Mindset (13 page)

“Hey, Dennis!  How are you?  Hey Linda!  It’s nice to see you.  This is my friend, Eva.”

“Hello, young lady.  Heard you were back in town to stay this time, Callie.  It’s good to have you back.  This way, you don’t have to fly back and forth from New York to get a decent hair cut.  Eva, it’s nice to meet you, young lady.  What can we do for you ladies today?”

“Just a trim for me, Dennis, and I think I’d like to add some highlights.  What do you think?”

“Highlights would be nice.  Are you wanting to go lighter with some blond shades, or did you want to go more subtle with some reds, maybe a nice auburn?”

“Eva, what do you think?” 

“I say, do something drastic.  We’re starting a new project, and we need a new image to match it.  Be bold and go with lighter.”

“Lighter it is.  Can you do blondish streaks without making me look like a bimbo, Dennis?”

“One order blond streaks, Linda.  Hold the bimbo.”

“Now that that’s settled, what can we do for you today, Eva?”

Eva chewed on her bottom lip and looked into the mirror at the wavy, ebony hair she’d worn down to her waist for the last fifteen years and which her husband had forbidden her to ever cut.  “In keeping with the drastic theme, I’m going short.  Really short.  I want sexy and sassy.  Cut it all off, Dennis.”

The stunned silence lasted only a moment before Callie recovered from her shock.  “Holy shit!”

****

“Normally, I’d take the freeway, but I thought we could go over Scenic Drive on the way home, since you’ve never been that way before.  There’s a place at the top of the mountain where you can stop and look out at the city.  It’s prettier at night, but it’s still worth seeing in the daylight.”

“Okay, I’m game.  Then, I need to get home and start dinner.”

“Eva, you heard Dennis’s rule.  After one of his haircuts, he said there’s no cooking, no cleaning.  It’s been his rule ever since I’ve known him, and I’ve never broken it.  Besides, we have a lot to celebrate.  Not only do we have new hairdos, but we have a plan for the future.  We’ll pick up something on the way home.  In fact, on the other side of the mountain, there’s Gussey’s tamales.  Best tamales you’ve ever tasted, and I haven’t had them in awhile.  We’ll pick up a couple dozen.  They also have a really good bakery with some of the best
pan dulce
around.”

“I haven’t had any
pan dulce
since before I was married.  Sounds yummy!  Do they have
biscochitos
?  My mother used to make those.”

“They did the last time I was there.  Let’s go Miss Sexy and Sassy.  Seriously, you look fabulous, Evita.  And it was so nice that you donated your hair to locks of love.  And who knew you had so much natural curl?  I guess it was so heavy when it was long, you couldn’t see more than a little wave.  I just love how it frames your face.  And your eyes just pop!  You look maavalous my dear, simply maavalous.”

“I’m so glad Dennis thought of locks for love.  I was so happy to do it.  And I love your new color!  It’s hard to believe that the blond highlights could blend so naturally with the dark.  It sounded like such a contrast, but Linda made it look natural somehow.  I still don’t really get how she did that, but boy do I like the results!  You look fabulous!”

“I feel like it, too.  Just wait till Cade sees it.  I wonder what he’ll think.”

“I have a feeling Cade would like you bald, girlfriend.”

“I’m not so sure, Eva.  And what’s the deal with you sending me out to talk with him the other night.  You could’ve taken me up on my offer to help you clean the kitchen, like a real friend.”

“Now Callie, tell the truth.  Aren’t you glad you went out to talk with him?  You couldn’t go on avoiding him and giving him evil looks forever, you know.  After all, he lives on the same property.  Besides, I thought you might want to do a little more than talk, so I
was
being a real friend and trying to give you some opportunity.”

“Okay, you’re forgiven.  We did clear the air a little bit, but nothing was even close to getting settled.  And despite the opportunity, not much occurred other than the talking.  Damn it.”

“So what exactly is the problem?  You say you’ve been in love with the guy forever, and from all you’ve told me, he certainly sounds like he’s attracted to you.  What’s the holdup?”

As she turned into the parking area at the top of Scenic Drive to stop and look out over the city, Callie thought about her friend’s question.  “Cade said he wasn’t good enough for me, and he doesn’t think he’s what I need.  But I think it’s more than that, Evita.  I think he’s scared about something.  I don’t know if he’s scared of the commitment or the responsibility, or if he’s just plain scared of love.  I wish he’d talk to me about it.  He’s not very good about communicating his thoughts and feelings.”

“Helloooo – he’s a man!  Without getting into another man bashing session, I just have to say that sometimes men are just stupid.  They don’t talk, and they don’t listen.  They can’t really help it.  I think it’s all part of their genetic make-up.”

Callie smiled at her friend.  “Too bad we’re not gay.  Life would be so much easier and less stressful, don’t you think?”

“I asked my friend, Wendi, who is a lesbian, about that once.  She said it’s easier in some ways, but in the end, you have two people with pms instead of one, so it all evens out in the end.  It’s all about whom you’re attracted to, I guess, and how hard you’re willing to work at a relationship.  And how hard your partner is willing to work on it.  It takes two.  The city
is
pretty from here, Callie.  I’m glad we came this way.”

“I thought you’d like it.  Ready to go to Gussie’s?”

“Yep, let’s go.” 

As the two pulled back out onto Scenic Drive and started to drive down the mountain, a blue car careened around the corner from the opposite direction and broadsided them.  Callie scrambled to regain control of the jeep, skidded and hit the rock wall ledge, then steered into the skid and regained control.  The car at fault never slowed down, but kept going and disappeared around the next curve.

“Holy shit!  What the hell was that?  He didn’t even stop to see if we were okay!  Jerk!  Are you alright, Evita?”

Eva was still looking behind them where the car had disappeared.  “Yes, Callie, I’m okay, are you?”

“Yeah, I’m ok, and I think the jeep is drivable, but it’ll need some body work and a paint job.  I can’t believe that idiot!  Accidents happen, but good grief!  Not only could this one have been avoided if he’s been driving at a sane speed, but for all that guy knew, we could have driven right off the ledge here.  He didn’t even slow down, much less stop after he hit us.  He must have been high on something.”

Eva was quiet for a minute while she looked over the two foot retaining wall that had stopped their fall.  She shuddered when she saw what a steep drop it was to the bottom.  Had they not stopped when they did, it was doubtful that they would’ve survived the crash. 

“What if it wasn’t an accident, Callie?  What if someone wanted us to crash?”

“Who in the world would want….okay, wait a minute, I know where you’re going with this, Eva.  James and Richard could not have been responsible for this.  In the first place, I know they’re violent, but I have a hard time believing they’d go that far!  You can’t really believe that.  Besides, they’re all the way in New York, and as far as we know, they don’t even know where we are.  Richard never came to Texas or met my family.  I doubt he even knows my granddad’s last name to look us up, and I’m sure he doesn’t know my brothers’ names.  He was never interested in hearing about my family, much less in getting to know them.  I know Josh has filed paperwork that he’ll eventually be served, but James hasn’t had time to get it yet, so I don’t see any way he could track us down.  Come on, don’t be so paranoid.  This is a totally separate incident that doesn’t involve the Wesley brothers at all.  Don’t look so worried, seriously.”

****

“Well, my word, would you look at you two?  If I didn’t know better, I swear I’d think you were two lost strangers walking into the wrong house.”

“What do you think of the new us, Granddad?  They say blonds have more fun, and although I didn’t go all the way blond, I figure I’m close enough to find out if it’s true.  And Eva donated her hair to locks of love.  They’re a group who makes wigs for cancer patients who lose their hair during their chemotherapy.”

“I think you both look real pretty, girls.  Of course, I’m a little biased, I guess.  Let’s get a second opinion.  Here comes Cade. Let’s ask him.”

“What the hell happened to the jeep?  Where’s….”

“Well, it’s not often you’re struck speechless, Cade.  Somebody get the camera, Granddad.”

“Better close your mouth, son, before you catch a fly.”

“Wow…”

“I believe I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and take that as a compliment, Cade.”

“Well yeah…Wow.”

“You said that already.”

“Callie, you look really…different.”

“I think I like ‘wow’ better.”

“No, I mean you look real good, just different.  In a good way.  Wow.”

Callie’s smile was radiant.

“Look at our Evita, too.  Isn’t she just the prettiest little thing?  Cade?”

“Uh, yeah.  I mean, of course.  Eva, you look great, too.  It’s really…short.”

Eva just smiled, and Callie rolled her eyes.  “We brought Gussie’s tamales, and Granddad, look what somebody slipped into our bag.”

“Oooh, that
pan dulce
is nothing but good.  Thank you, girls.  I figured you’d pick something up since you were going to see Dennis.  I swear I don’t know if he’s got so many customers because he can cut hair, or because of his no cooking or cleaning rule.  Say, what was Cade saying about the jeep?”

That was finally enough to get through Cade’s shock at seeing the new and improved models of the ladies, and he did a mental shake.  “The jeep!  What in the world happened to the side?  It’s all messed up.”

“Oh yeah.  Some crackpot side swiped us up on Scenic Drive on the way to Gussie’s.  The jerk never even stopped or slowed down to see if we were okay.  Can you believe that?”

“I don’t suppose you got a license plate.”

“Actually, Cade, I was busy trying to keep from driving off the cliff, so no, somehow I missed the license plate number.  All I can tell you is it was a blue car with an idiot in the driver’s seat.”

“Well damn, Callie, are you and Eva ok?”

“Yes, we’re ok.  Just shook us up a little bit.  Could’ve been a lot worse, but all’s well that ends well, I guess.  Right Eva?”

“Sure.  All’s well that ends well.”

“Josh has this friend who does body work, and I’m sure he’ll give you a good price.  You can follow me over there tomorrow morning, and I’ll give you a ride back, ok?”