Molly Dox - Annie Addison 02 - A Tangled Mess by Molly Dox Page A

meant there was nobody else to pay the bills.
    At least she’d hired a new girl after the weirdness with her last hairdresser. Jamie was working out well enough and seemed like a nice girl. Time would tell if she was a perfect fit, but with limited people left on the island, beggars couldn’t be choosers.
    “Two o’clock,” Annie reiterated. Charlotte was in her own world. It wouldn’t have matter if she said her skin had just turned green.
    Charlotte nodded, but said nothing.
    Annie’s mind wrapped around the news of the morning, first the fire, and then Claude. Who was Claude, and why hadn’t Charlotte ever mentioned him before? Thankfully the home was vacant when it burned down, so nobody was hurt. Furniture could be replaced. The car was an old beater that was permanently parked there. The owner only used it when he came to the island.
    Pulling into Starfish Square, Annie parked her car and headed to her shop. Beachside Beauty was smack in the center of a touristy shopping complex. There weren’t many on the island, but she’d scored when she landed the location. With plenty of foot traffic in the busy season, it kept her hopping and carried her through the slower months.
    Mrs. Bushmiller saw her as soon as she got there and scurried down to greet Annie. “Big fire,” she started.
    “I saw,” Annie said, jingling her shop keys to shake the door key free from the tangle that was her keychain. She twisted the key in the lock and let herself in.
    Mrs. Bushmiller followed. “I heard about it on the scanner.”
    “I need to get ready for my first client,” she said dismissing the woman. After the woman had accused her of well…murder in the past, and turned her in, Annie didn’t have much compassion or patience for her nosy neighbor.
    “Right, I should go. I have things to do,” she said with a wave, oblivious to Annie’s lack of enthusiasm.
    Jamie made her way in not fifteen minutes later. “Morning, boss lady,” she chirped.
    “Annie would be fine,” she said, her patience still thin from Mrs. Bushmiller’s appearance.
    “Right, sorry.” She was trying too hard. She needed to relax, but being the new girl, she couldn’t help but feel a little extra pressure to be friendly, happy, and make her presence known and appreciated. She needed the money, and this was one of the only year-round places in town she could work at. Otherwise, she’d need to go off the island, and she dreaded going over that creepy, old causeway that was getting too old and had gotten damaged from the last major hurricane that rolled through. Avoiding the bridge kept her happier, besides, everything she needed was here. Not that she was a hermit or anything, but until they finished the bridge repairs, there was no way she was driving over that rickety old thing. That was one of her biggest fears, the bridge and roadway dropping out on her as she drove over. Ever since she saw a story about that very thing in the middle of the country, she couldn’t shake the image. Bridges were no friend of hers, especially old, broken bridges.
    Annie glanced at the book and then headed to the back room to prep for her first appointment, a cut and color with highlights. She was grateful for her high maintenance clients. They were the bread and butter of her business. A haircut was a haircut, but colors, perms, highlights, and the higher prices she could charge for those made a big difference in paying the rent.
    Muriel Denning opened the door, the chimes alerting Annie of her customer’s arrival. Jamie greeted the woman as Annie came around the bend, pushing a small silver tray that held the color that would transform Muriel’s stubborn grays back into a soft champagne blonde color.
    “Morning, Muriel, I’m ready for you,” Annie said with a smile.
    “Morning, Annie.” Muriel placed her designer bag on the counter at Annie’s station and took a seat. “Did you hear about fire?”
    “News travels fast in a small town,” she