Point of Attraction by Margaret Van Der Wolf Page B

you hate that?” Adrian said,
holding out her Debit Card.
    Georgie slid the card then handed it
back to Andrian.
    After putting it back in her wallet,
Andrian smiled while looking in the mirror behind the desk and
pushed at her hair. “Love it,” she said, then pointed to the empty
space on the shelf. “Oh, Sweetie, I hope you find
Raggs.”
    Georgie forced a return smile, and
Adrian went out the door, letting in the cold air and noise of
falling rain. What a change from yesterday and this morning. Cars
squished the moisture under their tires as they jockeyed their way
through the parking lot and streets.
    The phone rang again and Georgie just
stared at it a moment before looking up at Emmee and Brandy. They
just shrugged. On the third ring, she picked up. “Dare To Care
Salon. This is Georgie. May I...”
    “George, this is Mason.”
    It took all Georgie had to keep from
looking around to see if any of those in the shop could somehow
hear, or tell it was Mason on the phone. Self-conscious, and the
need for privacy rode her hard. “Hi. Was that you that just
called?”
    “No.”
    “Okay. Must have been a drive-by hang
up,” she said, keeping her voice low while looking out the window
as though watching the traffic. “What’s up?”
    “We have a situation going down. Don’t
know how long it will take. Another rain check on that
coffee?”
    “Sure.” It was difficult for her to
register what she was feeling, relief or disappointment?
    There was a pause, not a long one, but
a noticeable one.
    “George?”
    “Yes.”
    “I really want to collect on that rain
check.”
    There was so much she wanted to say,
some clever remark, something bland, and something she couldn’t
even bring herself to think about much less say. All that came out
was, “‘kay.” She swallowed and forced out the words. “You and Tonie
be careful.”
    “She went home sick.”
    Before the pause became too obvious and
harder to break, Georgie said, “Then you be careful.”
    While she could still hear police
station activity in the background, Mason said nothing, yet she
didn’t want to hang up. Something was left unsaid though she was
unsure what, and she asked, “You there?”
    “Yes,” he said, paused again, then,
“It’s... just that it’s been a while since anyone has said that to
me.”
    “Let’s hit it, Montgomery,” a man’s
voice said in the background.
    “got’ta go, George. Bye.”
    The click pierced Georgie’s ear and she
stared down at the buzzing receiver in her hand. With great care
she placed it back on its base. When she looked up, she saw Emmee
was looking at her over her client’s head through the mirror of her
station. Without a word Emmee motioned her client to the shampoo
bar. Brandy too had been watching through the corner of her eye,
but when Georgie caught her, she immediately turned back to the
haircut she was doing.
    The door swung open with a ping. “Hey,
Georgie Girl, can I talk you into a hair cut before you
leave?”
    Nick stood there, motorcycle helmet in
the crook of the elbow, his smile as boyish as the day Georgie
first saw him sitting on the top step of his parent’s porch
watching the movers unload her family’s furniture. But this was
now, and she took a deep breath to meet that smile with as cold a
stare as she could muster. With great calculation, she came around
her desk.
    He quickly held up a hand to ward her
off. “If you don’t want to cut my hair, just say so. I can go to
one of those assembly line cheap joints where I don’t even need an
appointment.”
    “I should let you, you know
that?” she scolded. “No. I should drive you to one and sit there while
they cut-up your thinning blond locks.” She started for the back of
the shop.
    “Thinning?” he asked, running his
fingers through his hair and giving a quick glance into the mirror
before trailing behind her. “Oh, that is such a cheap shot, and so
sooo beneath you.”
    “Hi, Nick,” Brandy said, as they