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I shut my eyes and sighed.
Well, at least you didn t try to deny it.
I held my hand up. Just go across the street, Ry. I have
to get back to the salon, but I will tell everyone there to be
on the lookout for your daughter.
You just can t wait to make my child the subject of gos-
sip at your hillbilly big-hair boutique, can you?
Now who s slinging bullshit? My body went rigid. He
could insult my town. He could make cracks about my fam-
ily. But damn it, I would not stand there and let him ridicule
my hair salon! Don t you ever make fun of my work or my
hair again, got that?
Jolie, I wasn t talking about you. I was talking about the
women over there who are going to grab this story and
And find your daughter.
What?
L ove and a Bad Hair Day 115
Face it, Ry, she is a nigh-onto-baldheaded girl, who
spent most of the day meeting the old guard of Logie
County at the side of none other than Granny Missus
Hadley she s a smart-mouthed O Malley skulking around
Verbena. A town so small, need I remind you, that I d wager
at least five people have already called my grandmother to
ask her if she knows two crazy people are standing out in
front of the A. E. Hadley Auto Museum hollering at each
other!
As if on cue, a white van pulled into the parking lot of the
South Winds and came to a halt beside the empty pool. A
tall woman got out and waved her arm with all the enthu-
siasm of a castaway signaling a rescue plane.
That s the lady preacher from the Methodist church, I
said, my body and voice as tight as a tripwire. Still, I smiled
brightly and waved back. She did your grandfather s me-
morial service.
Ry swore under his breath. Think one of those five peo-
ple you suspect have called your grandmother and asked
for an emergency prayer intervention on our behalf?
Lord a mercy, I hope not!
Across the way, the minister lowered her hand, moved
aside and pointed toward the van.
Do you think? I crooked my neck low and noticed
something barely poking above the van s window.
I don t think it, I d know that sullen, listless lump of a
passenger anywhere.
What did I tell you? I waved again to let her know we
understood. It worked out fine.
Of course it did, and to top it off the woman who did
old Howdy s funeral has brought my prodigal child back.
116 Annie Flannigan
Ry made a half-hearted attempt at waving to the woman,
too. Because everything in Verbena is always connected.
Why is it such a bad thing for you to have ties to other
people?
It s not. He shook his head and flexed his hands. Is
this where I say I m wrong?
No, this is where you say thank you.
Thank you, Jolie.
Don t thank me, thank the lady minister.
A cumbersome RV came up the highway toward us, fol-
lowed by two cars and a small bus. We waited for them all
to pass before we could cross over.
And in a way I need to thank the entire town for being
the kind of place where this would happen.
You re already doing that by opening the motel and buf-
fet for one last weekend.
But you wish it were a lot longer, don t you?
I tipped my head back and gazed at the diving figure on
top of the sign. Do I wish it were a lot longer?
He leaned down to murmur into my ear. That s not a
question I ve ever had to ask a woman before, don t make
me say it again.
I laughed.
Well?
I m thinking.
You re kidding.
No. I m wondering if maybe I ve been wrong in all this.
Maybe the only thing and the very best thing I can do
now is to just finally let go of it all and join the rest of Ver-
bena in bidding farewell to the South Winds once and for
all.
Chapter 10
{ You re saying you want me to tear the South Winds
down?
To the ground. Demolish it. Leave no trace. I flung my
arm out in order to look sure and bold and brave and . . .
everything I certainly did not feel.
My eyes glued to the figure of Esther poised up there on
the edge of what had once been a safe, unchanging world,
I raised my chin and moved on.
I don t believe a word I heard.
That only seems right. I can hardly believe that I said
it. My feet hit the ground with hard determination. But I
did say it and that s that. End of discussion.
Watch out! The lady preacher held both hands up.
With the warning still hanging in the tingling air of the
autumn afternoon, I swung my whole attention to Sugar
Anne, fearing the young woman had tried something out-
rageous. Then I heard the hum of tires.
Before I could so much as turn my head, strong arms en-
118 Annie Flannigan
circled my waist. I gasped. My feet slipped from under me.
I was pulled backward. Suddenly my shoulders, back, be-
hind and thighs fit inch by inch to the unyielding hardness
of Ry s body.
It s okay, he said. I ve got you.
A car horn blared.
In the blur of its passing I squinted to try to catch a
glimpse of the driver. Three kids pressed their noses to the
windows. Two waved at me and the third stuck out this
tongue and gave me a one-fingered salute.
I blinked. I looked down to see the faded center line
barely a foot away from the toe of Ry s boot.
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