One True Thing (2 page)

Chapter One

Dusty

“SO, HOW short do you wanna go? Would you

like me to take a couple of inches off the ends?”

The client I was working on—Rachel—

caught her lower lip between her teeth and eyed

her reflection in my station mirror. “I don’t know,”

she said dubiously. “What do you think? I’ve never

gone above my shoulders before, and I’m not sure

my husband would like it if I did….”

Personally, I thought with her long, narrow

face, she’d look better in a cute, chin-length bob,

maybe even with some soft waves thrown in, but I

could tell from her expression she wasn’t ready for

that kind of change. Not on her first visit with me

at least. And her current cut wasn’t terrible; it just

needed to be livened up a bit.

“How about I just trim the edges and put some

layers in? Add a little bit of volume?”

Rachel chewed her lip some more and met my

eyes in the mirror, her blue ones dark and anxious.

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry.” I smiled brightly and gave her

shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll look

gorgeous when I’m done. Your hubby won’t be

able to resist you.”

She grinned shyly at that. “It’s our one-year

anniversary today. He’s taking me to The Palm.”

“Ooh, nice,” I said as I got started, parting her

wet hair down the middle and gently running my

comb from root to tip, working out the knots and

considering how many layers I should put in.

“Happy anniversary. One year, huh? You’re

practically still newlyweds then.”

“Thanks! Sometimes it feels like we are. You

know how it is with work and everything.” She

waved her hand under her cape, nails swishing

against the nylon. “We barely get to see each other.

But I’m excited. He took the whole weekend off

for me.”

“That’s great,” I murmured, and if my smile

was a bit dimmer, my voice a little less

enthusiastic, I hoped only I noticed.

“I just can’t wait to be alone with him, you

know? He normally works the night shift, and it’s

been so long. I mean, really,
really
long. I’m

talking weeks here.”

I chuckled softly, reaching into my apron

pocket for my trimming shears.
Oh, honey, you

have no idea.
It had been
months
for me. Not since

my ex, Gary, whose name now made me cringe,

even if sometimes I couldn’t help missing the

version of him I’d known at the beginning. We’d

had a lot of fun together before everything went to

crap. He’d said he loved me, treated me right.

Then he decided he could slap me around

whenever I pissed him off… and I’d let him get

away with it too, because I was scared, ashamed

to tell anyone, terrified he’d leave and I’d be

forever alone. It had taken that night at the Two

Koi, the first and last time he’d hit me in public,

for me to realize I was so much better than he

deserved, and being alone was nowhere near as

frightening as staying with him.

“Are you seeing anyone?” Rachel asked

suddenly, as if she’d read my thoughts.

I paused with my scissors poised and ready to

snip the first of the layers I had planned. A flash of

pretty brown eyes popped into my head and was

gone faster than I could blink. I wished—
oh
, did I

wish—I could say yes to her question, but I hadn’t

seen
him
since that day last month, and before him

the only guy who’d really interested me had been

head over heels in love with someone else: my

best friend, Rue.

“Nope,” I said cheerily. “Chronically single,

that’s me.” There hadn’t been anyone serious

before Gary, and no one since. Erik never had eyes

for anyone but Rue, and my brief stint with Paul

back in May didn’t count. We’d fooled around

some, but that was all. Nice as he was, I’d known

from the start he wasn’t for me. Still, I had hope.

Maybe it was running on fumes these days and half

a breath from giving out, but it was there.

Eventually I’d find him, my one, and he’d want me

and only me.

“It’ll happen,” Rachel told me with a sage

little nod.

Instead of answering, I plastered on my

sunniest smile and got back to the business of

cutting her hair. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her.

It would happen for me—I
knew
it would—but the

wait was getting awfully lonely in the meantime.

Rachel spoke again after a few seconds.

Thankfully, she’d found a new subject to focus on.

“So, how long have you had your septum pierced?

Did it hurt when you had it done?”

“Oh,” I said, my smile easing into something

that felt a lot more natural. Piercings were a topic I

could talk about all day. “It wasn’t bad, actually.

My eyes watered, but that was about it. The one

that
really
hurt was my daith, which goes through

the cartilage in the middle of my ear. The piercer

had to push three times before the needle went

through.”

Rachel cringed. “Ouch.”

“Yeah,

it

kind

of

sucked.”

Total

understatement. That experience was the reason I

only had it pierced on the left side. “But you know

what I’ve heard is the worst?”

Rachel shook her head and stared at me in the

mirror, eyes wide.

I winked at her. “It’s below the belt. I’ll give

you three guesses, and the first two don’t count.”

“COME on, come on,” I muttered under my breath,

standing up on my tiptoes to see what was holding

up the line. I was in my favorite smoothie shop,

only a few doors down from the salon where I

rented a chair. I’d dashed over during a gap

between clients, thinking I’d be in and out like

normal, but the line hadn’t budged since I’d

entered the shop.

I glanced at the watch on my wrist. It was my

favorite for work—waterproof, pink face, thick

black leather band, and lots of stainless steel

accents—and currently it was telling me I had less

than ten minutes before my next appointment was

due. I shifted anxiously from one foot to the other,

wondering if I should just leave and come back

later, but, damn, I was thirsty, and I’d been craving

my favorite smoothie all day. Thirsty or not,

though, I didn’t really want to keep a client

waiting. I’d only been at the salon for a couple of

weeks, and I’d been lucky to find something so

quickly and so close to home. I didn’t want to do

anything to mess it up.

I debated for another few seconds, sucking

nervously on one of the studs in my lower lip (bad

habit, I know), and had just started to turn to leave

when the guy at the head of the line finally moved,

and the girl in front of me with the cut arms and

preppy black fauxhawk stepped up to the register.

I bit back a sigh of relief and shuffled

forward behind her. I’d almost thought she was a

guy at first—a
hot
guy—but then she’d glanced

sideways and I’d noticed the disappointing lack of

an Adam’s apple in her profile.
Tragic.
She was

working that whole androgynous vibe, though, and

her body was seriously amazing. If I had to guess, I

would’ve said her ethnicity was Korean, just

judging by her facial features alone. She reminded

me of a girl I’d known back in high school.

“I’ll take a peach-basil smoothie,” she said.

Her voice was low, a little raspy. “Large, and add

an energy boost, would you?”

I spoke before I could think better of it. “Oh,

you like those too? I thought I was the only one.”

She turned to me in surprise. I realized then

we were almost the exact same height. I was kind

of short for a guy (the bane of my existence since

middle school, let me tell you), but she was taller

than most of the Asian women I’d known. Our

heights were where the similarities ended, though.

My body was slender without any real muscle

definition, while hers was lean and sinewy and

hard. No softness to her at all, except maybe in her

face, but her squarish jawline balanced out the

roundness in her cheeks. Just looking at her made

me feel guilty I’d skipped doing Pilates with Rue

three times that week. “Yeah,” she said after a

beat. “I love basil. I make these at home all the

time.”

I grinned at her. “Basil is great. I cook with it

constantly. Sometimes I even add it to my ice

water.”

“Really?” She seemed to consider that for a

moment. “I’ll have to try it.” She smiled and

extended a hand. “I’m Michelle, by the way. I’ve

seen you around, I think. Do you work nearby?”

“Dusty,” I said, reaching out to shake her

hand. Her grip was firm, the skin of her palm a bit

rough against mine. “I work over at Embellish.

You?”

“I teach classes at Cobra Fitness.”
Ah, so that

explains the body then.

“Ma’am? Here’s your change.”

Michelle turned back to the cashier, who was

holding out a couple of singles. “Thanks.” She took

her money and stepped aside so I could order.

“I’ll have the same thing, but make mine a

medium, please.”

The cashier nodded and accepted my cash.

I’d ordered it enough times that I had the exact

amount. I dug an extra single out of my apron and

tossed it in the tip jar before joining Michelle at

the other end of the counter.

“I love this place,” I said, just to keep the

conversation going. Aside from my clients and

coworkers, it was rare for me to see anyone but

Erik and Rue. And Alice, of course. They were my

family, and I loved them more than anything, but I

was sort of starved for new people to talk to. I

really needed to start putting myself out there.

Even though I knew they didn’t think of me that

way, sometimes it was hard not to feel like a third

wheel, especially with us all living in the same

house. “There weren’t very many like this back in

Wilmington.”

Michelle gave me a questioning look.

“Wilmington?”

“Delaware.”

“Ah. How long have you been in California?”

“About a month.”

“Liking it so far?”

“Loving it,” I answered with a smile. What

wasn’t to love? Being in Cali was the realization

of a dream. Sure, Rue’s more than mine, but I was

happy to be out of Delaware and somewhere I felt

like I actually fit in. And as much as I’d joked

about it with Rue in the past, I’d never particularly

wanted to work in some posh, exclusive salon,

never cared about styling the rich and famous. I

was happy working somewhere like Embellish—

nice, but not ridiculously expensive or over-the-

top.

I didn’t have a single complaint about my job.

I got to do exactly what I’d always wanted: make

people feel confident and look pretty. Rue and I

had experimented, doing each other’s hair and

makeup throughout all of high school. It hadn’t

taken either of us long to figure out what we

wanted to do after graduation, although coming up

with the money for the program had been another

matter entirely. That had taken
years
of saving. But

I’d never doubted it was what I should be doing.

There was only one thing lacking in my life, one

dream that remained unfulfilled. And maybe soon

that wish would come true too.

“Good,” Michelle said. “I’m glad you’re

enjoying it. I grew up in LA. Can’t imagine living

anywhere else.”

“Ma’am? Your drink.”

Michelle glanced over to where the cashier

had just placed her smoothie. “Well, I’d better take

off. I have a class at three. It was nice meeting

you.” She grabbed her cup and started for the door.

When she reached it, she turned back to look at me.

“Hey, if you have any interest in joining a gym,

stop by Cobra. I’ll give you a tour.”

“Thanks. I definitely will.”

She nodded once and left. A few seconds

later I had my own smoothie, and with a minute or

two to spare. I made it back to Embellish just as

my client was taking her seat.