“Mari and I own a small hair care company—Apple Head. Our products are all natural, and they’re apple-based.”
“And they’re Beverly Sumners approved,” Mari added.
“My sister Beverly approved them?” my dad asked, clearly taken aback by the piece of information.
“Yes. My sister, Collins, and Mrs. Beverly co-own the salon at the lodge: Posh Moments. When Mari and I came up with the first formulation, it was for a clarifying shampoo with apple cider vinegar. The first people we took it to were Collins and Mrs. Beverly.”
“Wow. Okay.” My mother twisted off the cap of one of the products and sniffed it. “Wow. That smells delicious. It smells like something I want to eat. What is this?” She held up the bottle. “Shampoo?”
I noticed that Aunt Renee hadn’t said anything. She was taking each item out of the gift bag and setting them on the table.
The waiter came into the room to take our drink orders and let us know that the food would be out shortly.
“We pre-ordered,” my dad explained. “We didn’t want to wait all night. We got a variety of dishes, so hopefully, wegot something for everybody’s palate. But if not, we’ll order whatever. Now.” He turned to Church. “How’d you get into hair care? I’m sure Joe told you that the Sumners are a hair care family.”
“Oh, he didn’t have to tell me. I’m very familiar with the Sumners family. As I said, my sister is into hair care. She opened her salon when she was barely old enough to drink. I’ve been around hair care all my life. Anyway, when I purchased my home, I realized that there was a small apple orchard on my property. At first, I thought about baking pies with them or something. I went to my best friend, Mari.” She glanced over at Mari. “She’s a genius food chemist. I asked her to help me bake pies.”
Mari picked up the familiar story. “I thought she should do skin care. After a little bit of back and forth, we both agreed on hair care. So, with the abundance of apples that her trees provide, we make shampoo, conditioner, edge control, a loc moisture mist, a beard oil, a serum, a hair mask, and the list goes on and on. If we can dream it, I try to find a way to formulate it, using the best possible products.”
Aunt Renee held up the bottle of Apple Locs. It was their moisturizing mist for locs. “What’s in this?”
“Pure rose hydrosol, pro vitamin B5, liposomal apple stem cell extract, and a few drops of argan oil to seal in the moisture.” Mari was proud. I could tell by the way her chest puffed out.
My aunt’s eyes bugged before she grinned big. “My girl!” She held the bottle up. “That is an expensive recipe.”
“It is,” Mari agreed. “But Apple Head is a luxury hair care brand. We don’t cheap out on products, and our results speak for themselves.”
The four ladies veered off into a conversation about the benefits of high-end ingredients, and I saw both Lex and my uncle James visibly relax when Aunt Renee smiled. While theladies talked, we fellas fell into a conversation of our own about the Vipers, life in the Pacific Northwest, and the current state of America.
Soon enough, several servers came into the private dining room, carrying platters of food and carafes of drinks. Once that happened, all conversation ceased as we dug into the delicious offerings.
I layon the bed and waited for Church to finish her shower. After the early morning flight and dinner with my parents, I was ready to shut it down. After dinner, my mom and Aunt Renee insisted on taking Church and Mari to some dessert bar they knew they claimed had the best sweets. The men weren’t invited to tag along, and when Church and Mari got back to the hotel, they wouldn’t tell Lex and me what they talked about with our mothers.
Church finally stepped out of the bathroom, bringing steam and the smell of citrus with her. She wore a Manor at Sienna Sunset Resort sleepshirt that hit her mid-thigh, and she had arranged her hair into two braids. She looked so fucking alluring, sexy, and innocent all at the same time. She set up a bottle of water on the nightstand and put her phone on the charger right next to that. As she climbed into bed, I scooted over slightly. I would give her room, but I was not about to back up off the girl. The more time I spent with her, the more she became the girl that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I hugged her without thinking about it. “You smell so damn good.”
After a giggle, she said, “Thanks.”
“You tired?”
“Exhausted.”
“Me too. Was Aunt Renee cool? She didn’t show her ass while y’all were out, did she?”
“Nah.” She shook her head. “She was on her best behavior. She seems to really like Mari.”
“That’s cool.” I picked up one of her long braids in my hand. Her hair was soft. “Can I ask you a question?”
“I guess.”
“How’d you get the name Church?”
She looked at me, and our eyes met. “I’ll answer your question, but I have one of my own.” She held up a hand. “I already know men hate when women ask them this, but I’m curious. What are we doing, Jonah? You got a reputation for lovin’ them and leavin’ them. And I’m a woman that will never try to keep a ninja that don’t wanna be kept. We’ve had sex a few times, but that’s just sex.”
“I’m not tryna just have sex with you, Church. I mean, damn. You can’t tell that I’m into you? I’ve been chasin’ you since the day I laid eyes on you.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Uh, sir. Please be so freaking for real. The first day I laid eyes on you, Kylena was there, . . . staking claim to you. Then Jenna was there, . . . staking claim to you. Were you chasing me in between having sex with them?”
