Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Complete Collection (31 page)

Joshie grinned. “You have no idea.”

“You said we didn’t have any more
appointments.” Rachel put down her coffee and stood as the bell to
the front door rang.

“We don’t.” Joshie looked up. “Must be a
walk-in…”

“Oh no.” Rachel recognized him
immediately—that dark curly mane of hair and mischievous smile—but
she put on a professional face, walking past a stunned and
rooted-to-the-floor Joshie, already greeting them as she reached
the lobby, “Hi Mr. Malden. Emma! Good to see you. Who’s your
friend?”

There were three of them this time, Jake
standing just behind the two young girls.

Emma introduced her friend, although Rachel
would have guessed, just from the colorful scarf tied around her
head. “This is Liv.”

“You can’t be here for a haircut,” Rachel
remarked. She heard Joshie coming up behind her, recovered from his
shock. “You just had one.”

“Actually, we are.” Emma reached over and
grabbed Liv’s hand. “I want to get my head shaved.”

“Ummmm…” Rachel glanced at Jake,
incredulous. He shrugged. Just looking at him made her knees feel
weak and she chided herself, focusing her attention back on Emma.
“Are you sure about that?”

“Liv wants to get her head shaved too,” Emma
explained.

“We’re gonna go all Britney Spears
together.” Liv spoke up for the first time, doing something so
brave it took Rachel’s breath away. She pulled the scarf off her
head to reveal the typical cancer-treatment hairdo with little
tufts of fine blond hair sticking up on her scalp.

“Completely bald?” Rachel managed to ask,
finding breath left somewhere in her lungs.

“Completely.” Emma’s face was resolute.

Rachel looked over at Jake. “How do you feel
about that?”

“I’m fine with it.” Jake ruffled Emma’s
hair. It was short, yes—but it wasn’t
gone.
That was
something Rachel wasn’t sure Emma was prepared for. It was one
thing to donate a length of your hair to charity. It was another
thing altogether to shave your head completely bald.

Rachel took a different tact. “How did your
mom react to you getting your hair cut for
Locks of
Love
?”

“She went crackers.” Emma grinned. “I got
grounded for a month.”

Rachel sighed and said gently, “I’m not sure
this is such a good idea.”

“I can do it with a parent’s permission,
right?” Emma’s jaw tightened as she nodded toward Jake. “Well this
parent says I can do it.”

Rachel tried to let her down gently.
“Cutting your hair was one thing, sweetie, but shaving your
head…”

“I’ll do it,” Joshie chimed in. Rachel
glared at him and he grinned. “Go ahead, fire me.”

“Joshie…”

He was already putting an arm around their
shoulders, ushering them into the back. “Come on, girls, let’s get
out the clippers and go wild.”

Rachel stared after them, sure she should
stop him, but not saying anything. Instead, she turned to Jake and
asked, “Are
you
sure about this?”

“I’m sure it’s what Emma wants, and she’s a
little like her mother in that regard. If she wants it, she’s going
to get it.” Jake shrugged and then looked at her with eyes so
hungry the man might have been starving. “Besides, it gave me a
good excuse to come see you.”

Rachel felt heat filling her face. The way
he looked at her, everything was out in the open, so raw and
naked.

“Listen, Jake…”

He moved closer, not close enough to touch
but close enough she could feel his heat and hear his whispered
words, “I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Don’t…” she breathed, glancing over her
shoulder. The girls were back at Joshie’s station around the corner
and couldn’t see them, but she could hear them giggling.

“Oh, I won’t…but I want to.” He grinned. “My
sixteen-year-old daughter would just tell us to go get a room.
Which I am very tempted to do.”

“Might be more comfortable than a limo.” Now
she was really blushing. She could feel it.

“Oh I don’t know.” He moved closer enough
she could feel him, long and lean and solid. “I didn’t have too
many complaints.”

“Me either.” She felt herself giving in and
tried to fight it.

His breath was sweet and smelled
wintergreen. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

She tried again to distance herself, but
only verbally. She didn’t step back. “It’s not you, Jake…”

His hands moved to her upper arms, squeezing
gently. “Oh, you mean the reason you haven’t answered any of my
phone calls?”

She nodded helplessly.

“Well it can’t be you,” he insisted,
searching her eyes with his. “Because you, Ms. Rapunzel, are pure
perfection.”

She knew he was going to kiss her and she
didn’t stop him. His lips were warm and soft and just as sweet as
she remembered.

She gasped when they parted, pleading for
mercy. “Jake…”

“And if it’s not me…” He kissed the corner
of her mouth. “And it’s not you…” Another kiss, this one at her jaw
line. “Then what could it possibly be?” Fiery kisses rained down
over her throat and she moaned softly, her lust for him already
igniting in her core. Joshie had been right. This was the reason
she hadn’t answered his phone calls, she admitted to herself,
feeling his thigh sliding between hers, his hands moving at the
small of her back. She couldn’t help herself. She wanted him.

“Hey Rachel, where’s our body paint?” Joshie
called from around the corner.

They broke apart and Rachel straightened her
skirt and checked her wig reflexively, realizing the adhesive
remover was working. It was very loose.

“Our…what?” She gave Joshie a startled
response as he came around the corner. Jake took a guilty step back
but she could still feel his heat and it made her breath come too
fast.

Joshie rifled through the drawers under the
cash register. “They left some here last month, for the model shoot
they did for
Vogue
remember?”

“It’s…” Rachel slipped in beside him,
opening the bottom drawer, the catch-all, the salon’s version of a
junk drawer. “Here it is.” It was a little kit, including brushes.
She handed it over, frowning. “What are you going to do with body
paint?”

Joshie grinned. “Come see.”

Jake and Rachel found the two girls sitting
in chairs next to each other, both of them shaved completely,
shockingly bald, as promised. The sight paralyzed Rachel with
emotion—fear, sadness, pride. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she
willed them not to fall.

“Oh Em…” Jake took a step toward his
daughter and then stopped. He seemed paralyzed too.

Emma perked up when she saw her father.
“Isn’t it awesome?”

“Totally awesome,” Jake said finally, his
voice a little hoarse.

“Time to unleash my inner artist.” Joshie
opened the body art kit and was doing something with one of the
brushes. “Are you girls ready?”

“He’s going to paint our heads for the
party, Daddy,” Emma explained as Joshie’s brush began to move over
the girl’s scalp. She had a lovely-shaped head, round and
smooth.

“What a great idea.” Jake gave Joshie an
approving smile.

“You two are going to be the belles of the
ball.” Joshie returned the smile and then focused his efforts back
on his work.

“There’s a class party tonight,” Liv chimed
in, watching her friend get her scalp painted. “I was too scared,
but Emma decided we were both going to shave our heads and make a
big entrance.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” Rachel sat
down in the chair beside Liv, blinking back her tears. She wanted
to touch the girl’s smooth scalp and restrained herself. Liv was
smiling, probably more happy than she’d been in a long time, and
Rachel was glad she had a friend like Emma. Nina Malden’s
determination had clearly been harnessed in her daughter for a good
purpose. She’d never seen anyone do something so selfless, so
courageous, so kind.

“You know what, Joshie?” Rachel reached up,
feeling her wig slip as she touched it. The adhesive had worn
completely off. She glanced over at Jake, feeling her stomach
clench. She had tried to tell him, but maybe it would be easier
this way. She could just show him instead. She slipped the wig off
her head and let it fall into her lap, revealing her own
chemo-hairdo. “Let’s paint the town red.”

The girls gaped. Rachel didn’t have the
courage to look over at Jake to see his reaction. Liv seemed to
know right away, making the connection faster than Emma did.

“What kind?” Liv asked, her eyes soft and
wet.

“Same as yours,” Rachel replied softly.
“Leukemia. We can be twins.”

“I’m so sorry.” Emma’s eyes filled with
tears and then all three of them were crying—and then laughing, and
then hugging in a big circle.

Joshie tsked and cooed and ushered them back
into their seats so he could finish his work. He painted all three
to perfection—purple paisley for Emma and blue bird’s wings for Liv
and orange and black tiger stripes for Rachel. In the end, they all
had so much fun Rachel hadn’t realized Jake slipped out until his
daughter called for him.

“Daddy! Come see!”

Rachel touched her head self-consciously,
glancing into the mirror. She looked strange, foreign, her eyes
bigger and rounder in her face. The tiger stripes made her look
wild, feral. What was Jake going to say? And then, as Emma called
for him, wandering toward the lobby, Rachel realized he was gone.
He had found out she was sick and had left, unable to handle the
news.

“Hey.” Joshie read her mind. “Stop it.”

“It’s okay.” Rachel put on a smile, sliding
an arm around Liv’s shoulder. “Ready for your party,
beautiful?”

Liv’s smile was so bright, it could have
powered a small third-world country. That alone made it worth it.
They walked toward the lobby, where Emma was peering out the front
glass door, frowning.

“I don’t understand where he could have
gone.” Emma turned to Rachel. “Did he say anything to you?”

Rachel shook her head, not trusting her
voice.

“There he is.” Liv pointed toward the door
and they all looked as Jake walked toward the salon, holding the
handles of a small bag swinging at his hip.

“Where did you go?” Emma protested as he
opened the door, his eyes widening. They must have been quite a
sight, Rachel realized, the three of them standing there with their
bald, painted heads.

“I thought the three of you could use a
little bling.” Jake put the bag down on a chair, reaching in and
pulling out a blue box Rachel recognized immediately. There was a
Tiffany’s
right around the corner on North Michigan Avenue.
He handed the first one to Liv. Her jaw dropped when she opened the
little box to find a pair of heart-shaped diamond earrings
inside.

“Mr. Malden…” Her voice shook

“Shh.” He leaned over and kissed the top of
her head. “You’re like my own daughter. You know I love you.”

Emma squealed when she opened her tear-drop
diamond earrings, hugging her father and quickly grabbing Liv’s arm
and dragging her over to one of the salon mirrors so the girls
could try on their jewelry. Joshie went with them, exclaiming over
the sparkly treasures, and Jake pulled out another blue box from
the bag, this one long and thin.

“Jake…” Rachel took a step back, swallowing
hard as he held the box out in front of him. “No…”

“Yes.” He pressed the box into her hand.
“It’s yours. Open it.”

“I can’t.” Her hands were trembling too
much. “You do it.” She handed it back to him and he obliged, taking
the necklace out and tenting it in his fingers.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s lovely,” she whispered, looking at the
bird-shaped diamond pendant. “A dove?”

He shrugged, undoing the clasp. “They didn’t
have any hockey sticks.”

She laughed. “I really shouldn’t accept
this.”

“Yes you should.” He lifted the chain over
her head as she turned, doing the clasp up behind her neck.
“Beautiful.”

There was no hair to lift out the way as he
kissed the nape of her neck, his breath warm, and murmured, “Hope
is a thing with feathers…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she
whispered, her back still to him.

“I’m sorry you had to.” His hands rested on
her shoulders, squeezing gently. “But you don’t need to hide
anything from me.”

“I just thought you wouldn’t…” She swallowed
her words, unable to finish her thought.

“What? Like you? Want you?”

“Stay.”

“I think I used all my rollover minutes just
talking to your answering machine in the past two weeks.” He
grinned as she turned to face him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thank you, Daddy!” Emma kissed his cheek.
“We’re gonna go. Can I have the keys?”

“And just how am I going to get home?” But
Jake was already digging into his pocket and producing the desired
object.

Emma rolled her eyes. “Can’t you get a
taxi?”

Rachel took a subtle step closer to Jake,
giving him a quick, heated, side-long glance. “You can come up to
my place and call one.”

“Here.” Jake quickly handed the keys over to
his daughter. “Call my cell if you need me.”

Emma gave them both a knowing look. “Don’t
wait up.”

“You either.” Jake grinned.

“Dad!” The teenager made a face, pulling her
friend toward the door, as if he’d crossed some invisible line with
his words.

“Bye!” Liv waved as Emma dragged her
out.

“Have fun!” Rachel smiled and waved back as
the girls practically ran down the corridor, heading for the
parking garage. She glanced over at Jake. “Think they’re going to
be okay?”

“I think they’re already more than okay.” He
took her hand.

“She’s a really special girl, your Emma.”
Rachel squeezed his hand. “You should be proud.”

Jake nodded, sounding a little choked up. “I
am.”