really tough on people. She’ll want to meet you and vet you…and probably ask for a DNA sample.”
Poppy smacks her sister on the arm. “Mom’s not that bad.” She leans forward and giggles. “If you could imagine what it was like introducing Mom to Phantom.” She puts a hand over her heart. “Trust me. Mom will see what we all see in you, and she’ll bend over backward to help.”
I’m struck silent as they chat while Poppy finishes off my hair. I don’t even know how to process this level of kindness. I think back to what Stella said those first few days I was in the compound. How everyone there is here for a reason. I wonder about Stella, Tank, Phantom, and Shadow. All the people who welcomed me in have stories of their own.
I have to imagine a woman who falls in love with a man like that was drawn to him for a reason. Yes, he’squiet and has two incredible daughters, but I’m seeing for the first time that maybe I really am one of them. One of those people. I just happen to be at the start of my story, not the end.
By the time I look back up in the mirror, Poppy is smoothing down my hair with a beautiful hair balm that makes the new length bounce and all of it feel silky soft. I look at myself, and I can’t stop the grin that flies across my face. I see my mom’s long, fringed bangs but on my face. And Poppy was right. I look fantastic. Like a completely different woman.
I jump up from the chair and pull Poppy into a hug. “I love it,” I tell her. “For so long, I’ve looked in the mirror and seen someone who I couldn’t believe was me.” I think back to the black eye I had when Poppy met me. By the look on her face, I know she’s thinking about it too. “This is the most me I think I’ve ever felt in my life. Thank you. Thank you so, so much.”
She rocks me back and forth and sniffles, no doubt fighting the same tears that I am. “You’re welcome,” she says. “Just always believe that this is you. That the you that you want to be is never far away. Sometimes you just have to look hard for her.”
We release each other, and I notice Tank hovering in the front entryway. He nods at Holly and Daisy, but his eyes are locked on the shampoo girl, Anna. Poppy takes off my smock, and I thank the girls for watching Aurora. I can tell Aurora’s ready for a nap, and I’m thankful for it or I suspect she’d throw a tantrum at my taking her away from her new best friends. The girlsgather up the toys while I put Aurora back in her car seat.
“Can I tip the shampoo girl, at least?” I ask Poppy. I think it would be weird to tip Poppy when she said the services were her treat, but Anna gave me both a stellar head massage and an absolutely brilliant shampoo.
“Okay,” Poppy says thoughtfully. “You don’t have to, though. I’ll take care of her.”
“No,” I say. “Savage gave me some cash. I’d like to.”
I consider walking over to where she’s standing at the front counter looking over an iPad, but then I get another idea. I walk up to Tank, Aurora’s car carrier in my hands. “How’d it go with your lady friend?” I ask. “You got a date for the big party tonight?”
Tank grunts and shoves his hands into his pockets. “Totally friend-zoned,” he says sadly.
I put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Tank. Her loss. You know that, right?”
He shrugs and holds the door open for me. I head out, but once we’re partway to the truck, I stop and pretend I forgot to tip the shampoo girl. “Oh no,” I say, putting a sad look on my face. “Tank, can you do me a huge favor?”
