Things Good Girls Don't Do (27 page)

“Oh, I know, and what she did to Jimmy’s truck? So out of character. No matter what a man does, it is important to always act like a lady.”

“And it’s all that Chase’s fault. Bad influence, he is.”

Katie started to shake with rage, especially because her stylists kept shooting worried glances her way but said nothing. Even Kitty acted like she was busy jotting down something, although her eyes were shifting back toward Katie worriedly. The rest of the women in the waiting area and manicurist chairs ignored the two gossiping women.

Katie finished with Kirsten’s hair and led her back to her chair. She turned on the blow-dryer, but her attention was on the two older ladies, with their holier-than-thou attitudes and opinions. It infuriated her, the way everyone in town, young or old, treated Chase. The only people who hadn’t been bad-mouthing him lately—or her, for that matter—were Becca and Steph. Even Eric had called him an idiot when she’d been in Buck’s on Saturday, playing pool with Jared, Steph, and Justin. She appreciated the outrage—she was furious herself—but she could do without their opinions.

When Katie thought she heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle, she moved to the window quickly, but her heart sank moments later when she saw the blue blur of a street bike race by.

Stop looking for him. He’s not coming back for you.

Eleven days without a word, wondering if he was okay, had taken its toll on her. She acted like she was fine, but she still dreamed about him, still reached for him in the morning and caught herself driving by his parlor. But she was done, completely done with him. When he got back, she was going to ignore him, or better yet act friendly, like it was no big deal. Like she’d never fallen in love with him and he’d never broken her in every way.

And maybe she would eventually believe it and stop eating every piece of chocolate in sight before she ended it up in her fat jeans.

She turned off the dryer and started curling Kirsten’s highlighted strands.

“You must miss him.”

Kirsten’s comment made Katie meet her eyes. They were filled with sympathy, and she cleared her throat past the lump that had formed. She hated when people pitied her. It made her want to cry more. “Yeah, I do.”

Kirsten nodded. “I’m sorry. About the way people talk about him. And you. I love that cherry top you wore the other day. Sweet Tarts has such cute stuff.”

“Yeah, it does, and Becca’s lingerie is awesome sauce.” Katie laughed.

“Oh, I know.” Kirsten lowered her voice and asked, “Have you ever been back in the curtained section?”

Katie shook her head. “Not yet. Have you?”

“Yeah. It’s got some great stuff.” Kirsten’s cheeks flushed.

Leaning down, Katie whispered, “Did you know if you spend a hundred in there, she gives you a fifty-dollar sample bag from the black-curtained room?”

Kirsten squealed. “Really? Oh, I’m going to go over there next. I bought this cream that . . .”

“What are you two whispering and screeching about?”

The question came from behind Katie and she turned to face Mrs. Andrews. “We are talking about dildos, Mrs. Andrews.”

Titters and giggles erupted from the other women in the salon, and Mrs. Andrews companion’s eyes widened with her gasp. She had come in with Mrs. Andrews and Jenny, who was getting a pedicure with some of her friends.

Mrs. Andrews’s eyes narrowed and she said firmly, “Young lady, you do not talk about those things in public.”

Katie pointed her curling iron at her and said, “With all due respect, you asked, I answered. And as you are not the shop owner, I suggest that if you don’t want to hear about it, you cover your ears or leave. You seem to have no problem discussing inappropriate things when it suits
your
needs. Kirsten and I were whispering, trying to protect your delicate sensibilities, while you were blatantly discussing my private life as loudly and with as much ignorance as you like.”

Mrs. Andrews’s friend looked uncomfortable, which made Katie think more charitably of her.

Mrs. Andrews just lifted her nose indignantly and countered, “If you don’t want people to talk about you, then you shouldn’t behave so coarsely. Throwing yourself at that man in public and dressing like a common slut; it’s a travesty for someone like you. You were always such a good girl, and how your poor mother . . .”

Katie stepped toward the older woman. “If you dare bring my mother into this, I will brand you with this curling iron. You do not have the right to tell me what my mother would say. Good or bad, my mother loved me, and she would have wanted me to be happy.”

Mrs. Andrews watched the curling iron warily and said, “But that man left you without a word, proving exactly what a miscreant he is. How happy can you be?”

Katie set the curling iron down. “Forget what Chase did to me, you didn’t like him before.” She turned her attention to all of the women, “All I’ve heard over the last few weeks is how I’m too good for him. That he wasn’t worth my spit, but he is a good man. He’s an artist, went to college on a scholarship, and is funny and charming. He has overcome a lot to become a successful man. Chase is a great guy, and when you say I can do better, it just makes me feel like an idiot. You judge him just like you do anyone who hasn’t lived here their whole life or doesn’t fit with your sense of normal.”

Just that moment, Becca walked through the door and Katie pointed. “And Becca. She’s been here almost two months and it wasn’t until she dragged me into her store that I really got to know her. She makes the cutest clothes, in all sizes, and she tells it like it is. No bullshit. She is awesome, and none of you have bothered to get to know her or look at her clothes. Oh, except for the ones who loved the clothes I bought. Then it’s okay, because Katie likes them. Katie, who is all sweet and doormat-y and will just let you say whatever you want. Just because my mother raised me to be polite and respectful, you act like I shouldn’t ever make mistakes.”

Becca interjected, “Ummm, I don’t know what I walked into, but . . .”

Katie waved her hand and continued. “We put people in these little boxes of preconceived notions and we don’t like it when they don’t fit. We need to stop acting like our shit doesn’t stink, because we’ve all fucked up at one point, even you, Mrs. Andrews.”

The place exploded with applause, and Jenny Andrews shouted, “Mama, I don’t know why you hate Chase so much. Daddy told me about that tattoo you got in Panama City when you were in college.”

Mrs. Andrews’s face turned red as she shouted, “Jenny Lynn!”

Jenny shrugged from the pedicure chair and responded, “What? You try to make the rest of the town feel bad because we aren’t as perfect as you, but wanna know what else Daddy told me?”

Mrs. Andrews gritted out between clenched teeth, “Don’t . . . you . . . dare.”

“Mama smoked weed at a Hank Junior concert!”

The women of the salon let out gasps of surprise but quieted down when Mrs. Andrews’s companion raised her hand. “I followed around a very hot band and had a torrid affair with their drummer. Before my marriage, of course.” She mouthed the name of the band, and the majority of the women, minus Jenny and her friends, were impressed.

“I like girls,” Becca called out, grinning.

“Me too!” Kitty said, and Becca looked at her with interest.

One by one, each woman made a confession, and Katie was laughing and cheering along with everyone else. When everyone had spoken, Katie said to Mrs. Andrews, “Come on, Mrs. Andrews, your daughter confessed for you. Is there anything else you might like to share?”

Mrs. Andrews looked at Katie, as if trying to see inside her brain for what ace she had up her sleeve. When Katie’s face remained placid, she looked around at the others and mumbled something too quiet for anyone to hear.

“What?” her daughter yelled.

Mrs. Andrews glared and shouted, “I’ve been inside Sweet Tart’s Boutique’s black-curtained room.”

The room fell silent before whistles and cheers met her announcement, and she smiled slightly. Mrs. Andrews’s brown eyes caught Katie’s and she nodded.

It was the best apology she was going to get from the stubborn rag.

Becca yelled over the noise, “Anyone who comes in today for a purchase will get a ‘naughty confessions discount’ of fifteen percent off! Hell, let’s make it twenty!” When the cheers rose up again, Becca waved her hands for everyone to quiet down and asked, “So Katie, what’s your confession?”

I’m the biggest idiot in the world when it comes to men.

Katie looked around at the expectant faces and said, “I recently got a tattoo.”

The whole place burst with excitement and Katie smiled. Sometimes living in a small town wasn’t so bad. At least you had a community that cared about you, even if some people had a backward way of showing it.

Chapter Sixteen

F
OUR DAYS AFTER
his mother’s funeral, Chase and Buzz left the lawyer’s office, and Chase felt like he could sleep for days, he was so exhausted. The emotional drain of getting to know his mother for the first time, really, and discovering all her secrets had taken its toll.

Buzz squeezed his shoulder and said, “I know your mother wasn’t always right when it came to you, but she was proud of you.”

“I just wished she’d told me instead of everybody else,” Chase said as he walked to Buzz’s car. He opened the door and sat in the front seat of the cherry-red convertible, leaning his head back with a sigh.

Buzz shook his head as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Women do crazy things when they love someone, just like men do stupid things. I guess you’ll learn that when you find a woman to love.”

Chase’s thoughts drifted to Katie and he said, “I already did, but I messed it up.”

Buzz gave him a look. “What’d you do?”

Chase smiled sheepishly. “I thought she was too good for me. That I didn’t deserve her. And I took off without giving her a good explanation.”

Buzz chuckled. “Guess you’re more like your mother than you thought.”

Chase looked at Buzz, taking a second to get his meaning. His mother had treated him shabbily because she thought she didn’t deserve him. And she’d been wrong.

“Think she’ll forgive me?” Chase asked.

“Can’t tell you that, son, but if you don’t try, you’re gonna miss out. ’Cause when you meet that one person that you’re meant for, it’s one hell of a ride.”

Chase hesitated before asking, “Was that my mother for you?”

Buzz smiled. “I married my best friend when we were eighteen and I had twenty-five great years with her before she died. When I met your mother, I was lonely and scared, and she made me feel alive again. Mary was my best friend, I loved her, but Lorie was . . . Lorie was my match. She was my passion. Yeah, your mother was meant for me and me for her. And if that’s what this girl is for you, then you gotta make it right.”

Buzz was really a great guy and his mother had been lucky to have him. When the lawyer had announced their dual ownership of the diner, Chase had felt guilty accepting it. It was Buzz’s livelihood and he didn’t feel right taking that away.

After a long pause, weighing his options, Chase blurted out, “If you want me to sign over my half of the diner to you, I will.”

Buzz shook his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Your mama wanted you to have it, and when I’m gone the whole thing will go to you. Mary and I never were blessed with children.”

Chase looked over at the older man and said sincerely, “Thanks for making her happy, Buzz.”

Buzz grinned. “It was my pleasure, son. I was a lucky man for a little while.”

Those words haunted him as he packed his bags to head back to Rock Canyon the next morning. He didn’t want to be lucky for just a little while. He didn’t want just a few weeks with Katie.

He wanted a lifetime.

At five in the morning, he got up and showered, leaving his scruff in case it helped him win Katie back. He walked out the door with a hug from Buzz and a warning not to be a stranger. He hugged him back, accepting a back slap. Then he pulled away and walked down the driveway to his Blazer. After loading up his bag, Chase climbed into the driver’s seat and settled in for the long drive. If he hurried, he could be back in Idaho before Katie got home from work.

“K
ATIE, YOU HAVE
a phone call!” Kitty called from the front of the salon.

“I’ll get it in the back,” Katie said, trying to be heard over the blow-dryers and laughter. She headed to the office in back and picked up the phone. “This is Katie.”

“Katie, don’t hang up,” Jimmy’s voice pleaded on the line.

Katie wanted to bang her head against something. “Seriously, what could you possibly have to say to me besides ‘I’m suing you’?”

“I’m sorry. About the things I said and for coming at Chase like that. I just went a little crazy seeing you together and I realized that I was jealous,” he said.

Oh hell no
. . . “Honestly, this is just getting weird. You dumped me eight months ago. You are getting married. This has to stop.”

“I’m not getting married. She called off the wedding,” he said.

Of course, no wonder he’s all apologetic. Nothing like having a safety net.
“That’s too bad, Jimmy, but it has nothing to do with me anymore.”

“Katie, wait . . .”

She hung up. No, she’d been waiting too long for a lot of things. Waiting to start a life. Waiting to get married and have kids. Waiting to meet the right guy.

She was done waiting. She wasn’t going to mess around with jerks and commitment-phobes anymore. The next guy she dated was going to be solid and dependable. Someone who wouldn’t take off when things got heavy.

Katie’s mind was made up. Until she walked back up front and saw a familiar Blazer roar by the shop window.

Chase was back.

Part of her was happy he was back, glad he was okay, but the other part, the new, no-filter Katie who busted headlights and back talked her elders, wanted nothing more to do with him.

But the other part, the girl who was still in love with him, wanted to go to him and hold him. And beg him to never leave again.