She slid in behind the steering wheel and closed the door, giving Nick a small wave as she reversed out of the spot. She endured a feline tongue lashing the entire way home.
Nick watched Jenny drive away and felt a lurch inside, like something had slipped out of place, leaving an empty spot behind.
He enjoyed their evening chats, even though he vowed to tell her the truth each time he opened the chat window, but each time he managed to chicken out of it. Maybe Jenny didn’t get as much out of them as he did, though—she’d seemed pretty sure just now that the online world wasn’t exactly her favourite thing. He’d been hoping to maybe work in an opening to broach the subject of his identity, but this conversation had changed his mind. He hadn’t meant to tell her about Richie—he never spoke about that with anyone—but there was something about Jenny that had him spilling hisguts without even meaning to. She was easy to talk to. He trusted her. Was he willing to lose that if he told her he was the guy on the other end of their nightly banter? It was a risk he didn’t feel comfortable taking just yet. He was beginning to like that fun side of her way too much to lose it now.
The bell above the door tinkled merrily as Jenny entered the hairdressers. The sound of hair dryers blasting and country music crooning over the speakers greeted her.
‘Well, look who the cat dragged in!’ a friendly voice boomed from the rear of the salon and Jenny grinned. Laurel had been her hairdresser ever since she had moved here. She’d been part of pretty much every major life event since—from kids going through primary school dramas and the terrible teen years to her marriage break-up. The woman should have a degree in counselling. Jenny had never intended to talk about her marriage break-up in public, except somehow, Laurel had her talking about the whole terrible mess and from then on, she was always a willing ear to vent to. Not that Jenny overshared—at least, she tried not to. The last thing she wanted was for the entire town to be involved in her personal problems.
‘I know it’s been a while,’ Jenny admitted. She’d had to cancel her last appointment when she’d been called in to cover someone’s shift.
‘Quitea while,’ Laurel drawled, as she lifted a strand of hair to inspect the split ends critically. ‘Never mind, nothing we can’t fix,’ she said, sending Jenny a confident nod in the mirror before fastening a black cape around her neck with anexpert flourish, then disappearing out the back of the salon to mix a batch of her magic potions that would transform Jenny’s plain old brown hair into a much more interesting shade of chocolate with caramel and latte highlights.
‘So, word around town is you’ve been busy,’ Laurel said, as she began parting Jenny’s hair and pinning it up in sections.
‘Work’s been its usual frantic chaos,’ Jenny agreed.
‘I’m not talking about work,’ the hairdresser said, shaking her long, dark locks. ‘I’m talking about the assortment of men you’ve been spotted dining out with lately.’
Jenny blanched, her eyes widening as she held the amused smirk of her friend’s gaze in the mirror, before she shot a look around the salon.
‘No one’s going to hear,’ Laurel said, dismissing Jenny’s obvious distress. ‘Edna’s stuck under the heat lamp and deaf as a post at the best of times and Barb’s busy reading about the latest royal scandal. So?’ she prompted impatiently. ‘Tell me everything.’
‘There’s nothing to tell,’ Jenny mumbled. ‘It wasn’t my idea. The girls set me up on some dumb dating app and suddenly I had all these dates lined up.’
‘And?’
Jenny shrugged. ‘And nothing.’
Laurel stopped pinning her hair to hold her gaze pointedly. ‘You went out on multiple dates for the first time since your divorce and you’re telling me there was nothing? With any of them?’
Jenny tried not to squirm under her friend’s disbelieving expression. ‘Well, I mean, they were … Oh, I don’t know.’She let out a frustrated sigh. ‘They were just a little … dull. I guess.’
‘So, none of them tickled ya fancy?’ Laurel asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Jenny bit back a smile at the other woman’s antics. ‘No, not really.’
‘Ah, well, there’s gotta be plenty more out there to get through. It’s a good thing you’re not settling for just anything,’ Laurel said, nodding her head firmly.
‘I’m beginning to think that’s all there might be … you know, in my age group,’ Jenny said, a little despondent at the thought.
‘Your age group? What are you talking about?’
‘It’s just that the men I’ve seen on there who are within my age parameters, are so … I don’t know, either sleazy or quite a bit older.’
‘Then you need to adjust those age settings.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Jenny scoffed. ‘Because someone younger would be so interested in a fifty-year-old.’
‘A few years isn’t going to bother anyone—besides, you’re hardly over the hill at fifty, you know.’
‘Yeah, I know … but I can’t imagine dating someone younger. It just seems so … cougar-y,’ Jenny said, wrinkling her nose.
Laurel let out a loud hoot, drawing the attention of another customer seated further down the salon. ‘I think you underestimate the cougar appeal.’
‘I don’t need another child, thank you very much. I want someone who’s my equal, in age as well as mentality.’
‘And yet, look what’s out there,’ Laurel reminded her and instantly Jenny’s mood dipped. ‘Oh, come on, it’s not that bad. You’ve only started looking. There’s bound to be someone out there that’ll light your fire again. It’ll happen.’
