A Deep and Dark December(36)
Erin followed Candy to the bank of dryers at the back of the salon where a couple of other clients sat getting pink cheeked. Candy fiddled with the knobs, then lowered the hood over Erin’s head. Erin had a perfect view of the front of the salon. She watched Candy stroll up to Graham with a little extra swing in her skin-tight jeans. She flipped her purple streaked hair and laughed as Graham rose from the couch and tossed the magazine aside. They went outside and sat at the café table in front of the window.
“They’d make a nice couple,” the woman next to Erin said with a sigh to her friend on her other side. “We need a sheriff who’s settled.”
“He should be spending more time controlling crime than flirting with girls,” the friend harrumphed. “It’s gotten so I won’t go out at night.”
“Me either. Did you hear how Doreen got her purse snatched right on Main Street?”
Erin tuned out the complaining women, too caught up in the scene at the front of the salon. Candy leaned an elbow on the table, her chin in her hand. Every now and then she’d reach over and touch Graham’s arm as he wrote in his notebook. At one point he smiled at something Candy said. His real smile, the one he’d teased Erin with. Erin tried not to be jealous of Candy and had almost convinced herself she wasn’t when Graham leaned closer to Candy. He said something, then winked, eliciting a lingering stroke on his arm from Candy. Was he flirting with Candy? Erin knew she didn’t have the right to be mad at how close Graham and Candy were, but son of a bitch. It wasn’t that long ago that Graham was paying Erin that kind of attention.
The tone of the conversation outside seemed to change. Graham and Candy’s body language shifted, going from teasing to serious. They moved a little closer across the table, mirroring each other’s poses. Candy pulled the pen out of Graham’s grasp, reached for his other hand, and wrote something on his palm. She tapped the end of the pen against her lips, then handed it back to him. They rose from the table as Erin’s dryer clicked off. Candy gave Graham a hug and waved goodbye to him, then stood a few minutes more, watching him walk away. She turned to come back in with little a shiver.
Candy couldn’t seem to suppress her grin as she made her way to Erin. She dipped her head shyly when one of her coworkers teased her about Graham, but didn’t comment.
“Let me check to see if you’re done,” Candy said, lifting the dryer hood and opening one of the foils on Erin’s head. “You’re good. Let’s get you shampooed.”
Erin followed Candy to the shampoo area, then lay back in the chair with her head in the shampoo bowl. The scent of permanent wave solution and bleach was sharper here, stinging Erin’s nose as Candy pulled the foils from her hair and began rinsing the color out.
“You know there’s just something about a man in uniform,” Candy said with a sigh. “Or maybe there’s just something about Graham Doran.”
Erin couldn’t help the little arrow of jealousy that had worked its way into her chest and sprung open into claws that wouldn’t let go. “So what exactly did he want to know?”
“He asked me a bunch of questions about Deidre. Who she was seeing and when was the last time I saw her. Stuff like that.”
“I guess as her hairstylist you’d know what was going on with her better than most.”
“You’d think, but Deidre’d been kinda secretive lately. She didn’t talk too much about what was going on the last few times I saw her. Although I got the feeling something big was about to happen. I didn’t think it would be her dying though.” Candy trailed off, a sad frown digging between her brows.
“Who could’ve known?”
“It still doesn’t feel real.”
“No. It doesn’t. What do you suppose that big thing was?”
“I don’t know for sure. Like I told Graham, she seemed really happy, but I don’t think it was about the divorce. I think she might’ve been seeing someone new. The last time she was in she asked for a new style.” Candy wrapped Erin’s hair in a towel and helped her sit up. “Come on back to the chair. Are we cutting your hair today or are you still growing it out?”
“Growing it out,” Erin said as she sat in the styling chair. “Keith likes my hair long.” One more way in which she was trying with him. Always trying.
Candy suddenly gave combing out Erin’s hair more attention than it required. “You know I had to tell Graham everything I know, right?”
There was something in Candy’s expression that gave Erin an uneasy feeling. “Yeah.”
“I don’t spread rumors. What people tell me while they’re in my chair stays with me. But I had to tell Graham. He’s the police.”
That uneasy feeling deepened, morphing into dread. “Had to tell him what exactly?” Erin said slowly, wanting and yet not wanting to know.
Candy cast a watchful eye around them, then whispered, “About Keith and Deidre.”
Erin caught Candy’s gaze in the mirror. “What about Keith and Deidre?”
“Oh, God.” Candy put a hand to her chest. “You don’t know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Candy abruptly grabbed the hair dryer and switched it on.
Erin caught Candy’s wrist, stilling her. “What, Candy? Just tell me.”