“I’ve never been so happy with a cut!” she gushed. “I told Peach
y you’re a keeper, too!”
“Thank you. I’m so glad you like it.”
Before she could say anything else, Destiny yanked Sarah away. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
By then, Sarah felt like she’d been introduced to the entire city.
Everyone knew the minute Peach arrived because her shrill voice easily raised above the loud music and other voices. She’d changed into orange capris and a purple sequined top. Dizzying disco ball earrings twirled from her earlobes. “Hair you are!” she exclaimed as she made her way over to Sarah and Destiny. Peach doubled over in laughter at her own joke. “I wanted to name the salon “Hair We Are!” but Tony wouldn’t let me.”
Tony rolled his eyes and Sarah smiled.
“How you doin’, kid?” Tony asked Sarah.
“I’m okay,” she answered, a little surprised at how many people had shown up. “You look nice.”
Instead of his usual Pomatto Construction T-shirt and worn jeans, he was wearing slacks and a crisp white button-down shirt.
He rolled his eyes again. “Peach made me get all dressed up for this shindig.
Like I don’t see these people every other day of my life.”
Sarah laughed and took a sip of her drink.
* * *
Nathan saw Sarah laughing with Tony from across the
crowded room. He was too far away and the music too loud to hear it, but Nathan bet her laugh sounded nice. Come to think of it, it was the first time he’d seen her laugh. Her eyes sparkled and her hair glistened when it moved around her face.
This girl sure had him flustered. She
seemed
interested, well at least he
thought
she was. He sure caught her looking his direction an awful lot of the time. But whenever their eyes met at the salon, she’d look away and hurry off in the opposite direction.
Maybe he’d get to spend some time with her at the party. It was the only reason he’d shown up.
* * *
“I love this song
,” Destiny declared over the loud music.
Sarah nodded.
The beat was infectious and the female lead singer’s voice was like honey. “I like it. Who is it?” Sarah asked in between lyrics.
“You don’t know?” Destiny shook her head like Sarah had just told her she didn’t know who the president was or something. Then
Destiny shrugged like she should have known better because, after all, this was Sarah she was dealing with. “Crush 21,” she answered. “They’re a band from Red Valley. Kim swears she went to high school with them but I don’t believe her. They’re actually on tour right now. Maybe when they come to the NorCal Center we can go see them together.”
Sarah nodded
again but all she heard were dollar signs. How much did concert tickets cost? She didn’t know but whatever the price she knew she couldn’t afford it. She’d have to cross that bridge later.
“They have the cutest guitar player
,” Destiny gushed.
“I think the drummer is hot
,” the girl next to Destiny admitted.
Sarah thought her name might be Brittany or Becky but she couldn’t remember.
“Just the drummer?” Destiny asked the girl. “What about the bass player? They
are
twins after all!”
Sarah mingled around the snack table until she was full of crackers and chips. She was half tempted to sneak a handful of
peanuts into her purse, but she didn’t. She had one of Abigail’s sawdust muffins left at home. She could pick up some cheap snacks over the weekend.
A game of poker had broken out in the dining room and Sarah watched the group play while
she nibbled on a pretzel.
Sarah didn’t know the exact moment Nathan showed up at the party. He just sort of appeared in the midst of a group of
other men. They must’ve been hockey players because none of them were less than ten feet tall, they looked extremely athletic and they all had a look about them like they were members of some sort of secret club. They oozed charisma, confidence and sexuality.
“Who is
that
?” Destiny asked Sarah about the guy standing next to Nathan.
“He kind of looks like that
Zac Enron guy,” Sarah pointed out. The truth was she hadn’t even noticed him.
Kim
scoffed. “You mean Zac
Efron
.”
S
arah shrugged and shoved the rest of the pretzel in her mouth.
Destiny licked her lips.
“Well whoever he is, he makes my lips water. And I don’t mean these ones,” she said pointing to her mouth.
Sarah chocked on her
pretzel and took a sip of 7up from her glass.
Kim
joined them and looked in the direction of the hockey players. “It looks like the eye candy finally showed up.”
“Nathan has the
hots for you, Sarah,” Destiny giggled.
“Sheesh Destiny
,” Kim scoffed. “This
isn’t
high school.”
“What? I’m just pointing out
the obvious.”
Sarah blushed and wondered what gave Destiny the idea
that Nathan had even noticed her at all.
Sarah stood off to the side of the crowd that had gathered around TJ. He was animatedly telling a story about a hockey game he had played in against the Ontario Flurry. When she heard him mention Nathan’s name, Sarah moved in closer so she could hear the whole story. She couldn’t help but smile as he waved his arms and acted out the story.
Nathan sat
next to TJ, looking more than a little embarrassed. It was as if he could sense Sarah’s eyes on him because he looked up at her and held her gaze. Sarah felt blood rush to her cheeks at being caught looking at him. Even though she wanted to escape to the punch bowl she stood her ground. She shuddered at the intensity in his eyes. How was it that he always caught her staring at him?
* * *
Nathan looked up from TJ and saw Sarah listening in the wings. He gave her a wink and she smiled hesitantly.
The more Sarah tried not to be noticed, the more Nathan noticed her. Every time he saw her, she seemed to be trying to shrink herself down to blend into the background. Little did she know that with those big, beautiful blue eyes and hair the color of spun gold, she could hardly pull off the look of a
wallflower. The only time she seemed genuinely comfortable was when she was standing behind a client seated in her chair at the salon. Then, her posture was confident and her hands steady. He couldn’t see her eyes when she was doing hair but he bet they lit up.
Eyes like hers should be bright and glittery with happiness all the time. Instead, Sarah’s eyes had a haunting sadness inside them like they’d seen gruesome things that couldn’t be unseen. It was a shame because she looked too damn young to have endured such devastation.
* * *
Sarah clasped her hands together to keep from fidgeting.
Those gray eyes took in everything. She should have felt intimidated or afraid when they looked in her direction but all she felt was…intrigued. For some reason, Sarah’s instincts told her she didn’t need to be afraid of him. But that didn’t keep her from being cautious. All men should be feared no matter what her gut was telling her.
Nervously, she looked down at her shoes and then back to TJ who was still telling the story.
“Okay, so we’re playing the Flurry,” TJ continued. “And Nobokov had been trying to get one by Con all year with no luck. Right before the game, Nobs skates over to our bench and tells Con “I’m coming for you, Con, I’m gonna get one by you tonight.”
“What did Nathan say?”
someone in the crowd asked.
TJ guffawed. “Con didn’t say
nuthin’, man. He’s fuckin’ cool as a fuckin’ cucumber out there. So,” he continued with the story, “
All
during game Nobsy is peppering shots at our net like a fuckin’ mad man and Con is stopping every single one of ‘em. So we get into the third period, the score is three nothing and it’s lookin’ like Con’s gonna get a shutout. Con’s still makin’ saves left and right. I mean, he’s stoppin’ stuff that should’ve gone in, but he’s movin’ like a fuckin’ cat. With five minutes left, the puck takes a funny bounce and Nobs gets a breakaway. He skates down the ice and shoots the puck toward our net like a fuckin’ rocket.
“
Con sees him comin’ and squares up. He scoots back and even opened up the five-hole for him. Nobsy takes the shot and Con slammed the door and robbed him! So, Con gets his shutout and right before we go to the locker room, Con gave him a nod to say “good game.”
“What did Nobs do?”
“He saluted him!” TJ exclaimed. “Fuckin’ coolest thing I’ve ever seen on the ice.” TJ smacked Nathan on the back. “Best goaltender in the league, this guy.”
* * *
When Abigail arrived, Sarah was relieved to see another familiar face.
Abigail
carried a plate of cupcakes and thrust them at Kim. They looked cute enough, but looks could be deceiving. “I made cupcakes!” she announced. “My hubby is out parking the car.”
“Thanks,” Kim said through a tight-lipped smile
and set the cupcakes at the back of the counter.
Peach eyed the cupcakes over her wine cooler and chuckled. “You hear that everyone? Abigail made cupcakes!”
Kim shot Peach a dirty look and asked Abigail if she could get her something to drink.
“No alcohol for me.
” Abigail paused for dramatic effect. “Wanna know
why
?” She looked like she had a secret to spill and would burst if she didn’t let it out in the next five seconds.
Peach’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped
like she already knew the answer.
“Because I’m pregnant!”
Abigail exclaimed.
The girls
swarmed around her and offered hugs and congratulations. Sarah added her congratulations and then stepped back from the group.
“You should stay off your feet.”
Destiny pulled a chair over and guided Abigail into it.
“Yeah and probably cut b
ack on your baking,” Kim added.
Abigail
ignored the suggestions and dabbed at her eyes. “We’ve wanted to start a family for so long.”
Once again, t
he women in the circle around Abigail took turns hugging her and gushing over her. Sarah hung off to the side while they all talked about babies and everything that came along with them.
After a few minutes
of listening to their chatter, Sarah slipped outside to the balcony and thought about the possibilities of her own future. She was happy for Abigail and secretly hoped to have her own family one day.
Someday
.
S
arah didn’t want to push her luck though. She’d just now started her new life. But it sure would be nice to have
all
the things she’d always dreamed of. Not only a career, but a house and a husband and eventually a child, too.
She shook her head in an
effort to ground herself. One thing at a time. One
day
at a time.
The night sky was dazzling and
she looked up and breathed in the fresh air. The full moon had an orange glow to it and sat just above the tops of the trees. The man in the moon looked close enough to reach out and touch. It was hard to believe craters and rocks could form the face of a man.
Crickets chirped
, competing with the noise from the rambunctious party inside.
The parties Dwight
threw were not quite the same kind of gatherings as this one. They involved hookers, alcohol and copious amounts of drugs. And they always ended in one of three ways. With a blood-bursting fight, the cops being called and/or with Sarah huddled in a corner bruised and bloody.
The sliding glass door separating her from the party slid open
and closed with a
whoosh
, bringing Sarah back to the present. Nathan walked up and leaned on the balcony next to her. His arm rested just inches away from her hand. Sarah could smell his aftershave and something else clean and fresh.
Fabric softener.
Suddenly, the balcony seemed the size of a postage stamp and Sarah was compelled to put some distance between her and the man that gave her butterflies.
She started to leave.
It wasn’t that she was afraid to be alone with him. It was just that her body never failed to turn into a fluttering mess whenever he was around. Maybe she could make like Cinderella and slip away from the entire party without anyone noticing.
When she
started to walk away, her hand bumped against his. So much for a stealth escape. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just—“
Nathan
lifted his hand and briefly touched her arm. “Please, don’t leave. And don’t apologize.”
Part of her still wanted to flee so she wouldn’t have to make conversation, but the part that wanted to stay
on the balcony under the moonlight with him won out.