LITMIR.BIZ

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but Julia stepped into her path. The curling iron dropped, the barrel landing on Julia’s arm before clattering to the floor.

      Julia bit out an oath and Ida screamed again. “Look what you made me do,” she bellowed at the now-sobbing stylist. “I burned her.”

      Sam strode forward with a new appreciation for the simplicity of breaking up a drunken bar brawl. Ida looked into his face then staggered back, one hand fluttering to her chest. “Are you gonna arrest me, Chief?”

      “Sit down, Mrs. Garvey.” He waved at the group of women. “All of you, back off. Now.”

      Ida plopped back into the chair as the group fell silent again.

      Julia winced as he took her arm in his hands. A crimson mark slashed across her wrist, the skin already raised and angry. “Where’s a faucet?”

      “I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Happens all the time.”

      “I sure as hell hope not.”

      “Not exactly like this. I can use the sink in back.” She tugged her arm but he didn’t let go.

      “Don’t anyone move,” he ordered the women. “That means you, Ida.”

      “I don’t need your help,” Julia ground out as he followed her to the back of the salon.

      “You aren’t leaving me alone with that crowd.”

      “Not so brave now.” Julia fumbled with the tap.

      He nudged her out of the way. “I’ll do it. Nice ring. I have good taste.”

      “I had it from... Well, it doesn’t matter.” Her cheeks flamed as she glanced at the diamond sparkling on her left hand. “I thought I should wear something until we had a chance to figure things out. Fewer questions that way. You know how nosy people are, especially in the salon.”

      They needed to talk, but Sam couldn’t get beyond Julia being hurt, even by a curling iron. “Tell me what happened.”

      “Crystal, the one in the corner, is our newest stylist. Ida came in without an appointment and she was the only one available. When she went to mix the color, Ida started barking orders. Crystal got so nervous, she mixed it wrong. Instead of a fluffy white cotton ball, Mrs. Garvey’s head is now glowing neon pink.”

      Sam hid a smile as he drew her arm under the faucet and adjusted the temperature. She closed her eyes and sighed as cold water washed over the burn. He drew small circles on her palm, amazed at the softness of her skin under the pad of his thumb.

      After a moment he asked, “Do you want to press charges?”

      Her eyes flew open, and then she smiled at his expression. “Assault with a deadly styling tool? No, thanks.”

      Her smile softened the angles of her face, made her beauty less ethereal and more earthy. God help him, he loved earthy.

      She must have read something in his eyes because she yanked her hand away and flipped off the water. “I need to get out there before Ida goes after Crystal again.”

      “Did you hire Crystal?”

      “About three weeks ago. She came over from Memphis right out of school to stay with her aunt and needs a break...” She paused, her eyes narrowing. “You think I’m an idiot for hiring a girl with so little experience.”

      “I didn’t say that.”

      “Everyone thinks Val’s a fool to leave me in charge. They’re waiting for me to mess up.” She wrapped her arms around her waist then flinched when the burn touched her sweater. “And here I am.”

      Sam knew Val Dupree, the Hairhouse’s longtime owner, was planning to retire, and Julia was working to secure a loan to buy the business. She was acting as the salon’s manager while Val spent the winter in Florida. “No one expects you to mess up.”

      “You’ve been in town long enough to know what people think of me.”

      The words held no malice, but she said them with a quiet conviction. Sam wanted to take her in his arms to soothe her worry and at the same time shake some sense into her. “Was it a mistake to hire Crystal?”

      “No.” She looked at him as though she expected an argument. When he offered none she continued, “She’s good. Or she will be. I know it.”

      “Then we’d better make sure Ida Garvey doesn’t attack your future star again.”

      “Right.” She led him back into the main salon, where Ida still pinned Crystal to the wall with her angry stare. Everyone else’s attention was fixed on Julia and Sam.

      Julia glanced over her shoulder. “It’s been twenty questions about our relationship all morning.”

      He nodded. “Let’s take on one disaster at a time.”

      She squared her shoulders and approached Mrs. Garvey, no trace of self-doubt evident. “Ida, I’m sorry.” She bent in front of the chair and took the older woman’s hands in hers. “I’m going to clear my schedule for the afternoon and make your hair better than before. You’ll get three months’ worth of free services for your trouble.”

      Mrs. Garvey patted her pink hair. “That would help.”

      “Lizzy?” Julia called. A young woman peeked around the doorway from the front of the salon. “Would you reschedule the rest of my clients? Everyone else, back to work.”

      “I’m sorry,” Crystal said from the corner, taking a step toward Julia.

      Ida shifted in the chair. “Don’t you come near me.”

      Sam moved forward but Julia simply patted Ida’s fleshy arm. “Take the rest of the day off, Crystal. I’ll see you back here in the morning.”

      “Day off?” Ida screeched. “You’re going to fire her, aren’t you? Val would have fired her on the spot!”

      Color rose in Julia’s cheeks but she held her ground. “No, Mrs. Garvey. Crystal made a mistake.”

      “She’s a menace. I knew she was doing it wrong from the start.”

      “She made a mistake,” Julia repeated. “In part because you didn’t let her do her job.” She looked at Crystal. “Go on, hon. We’ll talk in the morning.”

      “I have half a mind to call Val Dupree this minute and tell her how you’re going to run her business into the ground.”

      “I’d watch what you say right now, Mrs. Garvey.” Sam pointed to her hair. “Julia may leave you pink if you’re not careful.”

      “She wouldn’t dare.” But Ida shut her mouth, chewing furiously on her bottom lip.

      “Get comfortable,” Julia told her. “We’ll be here for a while.”

      She turned to Sam. “I think your work here is done, Chief.”

      He leveled a steely look at her. “We’re not finished.”

      “Unless you want to pull up a chair next to Ida we are. The longer that color sits on her hair, the harder time I’ll have getting it out.”

      “You don’t play fair.”

      Her eyes glinted. “I never have.”

       Chapter Three

      Julia rubbed her nose against Charlie’s dimpled neck and was rewarded by a soft belly laugh. “Who’s my best boy?” she asked and kissed the top of his head.

      “Charlie,” he answered in his sweet toddler voice.

      “Thanks for keeping him today, Lainey.” Julia’s younger sister and their mother, Vera, took turns watching

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