Forever Together (7 page)

Her body nudged his as she worked. Within
seconds
he started thinking of
other things that had nothing to do with a beauty salon and
everything to do with Kate.

She rinsed, added more shampoo, rinsed again,
then massaged in the conditioner. He nearly groaned. Her fingers
dug into his scalp, released knots of tension that he didn’t know
were there.

“You’re not going to sleep are you?” The
gentleness in Kate’s voice nearly undid him.

“You’ve got great hands.” He opened his eyes
and wished he hadn’t. Her blue eyes were filled with laughter. His
heart rate kicked up a notch. Before he could move, she rinsed the
conditioner away, slapped a towel over his hair and rubbed some
common sense into his head.

“I was born with great hands. Come over to my
station.”

He stumbled after her, almost giving Loretta
something else to think about.

“So, no short back and sides, but something
stylish that makes the most of the curl in your hair.”

Dan felt his face flame. No one but his mom
ever mentioned the kink in his hair. Up until two years ago he’d
kept it so short that no one had seen a curl in years. If you
listened to his
sister,
you’d
swear he’d planned the whole thing. Anna’s hair was as straight as
an arrow and the bane of her life.

As soon as Kate’s
fingers
connected with his head he forgot all about his
sister. She moved his fringe to the left, then the right. She was
standing so close that he could see her heart beating
at
the base of her neck, almost taste the
flowery perfume she was wearing.

“Are you ready?”

He blinked, then stared at her reflection in
the mirror. It was safer than the chest he could see out of the
corner of his eyes.

“Your hair, Dan. Are you ready to be
transformed?”

“I thought you were giving me a trim?”

Kate picked up her comb and scissors. “You
won’t recognize yourself by the time I’ve finished. Are you sure
you don’t want a few foils?”

“You’re lucky I’m even sitting in this
chair,” he growled. “If any hair dye gets near me I’m making a run
for it.”

Kate gave him one last grin before snipping
away eighteen months of his life. “I was joking. Apart from
checking up on me, what brought you into The Beauty Box?”

Shit. Another blush smacked him in the
face.

“You came all the way
across
town to see me?”

He didn’t know whether she was horrified or
resigned to the fact that he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
“I went to the hospital. To see Kaylee.” It wasn’t a lie exactly,
just a roundabout way of avoiding the truth.

“How is she?”

“Looking forward to seeing you and Anna.” It
was all Kaylee ever talked about. Kate had made herself an
important part of his niece’s life. He didn’t have a clue what
would happen when the transplant was over. He presumed Kate would
go home, Kaylee would start her recovery, and he’d go back to
having hair longer than his collar.

His cell phone beeped on his belt. “Hang on a
minute.”

Kate took a step back while he fumbled under
the cape for his phone. He glanced at the caller display. “What’s
wrong?”

“Why do you always think something’s wrong?”
Anna asked.

“Because you only call me to invite me to
dinner or if something’s happened to Kaylee. Tom’s taking you out
to dinner tonight, so how’s Kaylee?”

Dan glanced at Kate. She was biting her
bottom lip, looking so concerned that he felt guilty for not
sharing the call with her. “Kate’s looking worried. Talk fast.”

“Kate’s with you? Where are you?”

The mess he’d dug for himself into was
getting deeper by the minute. “At The Beauty Box. What’s happened
to Kaylee?”

“I just got a call from Doctor T. He wants to
have a family meeting at half past five. Can you be there?”

“No problem. I’ll tell Kate.”

“Tell her I’ll be there in fifteen minutes to
pick her up.”

“Don’t worry. I can give her a lift.”

“What are you doing at The Beauty Box?”

Dan could hear the concern in Anna’s voice.
She thought something was wrong with Kate. Little did she know that
he was the one with his head on the chopping block. Literally.

“I needed a haircut.”

“Really?” He ignored the note of surprise in
his sister’s voice.

“We’ll meet you at the hospital.” He hung up
before Anna asked any more questions. He told Kate about the family
meeting.

“It must be about the transplant.” She
stepped forward and started cutting his hair in short, sharp,
snips
. “I hope they’re planning on
doing it soon.”

“Are you that desperate to leave?”

“You’ve got no idea,” Kate muttered as Dan
watched another chunk of his hair fall to the ground.

If the transplant
was
going to happen soon, Kate could be gone within the
week. And he wouldn’t have a reason to step foot inside The Beauty
Box again. For some reason, that thought wasn’t as comforting as it
could have been.

***

“Oh my God. Look at you.” Anna reached for
Dan’s head. He ducked out of the way before she got too close.

“Kate gave me a haircut.”

“Is this handsome, hunk of a man really my
brother? What happened to the Neanderthal I saw yesterday?”

“He got trapped in a beauty salon,” Dan
growled. “We’re not here to talk about my hair. What’s happening
with Kaylee?”

Anna pinched her lips together. “In case you
haven’t noticed, Doctor T isn’t here. All I know is that he wants
to talk about Kaylee’s transplant.”

Kate sat beside Anna. The frown on her face
matched his sister’s scowl. The only person
not
looking at him like he needed a good shake was
Tom.

He walked across the room and poked his head
around the doorframe, looking into the corridor. “He’s late.”

“Happens,” Tom said.

Dan sat down and an uneasy silence filled the
room. He twirled the brim of his hat in his hands. No one spoke.
The persistent tick of the clock was the only sound in the
room.

“Loretta said I look like Tom Cruise.”

Anna burst out laughing.

Dan didn’t think it was that funny. He’d
consoled himself over the loss of so much hair with images of
zip-lines, fast
cars,
and hot
women. For some reason, Kate kept appearing in his fantasy wearing
skin-tight black Lycra. Really tight Lycra, the kind that could get
a man in trouble if he stared too long at the body on display.

He yanked his imagination away from his
fantasy and back in
to
the room he
was sitting in. His black Lycra fantasy girl blushed and he felt
the same heat reach parts of his body that hadn’t seen action in
years.

“
Sorry
I’m
late.” Doctor T bounded into the room. “How’s everyone doing?”

No one replied. Even Anna had given up
smiling. She looked as nervous as Dan felt.

Doctor T caught on pretty quick to the mood
in the room. “Kaylee’s fine. More than fine. We’ve scheduled the
transplant for Monday afternoon.”

It was as if Doctor T had poked a pin in a
balloon. Everyone in the room let go of the breath they didn’t know
they’d been holding.

Tears filled Anna’s eyes. “Are you sure she’s
well enough?”

“Kaylee’s health isn’t going to improve
beyond where she is today,” Doctor T replied.

And that, Dan supposed, was about as honest
an answer as they would ever hear.

Doctor T sat beside Anna and Tom. “The
transplant team is happy with her progress. We’ve got her final
chemotherapy session booked for Saturday afternoon. That gives us a
good window of opportunity to transplant the stem cells. Kate, I
need you to be at the hospital by seven o’clock on Monday morning.
We’ll have you in surgery by nine. No eating or drinking after
eight o’clock on Sunday evening.”

Kate nodded. She seemed as shell-shocked as
the rest of them.

“We’ll drive you in,” Tom said. “Anna and I
will be with you the whole time. You’ve got nothing to worry
about.”

Instead of looking like she’d been dropped
into a hole she wanted to get out of, Kate looked relieved. Maybe
even thankful that her father and stepmom would be with her. That
gave Dan something more to think about. Something other than Kaylee
sitting in a hospital bed a few feet away.

“Have you told Kaylee?” Dan asked.

“Not yet,” Doctor T answered. “I thought
someone in her family might like to share the news with her.”

Anna looked up at Tom. “We’ll go and tell
her. It’s just…” She took a deep breath and wiped away the tears
slipping down her face. “It’s been so long in coming and now that
it’s here I’m scared. Scared for Kaylee. Scared that it won’t
work.”

Tom gripped his wife’s shoulders. “Whatever
happens we’ll be here for each other. This is the best chance
Kaylee has of making a full recovery. Without
Kate,
we wouldn’t have any hope.”

Dan glanced at Kate. Tears fell down her face
and he saw a lifetime of grief in her eyes. He didn’t understand
her reaction to what was happening. But he did know what it felt
like to have so much heartache inside of you that you didn’t know
what to do with it.

He moved across the room, grabbing a handful
of tissues out of a box on the table. “Kaylee will be all right,”
he said as he sat beside her.

Kate’s hand shook as she took the tissues and
blew her nose. She didn’t look at him, didn’t respond to the gentle
pressure of his arm touching hers. “Are you okay?”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
When she blinked them
open,
he
knew she’d locked away the emotions running riot inside her
body.

“I’m fine.” Kate sent a wobbly smile across
to Anna. “Someone once told me that we’re all put on this planet
for a purpose. Kaylee’s my purpose.”

Dan’s throat tightened. He watched his sister
cry all over again and Tom wipe tears from his eyes. He picked up
the box of tissues and started handing them around. “Kaylee’s going
to wonder what’s going on if she sees your red blotchy faces.”

Anna wiped her nose and straightened her
shoulders. “You’re right. How about we go to the cafeteria for
coffee?”

Dan was so tense that coffee was the last
thing he needed, but he’d go anyway. His sister and Tom needed his
support and Kate looked like she could do with someone to lean
on.

Doctor T picked up Kaylee’s file. “What
you’re feeling is perfectly normal. When you’re ready to speak to
Kaylee, let me know. I’ll be in the ward.” He gave them a
reassuring smile and left the conference room. Tom and Anna
followed a few minutes later.

Kate hung back, waiting for Dan. “Thank
you.”

He stared at her in silence. He didn’t think
she’d noticed or wanted the support he was offering. But when her
chin trembled he knew the pain she was feeling ran deeper than
Kaylee.

“I’m sorry. I don’t fall apart. I just…”
Something inside of Kate broke and tears streamed down her
face.

“Kaylee’s going to be okay. Doctor T’s happy
with her progress.” Kate nodded, but the tears kept coming. Dan
didn’t know what else to say, so he did the only thing he could. He
wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close.

CHAPTER FOUR

Kate helped Loretta lift the makeup cases out of the
trunk of her car. The dress rehearsal for the fashion show wasn’t
supposed to start until half past five, but it looked as though
everyone had decided to come early.

She’d been at work all afternoon, cutting,
streaking, and blow-drying hair. It had helped take her mind off
Kaylee’s last chemotherapy sessions and the transplant that wasn’t
far away. She didn’t know how Anna, Tom, and Dan managed each day.
They’d been living with HLH for months now, trying to stay
positive, to not show Kaylee how scared they really were. Last
night
they’d been exhausted.

Kaylee really wanted to be at the fashion
show, but she was too sick to leave the hospital. Anna and Kate
were going to take lots of photos, to share some of the magic with
Kaylee.

Kate patted her pocket, made sure she had her
camera tucked away for the rehearsal, then followed Loretta. They
moved quickly across the parking lot, dodging teenage girls in high
heels and a man carrying a huge vase.

Loretta stopped outside the main doors of the
Emerson Center. “Mary-Liz told me she’s set aside an area at the
back of the main stage for hair and makeup. We’d better get there
fast in case someone decides to use
the
space
for themselves.”

The foyer was even crazier than the parking
lot. Designers were rushing past with clothes in their hands,
models
and their
moms
were wandering around looking lost, and
more chairs were arriving by the minute. Kate wove her way through
the crowd, bumping into a woman holding a clipboard. “Sorry.”

The young woman smiled. “Don’t worry.
Everyone’s
in a panic in case
they’ve forgotten something. I’m Becky O’Donaghue,
slightly
stressed florist.”

“Nice to meet you, Becky. I’m Kate. I’m
helping with hair and makeup.” Kate glanced
across
the room and saw Loretta disappear through a
double set of doors. “I’ve got to go. If I lose track of
Loretta
I might not see her again.
Good luck.”

Kate made her way across the room and walked
through the entrance to the ballroom. “Oh, wow.”

The ballroom looked amazing. Four crystal
chandeliers hung from the ceiling, sparkling like diamonds above
the runway. Everything was black, from the curtains framing the
hired stage, to the flooring and chairs. The room looked
sophisticated, elegant, and mysterious. When the models walked onto
the
runway,
they would be the
center of everyone’s attention.