Judy's tan face, framed by a halo of salt and pepper spikes, loomed above mine in the mirror. She held up a hank of my hair, tssking. "Darlin'," she drawled. "Bein' pregnant is no excuse for not takin' care of your assets. You've got gorgeous hair, but it's grown like a weed with those prenatal vitamins and all. These ends are a mess. When was the last time you had a good cut?"
I shrugged. When I was having morning sickness - more like all day sickness - it was easier to pull it up than style it. Since I didn't have to go to work, it got to be a habit. Here in Florida it had been too hot to wear it down, and besides, it always frizzed with the humidity.
"I'm gonna take off a couple inches, put in some layers, get rid of these nasty ends and give you some bounce. Then I'll put in some highlights to brighten you up and it'll be gorgeous. Promise."
Mama nodded beside me. "You trust Judy now, Hon." She patted her own hair and winked. "She knows her stuff." She picked up her purse from the counter and checked her cell phone. "I'm gonna go run an errand or two, then I'll swing back and pick you up and we'll grab some lunch and go to that baby store I was telling you about. They have the most darling little dresses!" With a wave, she turned and wove her way through the salon and out the door.
I relaxed and let Judy do what she wanted. I felt a little like someone on a reality make-over show. She turned me away from the mirror while she worked, keeping up a constant jabber about all the wonderful things to do while I was in Sarasota and how great it was to have kids. She had four, all grown, and by the time she was through with my color I could recite their names, ages, college degrees, and marital status from memory.
"Your mama is sure happy to have you here," Judy said. "She's been worried about you up there, split up and livin' with your sister and all." She shook her head. "That ex-husband of yours sounds like a piece of work."
Even as I bristled at her comments it occurred to me that I might have been pumping the wrong person for information. My mother was dodging my questions, but Judy was a gossip. Mama had handed me a golden opportunity and she didn't even realize it. "So, what do you think of Glen?" I asked, when I could work a word in edgewise.
"He's great, don't you think?" She went on before I could respond. "What a handsome man." Judy closed her eyes, a dreamy smile on her lips. "I have more than one client who would kill for that gorgeous wavy hair."
"I was thinking more along the lines of his personality."
She must've picked up on something in my voice. She cocked her head. "You don't like him?"
"Oh, I like him fine," I said, and it was true. He was kind and funny, with a dry sense of humor that reminded me of Raylan, and his affection for my mother was obvious. But something about him still just didn't click. "He's just not really Mama's type."
"He's been good for her," Judy's scissors snipped faster as she talked. "She was actin' like some old lady, not goin' out, nose stuck in a book all the time." She huffed out a breath. I doubted Judy was a reader. "She's too pretty and vital for that."
"How'd they meet?"
"She didn't tell you?"
I shook my head and Judy laughed. "Well, I guess maybe she was embarrassed."
"Why would she be embarrassed?" I wondered for a horrified moment if my mother had joined some online-dating service for older adults.
Judy chewed her lip. A confession was coming. "We bought her a date at the 'Bachelors of Sarastota' auction about six months ago. Me and Arlene Thomas, one of your mama's other friends. We'd had enough of her mopin' around. She was hoppin' mad at first, but it turned out alright. I think Glen is a couple of years younger, but he adores your mama, and I think she's sweet on him, too."
"I'd say so, since he's practically moved in. Where did he live before?"
"I'm pretty sure he still has his own place just north of Miami." She stopped cutting and stared up at the ceiling for a minute. "I'll think of it...Pompano Beach, that's it." Her scissors started again. "Funny thing, he was just as mad about it as she was. Turns out one of his bandmates had signed him up for this auction thing and he was mortified. He was going to back out, but the charity would've lost money so he came. Kismet."
The blow dryer was too loud for conversation, so we lapsed into silence until she whirled the chair around. "Whaddaya think?"
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and blinked. My hair looked fabulous. She'd cut it to shoulder length in front, tapering it down the sides. The back hung right between my shoulder blades. It curled softly, no frizz, and she'd lightened it at the roots and around my face.
"Well?" Judy demanded.
"I really like it. The color is great. I'm not sure I can style it though."
She handed me a tube. "Use this and blow it dry slow, don't use high heat. And you don't need to wash everyday. Save that updo for the second day. Now.." holding out her hand she helped me from the chair. Julie's going to do your mani-pedi and you'll be set to go."
After another hour or so my nails were perfectly shaped ovals of pale pink and my toes - in the flip flops Mama bought me - were an aqua color Judy picked that I never would have chosen myself. "It's whimsical," the girl painting them said. "Perfect for an expectant mommy." She shrugged her shoulders. "If you don't like it, I can take it off easy enough and do something else."
I did like it, if only because I knew Mama wouldn't. Something about being around my mother always turned me back into a rebellious thirteen-year-old.
"Blue toenails? Is this some subtle way of tellin' me it could still be a boy?" I still knew her well. She didn't like it.
"It's aqua. And no, we know it's a girl."
Mama dug a lipstick out of her purse and glanced in the rear-view mirror, swiping it expertly across her mouth. "Well, it looks like your feet are cold."
-o-o-o-
We ate lunch outside along the street at a little cafe with wrought iron tables and umbrellas. Matt, my U.S. Marshal shadow who had disappeared while I was at the salon, sat several tables away, facing the street. I gave him a little wave. It was a sunny day and the restaurant was crowded with shoppers taking a break. My mother ordered the same thing she always did; a club sandwich, hold the mayo. At least some things were still predictable. I ordered a chicken salad with grapes and pecans. After the waiter left with our order Mama admired my hair and talked about what a genius Judy was, blue toenails forgotten.
I decided to get to the point. "So," I said, stirring my iced-tea. "You met Glen because Judy and Arlene bought him for you?" I smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Judy is such a busybody," Mama said. She flushed and took a long sip of iced tea before she answered. "I should've known she'd tell you all about it. Yes, they bought me a date at the bachelor auction. I wasn't going to go, but..." she folded her hands on the table. "Do you remember Paul?"
"The banker? Sure, nice man. You brought him up with you when Gayle had Ethan."
"That's right." A smile played at the corners of her mouth, then dropped away. "Yes, well, he died about a year ago. Stroke."
"Oh!" I said. "He wasn't that old, was he?"
"Two years older than me." Mama shook her head. "We stayed friends, you know, after we decided not to get married. He'd come to dinner once a week or so, or we'd go out. He liked to go to a lot of the events here; the film festival, things at The Ringling, and he was old-fashioned enough to like having someone on his arm. He wasn't good at making small talk." She stopped while the waiter refilled their iced tea. "When he died so suddenly...well...looking back I suppose I was depressed. I did a lot of thinking about my own mortality and all that nonsense." She waved a hand in the air dismissively.
The waiter came with our food and I dug in eagerly. My mother took a nibble from one of the sections of sandwich. "Judy and Arlene saw me in a rut and did me a favor. I didn't see it at the time. I was embarrassed and a little angry, but when I met Glen..." Her eyes lit up. "We hit it off right away.
"You like him a lot, don't you?"
"I thought I was past the point of falling in love again," Mama said softly. "But I guess I'm not too old after all."
"Oh, Mama," I said, pushing all my worries about Glen aside. "I'm happy for you."
"I only wish," she started, then shook her head. "Never mind."
I was curious. Did she have her own reservations about Glen? "What?"
"I said never mind." She picked up another section of sandwich. "I'm not going to meddle."
That would be a first. I sighed and tossed my napkin on the table. "You might as well say it, Mama." I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. "I know you. If you don't, it will just eat its way out eventually anyway."
She pushed the plate with her half-eaten sandwich aside and leaned her elbows on the table. "I wish you weren't having this baby alone."
"I'm not, Mama..."
"Couldn't you and Raylan find a way to work things out? God knows your father and I weren't the perfect match, and yes, ultimately it ended, but...well...at least we were together when you girls were growing up. It's better for a child to have both parents." She nodded for emphasis.
"The baby will have both of us, no matter what."
"What about you?" She tilted her head, leveling steel-blue eyes at me.
"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what she meant. I was stalling, but at least it bought me a minute.
"Do you want to stay single? Or are you going to start dating, after the baby is born?"
I snorted. "I'm sure I'll be attracting men like flies what with a new baby, no job, and no place of my own."
"What about Raylan?" She asked. "He dating anyone?"
"Raylan doesn't date." I smiled a little at the thought. "And no, I think he mighta been seeing someone for awhile, but it I don't think he is anymore."
"Would it bother you if he was?"
I chewed my lip and Mama laughed.
"That's what I thought." The waiter brought the check and she snatched it up before I could. "I'll get it. Listen...maybe, just maybe, this baby is the best thing that's ever happened to you and Raylan. It's gonna force you to stay put and him, well, he might have to consider that there are things more important than that job of his."
-o-o-o-
Mama hadn't been exaggerating about the baby store. It was called Over the Moon and it had the most darling baby clothes I'd ever seen. I assembled quite a wardrobe for baby girl Givens, and replaced a few of the nursery items that got spoiled in the gunfight at Gayle's. At the register, Mama pulled out her credit card, but I brushed her off.
"You've done enough, Mama. I've got money."
She raised an eyebrow. "But without a job..."
"Raylan will be helping, and besides, Gary's life insurance came through last week."
Mama's lips curved into a smile. She hadn't liked Gary. "Now that's what I'd call poetic justice."
I didn't disagree.
By the time we got home, toting huge sacks from Over the Moon and Babies are Us, I was exhausted again. I begged off a before-dinner walk on the beach with Mama and Glen and took another nap instead. I woke up, an hour or so later and they weren't back yet, so I decided to call Raylan.
When he answered, I could tell from the funny echo that he was using the Blue Tooth in the car. "So you decided to get out of Harlan after all." I said.
There was a long pause before he answered. "Yeah, I did."
I pushed open the sliding door to the patio and sank into one of the deck chairs arranged to face the bay. "Where're you going?"
"Not sure yet. I'll let you know."
I pushed aside the twinge of disappointment. Maybe I should have just swallowed my pride and invited him down. "Did you find out anything?"
"I got Rachel to run the name but nothing popped up."
"Nothing? No driver's license or traffic tickets, or divorce papers or anything? That's weird, isn't it?"
"Maybe Glen isn't his name, maybe it's short for something, or maybe it's a stage name, didn't you say he was a musician?"
"Yeah, but Glen Underwood isn't much of a stage name." He didn't say anything. "You're interested now, huh?" I joked. I knew how his mind worked. Give him something to chew over, and he wouldn't stop until he found the answer. Then something occurred to me. "You aren't keeping something from me, are you? The way you did when you ran those names I found on Gary's computer?" I shivered, remembering the creepy man who showed up in my kitchen.
"Winona, that was..."
"You protecting me, I know. Which we both know you are very good at, but this is me, protecting my mother, so if you found something..."
"Nothing," he assured me. "Yet."
I heard that familiar tone in his voice. His curiosity had gotten the better of him. Relief and a tingle of anticipation hit me as I figured it out. "You're on your way down here to see for yourself, aren't you?"
"I was gonna surprise you." He chuckled. "Just got through Atlanta. God, what a mess. You couldn't pay me enough money to live in a big city and fight that goddamn traffic every day."
Atlanta was about eight hours away. If I knew Raylan he'd just keep driving, which meant he'd get here about one in the morning. "You're driving straight through?"
"Yeah," he yawned. "Spent two hours in a traffic jam south of Knoxville and I stopped and dozed at a rest area for a little while this morning, but I figured I'd keep going. No sense wastin' money on a motel room."
"I'll leave my phone on. Call me when you get past Tampa and I'll give you directions out to the island. It can get kind of tricky when you've never been here."
"I don't want to wake you all up. I'll just hang around somewhere until morning."
"Raylan, that's just silly. I'll let Mama know. She won't mind. Call me."
He blew out a breath. "Okay."
"I'm glad you're coming," I said.
"Really?" He sounded relieved and a little skeptical.
"Yeah, I've missed you."
There. I said it.
