The Curl Up and Dye by Sharon Sala Page A

as she picked up a comb and her scissors and began to snip.
    Mike’s dad sat down in an empty chair to watch, and without either man realizing it, Ruby wound the conversation around to LilyAnn.
    “So you’re feeling okay now?” Ruby asked.
    “Getting better every day,” Mike said. “I just stopped in at the fitness center for the first time since I got out of the hospital, but it will be a while before I can spend much time there.”
    “Good thing Stewart is so dependable,” Ruby said.
    “Yes, it is,” Mike said.
    “And speaking of dependable, I’ll bet you’re thanking your lucky stars LilyAnn lives next door. As my daddy used to say, she sure pulled your bacon out of the fire.”
    Mike’s gut knotted. “Yes, ma’am, she did,” he said softly, and looked away.
    Ruby’s eyes narrowed. He was as bothered as LilyAnn had appeared to be. Dumb kids. Why don’t people just come out and say what’s on their minds?
    Don heard Lily’s name and interjected. “We just saw her walk by the gym a short while ago.”
    “She was on her way back to work. She gets her hair done here every Friday on her lunch hour.”
    “Ah… that explains it,” Don said.
    Ruby nodded. “Yes, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she went home early today. Not sure whether she was getting sick or if something else was going on, but I’ve never seen her so down.”
    Despite the fact that Mike couldn’t face himself, Ruby spun him back to the mirror. He glared at his reflection, wishing to hell his dad would stop talking about Lily. He was like a little dog with a big bone. Once he got started on a subject, he chewed in the same place until he got himself an answer.
    “Bless her heart,” Don said. “I’ll tell Carol to go check on her this evening. Did she say she was feeling bad? If she is, I’ll happily run her up to the doctor’s office.”
    Ruby shrugged. “You know… I’m not sure she’s physically sick. I think she’s upset about something else.”
    “Someone made her cry,” Vesta said, as she sailed past the chair with an armful of clean towels.
    Mike closed his eyes. Damn it all to hell.
    “Cry? Girl, she was sobbing,” Vera added.
    Mike felt like crying, too. He’d fucked up, big time, but how to fix it? Or was it too late? What if there wasn’t anything left between them to fix?
    Don frowned. “I don’t like to hear that. I wonder if she’d talk to me about—”
    “No!” Mike said.
    The conversation ended abruptly, but it was all Ruby could do not to click her heels in delight. She’d planted a big seed. Now it was up to Mike to cultivate it.
    A few minutes later, Mike and his dad were on their way back home.
    “You feeling okay?” Don asked.
    “I’m fine,” Mike said. “As for LilyAnn, I’ll talk to her, but I pick the time, okay? You and Mom just stay out of it.”
    At first Don was a bit taken aback, and then he saw the red flush on Mike’s face and hid a smile. He and Carol had pretty much given up that anything would ever come of Mike and LilyAnn becoming a couple, but maybe things were looking up.
    “Yeah, sure, son. No big deal.”
    “Thanks,” Mike said.
    When they got home, Mike went straight to his bedroom under the pretense of needing to rest, but the truth was, he couldn’t pretend everything was okay. If his mother saw he was troubled, she wouldn’t let it go. Then he’d have to explain, and there was no easy way to say that he might have just broken the heart of the only girl he’d ever loved.
    ***
    T. J. Lachlan was standing on a ladder staring at a water stain on the ceiling of the formal dining room, wondering if the paint he’d chosen would cover it up or if he should use a primer first. The best way to find out was for him to put a coat of paint over the stain, let it dry, and see what happened. He ran the paint roller through the paint tray and did his thing, then climbed down. His belly growled as he glanced at his watch. It was already after 2:00 p.m., which