“It’s crossed my mind.” That’s not a lie. “But I like my job too much.”
“Well, then maybe you can get him fired,” she says, and I laugh. If she knew how impossible that would be, she wouldn’t have suggested it, but the thought of saving up enough money to buy the club and then firing Hunter brings a smile to my face. That’s a bit too much money to spend just for spite, though.
When Skye is finally done removing the foil, she takes me back to rinse my hair, and then she cuts, dries, and styles it. She won’t let me see it until it’s all done. I tell her not to take too much off, and she just gives me a trim and changes my bangs a little.
When I look into the mirror, I hardly recognize myself. Now I know why that rainbow woman was so happy. “Oh, wow!” I gush.
“Do you like it?” Skye asks me.
I practically hop out of my chair. “I love it!” I proclaim, hugging her.
She laughs. “I’m so glad.”
Skye rings me up, and it’s not as expensive as Rain’s color, but it’s still a lot. I don’t hesitate to give her a big tip either, though, because she deserves it, and I can afford it. My tips have been amazing lately, and something tells me that with this haircut, they’ll be even better.
On the back of her business card, Skye writes her cell phone number. “Let me know how it goes with that guy. Or if you wanna hang out sometime.”
I can’t help but smile. “Yeah, definitely,” I say. “And anytime you and Rick wanna come to Club Limelight, just tell Ethan, the bouncer, you’re my friend, and he’ll let you in.”
“Cool!” she says. We say goodbye, and then I head out. As soon as I step through the door, a woman compliments my hair, and my smile widens.
It seems like a waste to go home and not show my new hair off, but I’m tired, and I’ll see my friends at the club the next day, so I take myself home and order Thai takeout, deciding to watch some Netflix and maybe even go to bed early.
About the time I finish up eating, my phone rings. I hope it’s Skye at first, but then I realize she doesn’t have my number—I have hers but haven’t texted or called or anything. It’s no one I really want to talk to.
With a deep breath, I answer, knowing that if I don’t check in with her, she’ll just keep calling. “Hey, Mom,” I say, trying to sound enthusiastic.
“Hi, Meggy!” she gushes. “How are you?”
“Fine,” I say, my tone a little flat. I’m just feeling too good right now to think about what life is like back home and let my mom bring me down.
“How’s work?” she asks.
We chat for a few minutes, and I am vague while she goes on about her friends and how they’re putting together a yard sale. Then she says, “Mitch and I have been talking about coming out there to visit you.”
I almost drop the phone. “What?” I ask her. “You…and Mitch?”
“Yes, of course, honey. He misses you, too.”
I almost gag. “I’m sure he does. Mom, I don’t mind you coming to visit. Hell, I’ll even fly you in.” I don’t particularly want her to visit, but I can understand why she’d want to. “But Mitch? Absolutely not.”
“Meggy, honey, I don’t understand the hostility. He’s your stepfather, and he loves you.”
“Mom! He’s a pervert! He ogles me every chance he gets. I’ve told you about this before, and I’m not going to pretend like everything is okay just because you continue to. I’m sorry, Mom. You can continue to turn a blind eye to that…asshole…all you want to. But I refuse. I love you, but I can tell you right now, I am never, ever going to see that man again, and if I do, he’d better be wearing a steel cup.”
With that, I hang up, a bit out of breath, a bit angry, but so goddamn proud of myself.
As I sit here thinking about this newfound confidence, I realize I have Hunter to thank. If he hadn’t treated me like garbage, I never would’ve realized just how amazing I can be. Now, I’m not letting anyone steal my power. Ever again.
CHAPTER27
HUNTER
“Iassure you, Mr. Stone, you’re not going to find a place better suited to your needs than this property,” Henry Scott, my realtor at the moment, tells me as we look over the strip mall he’s brought Leah and me to see. “I know you said no strip malls, but as you can tell, this isn’t an ordinary strip mall, and the property is in such an up-and-coming part of the city, even if you razed it, I’m sure you could absolutely build something that would make you your money back in a year or two.”
I stare at him, trying to decide how to respond to that. Henry is old enough to be my father and has probably been in real estate as long as I have been alive. He knows the market. He knows what’s available, and he knows what I’m looking for.
I’ve had a look at all of the different units here in what’s currently called Oak Ridge Crossings, thanks to one of the two major streets that run by it, and I see exactly what he’s talking about. It’s a Monday, and even though about half of the buildings here aren’t open—either because they are currently empty or because they’re restaurants that are closed on Mondays—the parking lot is surprisingly full.