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Herabout?”
Patience told her what had happened Ava grabbed a jacket, then followed her out the back door Tenat the empty interior Fifteen minutes after that, the police had arrived
Patience watched the activity and listened to the conversation No one knehat had happened No one had heard anything or seen anything But they all agreed it was very strange Justice and his uncle had disappeared It was as if they’d never been there at all
CHAPTER ONE
“TRIM UPhis white, bushy brows as he spoke “I want to look sexy”
Patience McGraw held in a sht planned with the missus?”
“You know it”
A concept that would be roer than, say, ninety-five Patience had to keep herself froe, they should be careful She supposed the more important lesson was that true love and passion could last a lifetime
“I’m jealous,” she told her client as she carefully trimmed his brows
“You picked a piss-poor excuse of a ed “Excuse my French”
“I can’t co what it would be like to live in a bigger city Where everyone didn’t know every detail of your personal life But she’d been born in Fool’s Gold and had grown up with the idea that there were very few secrets between friends and neighbors
Which nant when she was eighteen and the “piss-poor excuse for a man” who’d been her baby’s father had walked out on her and her daughter less than a year later
“You’ll find soirl like you should have them lined up for miles”
She smiled “You’re very sweet If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were flirting with me”
Alfred gave her a wink
Despite his colywith prospects, and as a single mother, she had to be especially careful There was also the fact that most of the men she met weren’t interested in other men’s kids
As Patience picked up the scissors to clip a couple of errant hairs, she told herself that she was very comfortable with her life Given the choice, she would rather open her own business than fall in love But every now and then, she found herself longing for someone to lean on A man to care about, ould be there for her
She stood back and studied Albert’s reflection “You’re evendown her tools and unfastening his cape
“Hard to believe,” Albert said with a grin
She laughed
“Patience?”
She didn’t recognize the male voice, but turned anyway A man stood in the entrance of the shop
Her s at once Albert was her last appointuy was a walk-in, he wouldn’t call her by naold-blond hair and deep blue eyes His shoulders were broad and he had the kind of face that would be happy up on a movie screen Nice, but she had no idea who he
She felt the cape flutter to the floor as she really looked at thetoward her He was a few inches taller, a lot more muscular, but his eyes They were exactly the same They even crinkled when he smiled at her
“Hello, Patience”
She was fourteen again, standing in that empty house, more scared than she’d ever been in her life There hadn’t been any answers Not then or since No solution to thehad gone terribly wrong
“Justice?” she asked, her voice more breath than sound “Justice?”
He gave her a slight shrug The fa across the shop She flung herself at hi on this time
He caught her against hihtly as she held on to hiainst his shoulder and inhaled the scent of hi to do with the boy she reht, still dazed Justice couldn’t be back
Yet he was But the ot aard quickly She stepped away and put her hands on her hips
“What happened? You left o? I was so scared The whole toorried I called the police and everything”
He glanced around the salon Patience didn’t have to follow his gaze to know they were the center of attention She was used to the friendly interest of the shop, but Justice ht find the attention uncomfortable
“When can you take a break?” he asked
“Five minutes Alfred is my last client of the day”
“I’ll be outside”
He was gone before she could stop hi with a combination of power and purpose The second the door closed behind him, the other stylists and half the clients descended
“Who is he?” Julia, her boss, demanded “What a handsome man”
“I’ve seen him around town before,” another wouard”
“Has he moved here?”
“Is he an old boyfriend?”
Alfred cleared his throat “Back away, ladies Give Patience some room to breathe”
Patience save her a fifty-cent tip She was so not getting rich working here, she thought as she walked him to the door and kissed his cheek
With Alfred gone, she returned to her station and quickly cleaned up Julia watched with unconcealed interest
“You’ll have details tomorrow?” she asked
“Of course”
Sharing was asup with a casserole when there was a birth, death or serious illness Sheencounter with a man from her past, but that wasn’t her decision
Patience made a quick stop in the restroo on her black T-shirt She released her long brown hair frootten highlights, and wornthan ordinary, then shrugged She ho she was, and nothing short of serious plastic surgery and/or a e her now