Hillary was the owner. She had trained in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. The fact that she had even hired me was a miracle. I was good at what I did, I knew that, but I wasn’t trained like she was.
“I’m here,” Hillary called out as she walked from the back room. Her long red hair was not at all natural. but it was exotic. Add to that her crystal-blue eyes, her eyelash extensions, and the collagen in her lips, and she was a head turner.
Amanda waved at her, then smiled at me. “I’m so glad you’re back. We need to get together sometime. Maybe go out one night.”
I wouldn’t be going out at night. Leaving Micah wasn’t an option. I nodded instead because I didn’t feel like telling her about Micah yet. She would ask questions I didn’t want to answer yet. Besides, anyone who knew Dustin and took one look at Micah would know.”
DEWAYNE
The condos were going to be finished on time. One less worry on my mind. After the tropical storm that came through in July, I was afraid it was going to put us off a month or so. Investors were getting nervous, and all that came to rest on my shoulders. Fucking idiots should have considered the fact that weather slows shit down before promising buyers that the place would be ready before Christmas. Dumbasses.
Pulling off my hard hat, I stepped out onto the parking lot from the building and headed for my truck. I was done for the day. The crew was rolling and didn’t need me. I’d been out here since five this morning. Squinting against the sun, I was able to make out Preston leaning up against my truck with a smirk on his face. Why was he here? He never showed up at my work sites.
“Just dropped Manda off to get her hair done,” Preston said, looking at me pointedly.
I had no f**king idea what this was about, so I just stood silently and waited for there to be a point to this.
I saw the moment when it finally dawned on him that I had no clue what he was talking about. He pressed his lips together, then shook his head. “You might want to stop by. Say hello,” he said. “Sienna is back.”
I should have known. Each day that passed without my mother calling to yell at me for not telling her that the new neighbor was Sienna, I breathed a sigh of relief. But it was only a matter of time before people in town saw her. And what the hell was she doing at Hillary’s salon? That place was expensive, and from the look of Sienna’s car, she didn’t need to be paying high prices for her damn hair. What about the kid?
“She have her kid with her?” I asked, trying to make the disgust in my voice not too obvious.
“Kid? What? Fuck! She’s got a kid? She married?”
She didn’t have her kid with her. Fan-fuckin’-tastic. She’d left the little boy at home alone. What the hell kind of a mother was she?
“And you knew she was back? With a kid? Why haven’t you said anything?”
“She moved into her parents’ house. I met her kid when I went over there to check out the neighbors for my parents. Didn’t think it was important that she was back. She was a part of Dustin’s life, not mine,” I replied, then jerked open the truck door.
“Liar. Fucking full-of-shit liar. You watched over that girl for years. Hell, when she was a freshman, you acted like her damn guard dog. When she was sent away, it f**ked with your head. You were grieving Dustin, and then she was gone and you grieved for her too. I would have thought you’d care that she was back. Unless she’s married and that’s why you’re pissed.”
Pretending like I hadn’t been super invested in Sienna and her happiness back then was pointless. My friends knew the truth, even if my brother hadn’t noticed. “She’s not married,” I replied, and climbed into the truck. “But the girl I cared about is gone. A cold bitch is in her place. And if she’s getting her hair done at Hillary’s, then she’s a selfish bitch. The piece-of-shit car she drives isn’t safe for her boy to ride in.”
I started to close the door, but Preston grabbed it. “Whoa, man, what’s your deal? She’s got you acting like an ass, and you’re not an ass. Sienna is working at Hillary’s, not getting her hair done.”
Maybe I was an ass.
“Oh,” I replied, wishing I hadn’t snapped in front of Preston.
“Yeah, oh. Sienna didn’t seem like a bitch at all. She seemed nice. . . . She was Sienna.”
No, she wasn’t. She was a mother, and she was f**king hiding something.
And if she was working, where the hell was Micah?
“I’m tired. I need a beer and then my bed. I’ll see you later,” I told him.
“Live Bay tomorrow night?” he asked.
Live Bay was the club in town were we all used to drink and pick up women. Now it was just me picking up women. The rest of those ass**les were hitched or as good as hitched. “Yeah. I’ll see you there,” I told him as I closed the door. Then I headed to my parents’.
I could tell myself I was going to visit my momma, but the truth was, I was going to make sure Micah wasn’t at home alone. Something about the way Sienna had sent him away from me and gotten defensive bothered me. I wasn’t convinced the woman was mentally stable.
* * *
Once I got to my parents’, I parked beside my dad’s truck and made my way across the street before he realized I was here. I didn’t want a f**king audience, nor did I want his commentary.