“What do you want?”
His eyes moved to her mouth and she thought he would kiss her. “I’ll think of something,” he said and pushed away from the wall.
Delaney took a deep breath and watched him disappear into the building next door. She was afraid to think of what that something might be.
The next day at work, she made a sign offering free nail polish with a weave or color. No takers, but she did spray Mrs. Vaughn’s gray hair into the shape of a helmet. Laverne Vaughn had taught grade school in Truly until she’d been forced to retire in the late seventies.
Evidently, Wannetta had been true to her word. She told her friends about Delaney. Mrs. Vaughn paid ten dollars, wanted her senior citizen discount, and demanded a free bottle of polish. Delaney took the sign down.
Friday she shampooed and styled another of Wannetta’s friends, and Saturday, Mrs. Stokesberry dropped off two wigs to be cleaned. One white for everyday wear, the other black for special occasions. She picked them up three hours later, and insisted on placing the white wig on her own head.
“You give a senior citizen discount, right?” she asked as she pulled at the hair about her ears.
“Yes.” Delaney sighed, wondering why she was putting up with so much crap from so many people. Her mother, the gray-haired ladies, and Nick. Especially Nick. The answer came to her like the ringing of her cash register. Three million dollars. She could put up with a lot for three million big ones.
As soon as the woman left, Delaney closed the salon early and went to visit her friends Duke and Dolores. The dogs trembled with excitement as they licked her cheeks. At last, friendly faces. She rested her forehead on Duke’s neck and tried not to cry. She failed, just as she was failing with the salon. She hated finger waves and spraying hair into domes. She really hated washing and styling wigs. Most of all, she hated not doing what she loved. And what Delaney loved was making ordinary women look extraordinary. She loved the sound of blow-dryers, the tempo of rapid snipping, and the smell of dyes and perming solutions. She’d loved her life before she’d come back to Truly for Henry’s funeral. She’d had friends and a job she loved.
Seven months and fifteen days, she told herself. Seven months and then she could move anywhere she wanted. She rose to her feet and reached for the dogs’ leashes.
Half an hour later, she returned from walking the dogs and put them back in their pen. She was just about to open her car door when Gwen stepped outside.
“Can you stay for dinner?” her mother asked, wrapping a beige angora sweater around her shoulders.
“No.”
“I’m sorry I had to leave your party early.”
Delaney fished her keys from her pocket. Usually she bit her tongue and held it all inside, but she wasn’t in the mood. “No, I don’t think you are.”
“Of course I am. Why would you say such a thing to me?”
She looked at her mother, at her blue eyes and blond hair cut in a classic bob. “I don’t know,” she answered, deciding to back down from an argument she would lose anyway. “I’ve had a crappy day. I’ll come to dinner tomorrow night if you want.”
“I have plans for tomorrow night.”
“Monday then,” Delaney said as she slid into her car. She waved good-bye, and as soon as she’d returned to her apartment, she called Lisa. “Are you free tonight?” she asked when her friend picked up. “I need a drink, maybe two.”
“Louie’s working late, so I can meet you for a while.”
“Why don’t we meet at Hennesey’s? A blues band is playing there later tonight.”
“Okay, but I’ll probably leave before they start.”
Delaney was a little disappointed, but she was used to being alone. After she hung up the telephone, she took a shower then dressed in a green belly sweater and a pair of jeans. She fluffed her hair, applied her makeup, and put on her Doc Marten’s and leather jacket to walk the three blocks to Hennesey’s. By the time she arrived, it was six-thirty and the bar was filled with the after-work crowd.
Hennesey’s was a fair-sized bar, with the top level looking down on the lower. The tables on both levels were crowded together, and a portable stage had been set up on the large dance floor. For now, the lights inside the bar blazed and the dance floor was empty. Later, that would all change.
Delaney took a table near the end of the bar and was on her first beer when Lisa arrived. She took one look at her friend and raised a finger from her glass and pointed at Lisa’s ponytail. “You should let me cut your hair.”
“No way.” Lisa ordered a Miller Lite, then turned her attention back to Delaney. “Remember what you did to Brigit?”
“Brigit who?”
“The doll my Great-grandmother Stolfus gave me. You cut off her long gold ringlets and made her look like Cyndi Lauper. I’ve been traumatized ever since.”
“I promise you won’t look like Cyndi Lauper. I’ll even do it for free.”
“I’ll think about it.” Lisa’s beer arrived and she paid the waitress. “I ordered the bridesmaid dresses today. When they get here you’ll have to come to my house for a final fitting.”
“Am I going to look like a tour guide on a Southern plantation?”
“No. The dresses are a wine-colored stretch velvet. Just a real simple A line so you don’t draw attention away from the bride.”
Delaney took a sip of beer and smiled. “I couldn’t do that anyway, but you really should think about letting me do your hair for the big day. It’ll be fun.”
“Maybe I’ll let you do a braid or something.” Lisa took a drink. “I booked the caterer for the wedding dinner.”
When the subject of Lisa’s wedding was exhausted, conversation turned to Delaney’s business.
“How is your salon doing these days?”
“Crappy. I had one customer, Mrs. Stokesberry. She dropped off her wig, and I shampooed it like it was a roadkill poodle.”
“Cool job.”
“Tell me about it.”
Lisa took a drink then said, “I don’t want to make you feel worse, but I drove by Helen’s Hair Hut today. She looked fairly busy.”
Delaney frowned into her beer. “I’ve got to do something to steal her business.”
“Do a giveaway. People love to get something for nothing.”
She’d tried that already with the fingernail polish. “I need to advertise,” she said, silently contemplating her options.
“Maybe you should do a little show or something at Sophie’s school. Cut some hair, get some of those girls looking good. Then all the other girls will want you to cut their hair, too.”
“And their mothers will have to keep bringing them back.” Delaney sipped her beer, and thought about the possibilities.
“Don’t look now, but Wes and Scooter Finley just walked in.” Lisa raised her hand to the side of her face as a shield. “Don’t make eye contact or they’ll come over.”
Delaney shielded her face also, but looked through her fingers. “They’re just as ugly as I remember.”
“Just as stupid, too.”
Delaney had graduated with the Finley brothers. They weren’t twins, just repeat offenders. Wes and Scooter were two shades darker than albino with spooky pale eyes. “Do they still think they’re chick magnets?”
Lisa nodded. “Go figure.” When the Finley threat had passed, Lisa lowered her hand and pointed toward two men standing at the bar. “What do you think, boxers or briefs?”
Delaney took one look at their shirts with the big red Chevron logo, their Achy Breaky hair, and said, “Briefs. White. Fruit of the Loom.”
“What about the guy third from the end?”
The man was tall, rail thin, with perfectly layered hair. The yellow sweater tied around his neck told Delaney he was either new in town or a man of great courage. Only a very brave man would walk the streets of Truly with a sweater of any color, let alone yellow, tied around his neck. “Thong, I think. He’s very daring.” Delaney took a drink of her beer and turned her attention to the door.