Cindy went warm all over when she thought about wearing something sexy for Jace. “I might just do that.”
“You should! You deserve it. You deserve all good things.”
There it was again, the subtle nod to what her family had been through. As always, it struck at the little girl in her who was programmed not to acknowledge it, even though it was out in the open now.
“I almost want this for him more than I do myself,” Cindy said, forcing herself to move past the disturbing thoughts about things that didn’t matter any longer.
“That’s how you know he’s the one for you. When you want more for him than you do for yourself.”
Was Jace the one for her? She couldn’t say for certain. Not yet, but she was starting to believe Tiffany might be right. After only a few days officially together, she already couldn’t imagine going back to who she’d been before everything changed between them. She’d had the best time watching the boys last night and could already picture them in her life going forward.
“Could I ask you something?” Cindy said.
“Anything. You know me. I’m an open book.”
“How soon did you know—for sure—that Blaine was the one?”
“Honestly? The minute I first saw him. I was in my sister’s room at the clinic. It’d been an awful day. Mr. McCarthy had been badly hurt in an accident at the marina. Mac was in the clinic with hypothermia after going in the water after his father, and Maddie was having early contractions. I was with her when Blaine came to her room looking for Mac. You know those stories you hear about explosions and how they suck the air out of the room?”
Cindy nodded, transfixed by what Tiffany was saying.
“That’s how I felt when I saw him. Breathless. But I was still married to Jim, the douchebag, so there wasn’t much I could do about it. We saw each other a few times over the next couple of months, and it was the same every time—incendiary. By the time I was free for us to act on our feelings, we were thermonuclear. We still are.”
“I need a cigarette,” Cindy said, fanning her face.
Tiffany cracked up laughing. “When you know, you know.”
“I suppose that’s true. I like that Jace and I started out as friends before anything else happened. There was always this aura of flirtation to it, but when I talked to him, he really listened to what I had to say. Even though he had other customers at the bar, he always ended up back with me.”
“That’s very sweet, Cindy, and friendship is a really good place to start something lasting.”
“It feels good.”
After she sent Tiffany on her way with her hair two inches shorter and new layers framing her gorgeous face, Cindy swept up the hair, refilled her water bottle and ate a granola bar. The bell on the door signaled her next client had arrived.
She stepped out of the back room to greet Lizzie James and her new baby daughter, Violet. Lizzie had called to ask if Cindy minded if Violet came. “Let me see!”
Lizzie put down the baby car seat and pushed back the top so Cindy could see the baby.
“Oh my goodness. Look at her.”
“She’s rather perfect, isn’t she?” Lizzie looked elated and exhausted. “I still can’t believe we get to keep her. It’s like a dream.”
The last time she’d come in, Lizzie had shared the struggles she and her husband, Jared, had been having with infertility.
They positioned Violet’s seat so she could see her mother.
“Let’s hope she’ll take a little snooze,” Lizzie said. “She usually does around now.” Lizzie released a deep breath as she tried to relax in Cindy’s chair.
“You look so happy,” Cindy said.
“I’ve never been happier or more exhausted, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“I couldn’t believe what I heard about the baby’s mother leaving her with you at Quinn and Mallory’s wedding and taking off.”
“I was so torn between elation and fear. My first thought was, ‘Good, go. You don’t want her, and I do. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.’ But Jared… He was out of his mind, telling me we couldn’t do it this way, that we had to find her.”
“Ugh, I can’t imagine how stressful that must’ve been.”