Harbor Street (Cedar Cove #5)(30)

“How much would you like cut off?” she asked, meeting Cecilia’s gaze in the mirror.

“About an inch,” she said, “and I’d like you to trim my bangs.” Cecilia guessed she and Rachel were close to the same age; perhaps Rachel was a few years older. It was hard to tell.

“When’s your baby due?” Rachel asked, leading Cecilia to the shampoo sink.

“March fifteenth.” The date was embossed in her mind as she mentally counted the days before she would hold her son in her arms.

“Is this your first baby?” Rachel asked conversationally.

Cecilia hesitated. The question always stopped her cold. And it was always accompanied by pain as she faced the memory of losing Allison. “No,” she whispered, trying to speak normally. “Our daughter died shortly after she was born.”

“I’m so sorry.” Rachel placed a comforting hand on Cecilia’s shoulder and squeezed gently.

Not wanting the other woman to think she’d taken offense, Cecilia offered her a reassuring smile. “You didn’t know. It’s a question I get asked often enough. You’d think I’d have a standard response by now. I should.” Except Cecilia didn’t know what that response should be. “It’d be easier to tell everyone this is our first baby, I suppose,” she said, thinking out loud, “but I can’t make myself do it. Allison was part of me and Ian, and I refuse to pretend she never lived.”

“You said exactly the right thing,” Rachel told her. She busied herself by turning on the water and leaning Cecilia back so that her neck rested in the curve of the shampoo bowl.

Rachel worked the shampoo into Cecilia’s wet hair with strong fingers, massaging her scalp. Her touch relaxed Cecilia as she lathered her hair, rinsed and then repeated the process.

By the time Rachel had washed out the cream rinse and placed a towel over her head, Cecilia had started to consider having her hair cut much shorter than she’d been wearing it. Over the years she’d had it styled a number of ways. Ian, however, preferred her hair shoulder-length, so that was how she kept it. Maybe she could have two inches cut off—make the change in increments.

“You have wonderful hair,” Rachel commented as she guided Cecilia back to her station.

“It must be the vitamins,” Cecilia said lightly. “The only times I’ve had hair and fingernails like this are when I’m pregnant.”

Rachel directed Cecilia into the chair. She combed out and sectioned her hair, twisting each section and securing it with a clip. “Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

“Boy,” Cecilia said, smiling at the thought of her husband’s happiness when she’d told him what she’d learned. “The first ultrasound said a girl, but in the most recent one, the baby looked very much like a little boy. I know Ian will be thrilled with either—I will, too.” She rested her hand on her stomach, already loving this baby so much. She wanted the pregnancy to be perfect, her child to be healthy, and was doing everything she could to ensure that.

They chatted while Rachel expertly cut her hair, going a little shorter than Cecilia had originally requested. Her hair would just touch her shoulders. “Since you’re a first-time customer, can you tell me who referred you?” she asked, clipping away. “I like to thank the person who gave me the referral.”

“That might be difficult. My husband’s the one who suggested I make an appointment with you.”

“Really?” Rachel paused as if trying to recall which of her male customers was married to Cecilia.

“Apparently, my husband is a friend of a friend of yours,” Cecilia clarified. “I understand Ian and—I think Ian said his name’s Nate—are on the George Washington together.”

Excitement lit Rachel’s eyes. “Your husband’s in the Navy?”

Cecilia nodded.

“Did he have any news about Nate?” There was no disguising Rachel’s exhilaration now. “We write to each other, but the letters take so long, and I haven’t heard from him in over a week. Everything’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes…. The last I heard, everything was going well.”

“Oh, good.” Rachel smiled in obvious relief. “I’ve only known Nate for a few months,” she said.

“She paid good money for him, too.” This comment came from the dark-haired, slightly overweight woman in the station next to Rachel’s.

“Teri,” Rachel said, scowling at her friend.

“You…paid for him?” Cecilia asked, intrigued.

“In a manner of speaking, yes…”

She was about to continue when Teri cut her off. “She bought him at the Dog and Bachelor Auction in July.” Having said that, the other beautician turned back to her customer.

“Rach was the only one of us who plunked down her hard-earned cash for a man,” the beautician across from Rachel said. “The guys were out of my price league.”

“Mine, too,” Teri added.

“For that matter, he was out of mine,” Rachel told her.

“Then why did you bid on him?” Cecilia asked curiously. She remembered reading an article about the auction in The Cedar Cove Chronicle. The piece had stated that the Dog and Bachelor Auction was by far the most successful fund-raising activity ever put on by the Animal Shelter. Cecilia thought it was certainly innovative.