When I'm With You (Little Hollow Series, #2)(9)

All my worries from five minutes earlier go out the window, I smile at her and kneel down. “Well aren’t you just the sweetest little thing. What’s your name?”

She twirls her finger in her hair. “Katy, and I’ve just had my birthday.”

“Is that right? Let me guess, you’re eight,” I say jokingly.

She giggles. “No silly, I’m four.”

I laugh and stand up. “Silly me! Well, Katy, shall we get you up in this chair here and make you look like a princess?”

She beams at me. I’ve always had a soft spot for kids, I don’t know why but there’s something about being around them makes me thaw out my icy exterior. There’s no prejudice with kids, prejudice is learned, you’re not born with it. Kids are always honest and they take everything at face value, I liked that about them.

Faith lifts her daughter up into the booster I place on the chair and I smile at her as she takes a tentative step away.

“So what we doing today then?”

I aim the question at Faith and she clears her throat. “She just needs a trim, thank you.”

She gives me a weak smile and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from asking if she’s okay. “Would you like a coffee or anything while you wait?”

She shakes her head. “No, thank you though.”

I give her a once over. She’s wearing a well worn pale blue summer dress and I notice it’s way too big for her, she catches me looking and I quickly turn back toward Katy. “How good are you at playing musical statues?”

She grins at me in the mirror in front of her. “I can be a statue for a long time.”

Faiths snorts and I smile over at her before turning back to Katy. “Oh I bet you can, can you show me now while I cut your hair?”

She freezes, her eyes filled with concentration as I go about cutting her beautiful long blond hair. I spin her chair around and start cutting her bangs.

I pull a funny face when I finish and she giggles. “All done, princess. What do you think?”

I turn the chair toward the mirror again and she runs her fingers through the blond strands. “I look pretty, mommy?”

Faith comes over and the way she interacts with Katy completely changes her demeanor. Her back straightens up and she smiles wide making her sad face light up, and for the first time, I notice she’s beautiful.

“The prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

She lifts her off the seat and Katy runs to me to cling onto my leg. “Thank you!”

She giggles and it resonates through me, making me feel a lot lighter.

“You’re welcome, sweetie.”

Faith pays up and I notice her demeanor change again as soon as she steps out the door onto the street, her back hunches over a little and she keeps her head down, watching Katy the whole time. I’ve never seen her around town before, maybe she’s just new and shy? I watch her disappear up the street and I don’t know why, but I feel a strange sort of connection to her. I want to run out to her, but I don’t.

I shake my head and make my way into the back room, flipping on the coffee pot. Now Katy’s giggle isn’t filling up the salon, my mood from earlier starts weighing itself down on me again.

“Kee?”

I jump. “Jeez, you scared me!” Sam stands there holding a fast food bag out to me. “Thanks, Sam, I’m starving.” I take it from her and pull out the burger, taking a bite out of it.

“Yeah, I can tell. I was saying… if Mr Carter comes in early, can you tell him I’ll be back soon? I’m just going over to the Gracefield’s to see about those tables.” With my mouth full, I give her a thumbs up. “Thanks, see you in a bit.”

I give her a little wave and take another bite out of my cheeseburger.





Sam has been working tirelessly on this fundraiser, so the least I can do is try to perk her up a little. We’ve spent the night in front of the TV again and I’m bored.

I’m bored of watching documentaries and not getting up to anything fun, I’m bored of the monotony. I don’t want to go to a bar to grind all over random guys or anything, I just need something to do, so I pull Sam up off the sofa and start looking for outfits for the fundraiser. She’s put so much effort into making the venue look nice that I think we should do the same for ourselves.

I pick out a purple top and denim shorts for Sam and wear my usual ripped shorts and baggy tank top with a chequered shirt around my waist. It takes up a little bit of time and is a worthy distraction to my wandering mind.

Truth is, since Sam got back from Sharlington earlier, I just can’t stop feeling guilty. She won’t expect Connor to be there tomorrow night, and I’ve led him there, but she needs to hear him out so she can move on, at least that’s my reasoning and I’m sticking to it. And while we’re there, there’s no reason why we can’t have a little fun before he turns up either. I plan on showing her that it’s okay to let go sometimes and let yourself feel, although I can’t ever take my own advice. As soon as Connor turns up, I’ll make myself scarce. I’m under no illusion I’ll be accepted at yet another town event, even if I’m helping decorate the place, they still won’t care.

“Is Lewis going do you know?” Sam asks.

I scoff at her, “How would I know? It’s not as if I care.”