“He’s not going to know. Anyway, who’s to say he’s not sleeping with Katie?”
Rebecca stepped into view. “I am,” she said. “Mike and Katie are only friends.”
Mary looked up at her and the color fled her face. For a moment she seemed to have trouble finding her voice. “Rebecca, I didn’t see you.”
“I know,” Rebecca said. “But just to set the record straight, Booker did not steal that car they found at his house.”
“That’s not what Orton’s wife is saying,” Candace said.
“Orton’s wife doesn’t know anything. I talked to my father early this morning. The car they found is the car Katie drove here from San Francisco. She gave it to Booker when she couldn’t pay him for repairs.”
Candace looked almost as uncomfortable as Mary. “Oh. I guess Janelle was wrong.”
“You’re damn right she was.”
“We were just going by what we’ve heard,” Mary said.
“Right.” Rebecca turned to go, but Mary caught her arm.
“You’re—” she cleared her throat “—you’re not going to tell Mike about Joe, are you?”
Rebecca hesitated. She’d been about to say, “Of course I am.” But suddenly there seemed so little point. Mary was obviously miserable and grasping at whatever she could find to fulfill her. She deserved sympathy, not derision.
“No,” Rebecca said and even managed to smile before she walked away. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to have a baby. But life wasn’t all bad. Now that she realized how pathetic Mary truly was, Rebecca knew Mike would never fall for her.
KATIE HAD ALMOST DECIDED not to go to work today. Booker had made her a big breakfast and helped Delbert hold the baby while she showered. She’d wanted to spend the rest of the day with him. But she’d promised to work for a few hours in the afternoon and didn’t want to leave Rebecca in the lurch.
After yesterday’s fiasco with the police, Booker said he needed to take care of a few things at the garage, anyway. So they’d come into town together. Only now that Booker was at the garage and Katie was sitting in her own chair at a mostly deserted Hair and Now, she couldn’t help thinking about her parents. How was she going to tell her father that she planned to marry Booker?
With a frown, she glanced over at Troy, who was sleeping in his infant seat. She’d canceled the baby-sitting she’d lined up with her mother for today because Ashleigh and Rebecca had been asking to see the baby—and she felt bad about accepting her mother’s help when she knew how upset Tami would be to learn that Katie had acted on her feelings for Booker, and that he’d responded. She planned to marry him with or without her parents’ approval. She knew now that she was so in love nothing could stop her. But it would certainly be nice to have their support for a change….
Rebecca swept into the salon, her face flushed from hurrying. “Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I had to drop off some film to be developed at Finley’s and ran into…a distraction.”
The way she said distraction made Katie curious. “What kind of distraction?”
“Mary Thornton.”
“Oh, that kind of distraction.” Katie went back to looking through the magazine on her lap. “Well, being late is no problem. As you can see, it’s slow around here.”
“Where is everyone?”
“Ashleigh’s in back, straightening the storeroom while I watch the front. Mona’s taking the day off.”
“What about our appointments?” Rebecca stopped at the desk to check the scheduling book. “Rita Price was supposed to come in for a perm at one.” She glanced at her watch. “That was nearly forty minutes ago. Didn’t she make it?”
Katie put her magazine aside. “I haven’t heard from her. I tried to call her a couple of times, but there was no answer.”
Rebecca tucked her dark blond hair, which was getting quite long and conservative for Rebecca, behind one ear. “She’s usually more reliable than that. She has a standing appointment every two months for a cut, every four months for a perm.”
“What are you two talking about?” Ashleigh asked, emerging from the back. “Didn’t Rita show?”
Rebecca tapped a pencil against the desk. “No, which is strange. And Katie said she’s not answering her phone.”
Troy started to fuss, but before Katie could take two steps in his direction, Ashleigh rushed over to get him. “Oh good, he’s waking up. Can I hold him?”
Katie smiled and nodded. She wasn’t sure what had happened the night Booker had gone home with Ashleigh. But from the beginning, Ashleigh had been open and friendly, and Katie was finding it surprisingly easy to like her.
“You brought the baby?” Rebecca crossed the salon to huddle over Troy as well.
Katie shrugged. “Since I’m only going to be here for a few hours, I thought it might be okay.”
“It’s fine. I told you, you can bring him anytime.” Rebecca pulled back the blanket so she could peek at his face. “Look at him….”
Katie wasn’t sure bringing Troy into the salon was such a good idea when she saw the expression on Rebecca’s face. She wondered how Rebecca’s fertility treatments were going, but was afraid to ask for fear the answer wasn’t the one she wanted to hear.
“He’s beautiful,” Ashleigh gushed. “I can’t wait to have kids of my—” Her words fell away as she glanced at Rebecca. Clearing her throat, she immediately turned the conversation in a different direction. “I mean, I met the cutest guy at the Honky Tonk last night. You two should’ve seen him. Tall and blond and—”
“I thought you had a thing for Booker?” Rebecca interrupted, her gaze still on Troy.
Katie stiffened as she awaited Ashleigh’s response.
“Booker’s gorgeous and all that,” she said. “He’s nice, too. But it isn’t going to work out between us.”
“Why not?” Rebecca asked.
Ashleigh rubbed the top of Troy’s head with her thumb. “I can tell he’s not really interested in me.” She shot Katie an envious smile. “If you want to know the truth, I think he’s still in love with Katie. She might have moved on, but he’s never gotten over her.”
Rebecca arched a brow at Katie. “I told you,” she said. “Everyone can see it but you.”