About to tell Dax that he had no intention of attending, he realized he wouldn’t be able to do that without having Dax sending his regrets also.
His son began making excuses about why he had practically asked for the invitation. “You should be thanking me for us getting the invite. The hotel food is terrible. Remind me the next time we’re on a shoot to hire a personal chef.”
“I told you to try to hire Ginny away from Penni.”
“I should have. Don’t rub it in.”
Dalton couldn’t help giving Dax an “I told you so” look.
“I really didn’t think you would mind. You seemed to be having a good time until T.A. left.”
Dalton heard the questioning tone in his voice.
“I was, but it wasn’t her leaving that made me change my mind, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“What was it, then?”
“Don’t you think that Killyama came across as rude to T.A.?”
Dax shrugged. “I think it’s just their personalities. Killyama and Sex Piston are the leaders in that group of friends. Crazy Bitch and Fat Louise, I wasn’t able to talk with as much, but they seemed to be followers like T.A.”
“I think so too,” Dalton said.
“Why does that bother you? Sex Piston told me they’d been friends since they were in school together. Obviously, it works for them, or they wouldn’t have been friends so long. If it didn’t bother you, you wouldn’t haven’t mentioned it. You sure you don’t want her number?”
“Dax, I told you no.”
“Ahh. That means you thought about it.”
The spark of happiness on his son’s face was something he hadn’t seen in a long time. He couldn’t bring himself to crush it without a denial, especially because it wouldn’t be the truth.
Reaching into his jacket pocket, he handed Dax his phone.
“What’s this for?” he asked, taking it from him.
“Give me the number.”
12
Dismally, T.A. stared out of the beauty shop window as Stud and Calder loaded up her car to take to his shop.
“Bitch, I don’t know what you’re crying about.” Sex Piston unsympathetically came to stand next to her. “Stud told you that car couldn’t take the miles you were putting on it. I’m fucking glad you can’t drive it anymore.”
“Don’t be that way.” Morosely, T.A. went back behind the counter, unable to watch anymore.
Crazy Bitch, who curled a lock of her customer’s hair with a curling iron, was just as insensitive as Sex Piston.
“Killyama warned you she was going to get Stud to take it when you drove it to the hospital yesterday. You’re lucky as fuck you made it back. The road between Treepoint and Jamestown is no place to be stranded. There isn’t even a gas station between here and there.”
“I made it, didn’t it I?” T.A. argued.
“Like I said, you were a lucky bitch. You know how Killy is; she won’t take any chances with your safety, and you’ve been pushing it a lot lately with that piece of graveyard junk.”
“I just paid two hundred for Stud to fix it.” T.A. bit her trembling lip at the money that could have been spent elsewhere. She could have put it toward the recliner she was determined to buy.
“Then you should have thought of that before driving it to see Killy.” Sex Piston shrugged, moving away from the window.
T.A. looked up as she walked toward the counter, seeing through the window that Stud and Calder were getting back into their second-hand tow truck as a green car pulled into the parking lot followed by a black SUV that she recognized as Lily’s.
Train got out of the Killyama’s green car as Shade got out of the SUV. Sex Piston turned back to the window to see what she was staring at.
“Feel better now? Killy said she was giving you her car.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Train fixed that car for Killyama, not me. He’s going to hate me.”
Sex Piston’s face softened, showing her a side that her friend didn’t expose often.
“T.A., no one could hate you.”
She gave Sex Piston a “Train will” look.
Despondent, she braced herself for Killy’s husband to enter the salon. She didn’t expect him to show his resentment of giving her the car. He loved his wife too much for it to get back to her that he was anything but nice to her friend, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t know what he was thinking.
“Hi, Train,” she greeted him when he came in the door. “Shade.”
“Hi.” Train included Sex Piston and Crazy Bitch in his nod. Coming to the counter, he handed the keys to her. “Here you go. I stopped and gassed it up for you.”
Her pride took a nose dive as she took the keys from him. “As soon as I buy another car, I’ll give it back. It shouldn’t be long. Stud is trying to find me one in my price range.”
Train frowned. “Why would Stud still be looking? The car is yours. If you don’t want that one, I can get you a different one.”