Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
It takes me a couple of seconds to realize she’s showing me a text string that includes a photo of Bax and me standing on his front porch, smiling at each other, with a line of kids waiting for candy. A text beneath it in all caps reads
THEY LOOKED SO HAPPY!
I look up at her. “What is that?”
“My grandma just sent it to me.”
“Your grandma sent you a photo of Bax and me?”
“Yep.” She tucks her phone away. “Apparently, all the old ladies love him, and they’ve never seen him with another woman, so you two are the talk of the neighborhood.”
“They’ve never seen him with another woman?” I repeat, finding that hard to believe.
I know for sure that Julie dated him, and if Holly was telling the truth, a whole group of women get together once a month to share their woes about their relationships with Bax. Not to mention his history, which I’ve heard about from my mom or know of from his friendship with Liam.
“Grams says she’s never seen a woman who wasn’t related to him at his house,” she tells me excitedly, “and none of the other women have either.” Okay, that’s weird. “They swear they are watching a Hallmark movie come to life.”
“There isn’t anything—”
I can’t exactly say nothing is happening between us because there most definitely is. I just don’t know what it is or where it’s going. And even though I really like Holly, she’s not someone I want to talk to about Bax and me.
“We’ve known each other for a long time and are just hanging out right now.”
“Well, I hope it becomes more than you two just hanging out.” She wiggles her brows, and I try not to laugh. “Anyway, I didn’t come in here to harass you about Bax. I wanted to see if you saw that I added another appointment to your calendar this morning.”
“I was just checking when you came in.”
“Cool.” She starts back toward the door as the phone in the front office starts to ring. “It’s just a consultation, so I fit her in first thing this morning before your ten o'clock.”
“Thanks, Holly.”
“No problem.” She hurries out the door, leaving it open. When my computer finishes loading the program, I look over the information for the clients I have coming in, then go about making sure I have everything I need.
At nine fifteen, my consultation arrives, and like sometimes happens, I end up talking her out of the Botox and filler she thought she needed. At only thirty-eight years old, she’s still really young with not one wrinkle in sight, but as a new mom, she’s been feeling down about her appearance. So I suggest a facial and some light lip injections, then promise if she is still not happy, we can reevaluate.
Since I don’t do facials, she schedules one with Julie for later in the afternoon and books me for her lips the next day. After her, I have two other appointments, then a short break, so I drive over to the coffee shop where I met Lincoln and call Rebecca on the way to confirm what time I’m picking her up Thursday.
When I get back to the spa around one, I pull open the door, smiling while juggling my iced coffee, the one I picked up for Holly, and the bag of goodies I got for us to share. “Hey, I got you a—” My words come to a halt when I find Julie sitting in Holly’s chair behind the counter. I haven’t had any contact with her since the whole Bax conversation, and even though I know she works here, I wasn’t expecting to see her.
“Holly had to run out, so I’m answering the phones,” she tells me, looking about as comfortable as I feel.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. I asked her to go to the store to pick up the stuff to restock the client fridge.”
“Oh.” I walk around to the side of the desk and set down the extra iced coffee I’m holding. “This is for her when she gets back.”
“Can we talk for a minute?” she asks softly when I turn to go to my office.
“Sure.” I force a smile as I spin back to face her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, I just wanted to apologize for last week.” Her smile is apologetic as she continues. “I was in my head, and I want you to know that it had nothing to do with you.” Turning in the chair to face me fully, she rubs her palms down the front of her pants. “Bax and I dated for a while, and things were pretty serious.” She shakes her head. “Or I thought they were, but I was wrong because I found out he was sleeping with someone else.” She shrugs. “Apparently, I’m still angry about it, and I took it out on you, which wasn’t fair.”