Even though he got Syn away from his mother, he’d kept in touch with her whenever he could. It wasn’t often, especially during his stints in the joint, but he just needed to know she was doing better than Silvia. Better than him. That he had done the right thing for once in his fucking life.
He didn’t even know if Silvia ended up having any more kids. He hoped to fuck she didn’t. Not long after he got Syn out of there, he left, too. And he never went back.
He lifted his cheek from her belly, then he rose to his feet. “Now I can eat.”
She held out her hand for him to help her from the couch and he shook his head. “I got it. Whatcha in the mood for?”
“Those loaded French fries Judge had brought me that night.”
He grinned. “Yeah, they’re fuckin’ addictin’, right?”
“Yes, but you don’t have to go.”
“No. You want fuckin’ loaded fries from Dino’s? Gettin’ loaded fries from Dino’s.”
What Red wanted, Red got.
She held out her hand again. “Can I go with you?”
He hesitated. “Not sure that’s a good idea.” It was bad enough when he had to take her to her weekly doctor’s appointment. He always worried she’d be spotted.
“I’ll stay in the car, but it would be nice to get out of the apartment for a little bit.”
“Maybe Stel will let me borrow the Jeep.”
Her hazel eyes lit up, as did her face. “Yes! A ride and loaded French fries!”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
Whatever she wanted. At least for the next two months.
Autumn sat low in the passenger seat with the Jeep’s doors locked, a baseball cap pulled low on her head and an oversized pair of sunglasses covering her eyes. She kept those eyes focused on the entrance to Dino’s Diner, waiting for Sig to return with the huge order of food he had called in.
Because she was so focused on that front door, she jumped and squealed when a loud tap came from the passenger side window.
She swallowed her pounding heart from her throat back into her chest and turned her head to see a man standing right outside her door. He made a wind-down-the-window motion with his hand.
She frowned.
The man, who was tall and slender and had the most beautiful high cheek bones, squinted at her for a second, then his mouth formed an O. “Oh, sorry! Thought you were Stella and maybe that gorilla of hers was inside Dino’s.”
This man knew Stella and Trip. Which meant he wasn’t a Shirley. Since Sig had left the old Cherokee running, she powered down the window.
His high-pitched squeal and him reaching through the window to snag the cap off her head made her want to roll the window right back up.
As he tossed the hat to the floorboard and dug his fingers into her hair, he gushed, “Oh... my... God! Look at that color. And that is one hundred percent natural! You know how I know that?”
Autumn just stared at him as he fluffed her hair around her face.
“Oh my God, this needs some work and I know the perfect fella for that. You know who?” His question ended on a higher pitch than it should.
When she didn’t answer, he yelled, “Me! I am such a lucky, lucky boy to get to do something with that fiery mane. You know why?”
Autumn blinked.
“Because you are my newest customer and you’re lucky, too. All my new customers get their first cut for free!” He squealed the word “free,” released her hair, leaving his right hand jutted towards her. “I’m Teddy and you must be new in town. I am the proprietor and head hottie of Manes on Main.” He curved his left hand around the side of his mouth, leaned in and whispered, “That’s on Main Street right here in town, so it’s easy to find.”
Autumn took his extended hand and before she could shake it, he gasped and yanked her hand out of the window, inspecting it with a look of horror. “What the hell happened to your nails? Oh... Em... Gee... This is not right, not right at all. A pretty sprite like you shouldn’t have nails like this. I’m going to fix you right up.”
“I—”
“Yep. You just tell me how soon you can sit your little fanny in my chair and I’ll pencil you in. Again, first one’s on the house.”
“I—”
“What’s your name?”
She blinked again. Not sure how she should answer that. “Uh... Red.”
Teddy frowned. “Red? Red is the color of your beautiful, but badly damaged, locks.” He again curved a hand around the side of his mouth and loudly whispered, “But we’ll have those tresses shiny and those broken ends trimmed up in no time.” He released the hand he’d been inspecting, slapped his hands on his narrow hips and tilted his head. “But Red is not a name for a pretty girl like you.” He stepped closer to the door, glanced down, and frowned. “Wait... Ooooh, a baby. You’re having a baby. No wonder your hair is dull and damaged. Those little monsters will suck the life right out of you, won’t they? Like leeches. It took a while for my bestie’s hair to come back to its glorious splendor after she popped those kids out. But I’ll get you fixed right up.”