“I’m a joy to work with,” Cassidy told her. “Just ask me.”
“Modest, too.” Jewel laughed. The sunshine through the window caught the wisp of red in her auburn hair. She was a pretty woman with thick curls tumbling to her shoulders and emerald-colored eyes. In her jeans and striped summer tee, she could more easily pass for a college girl than a mother of a boy ready for middle school.
Until this morning, Cassidy’s interaction with Jewel had been confined to a smile and a brief hello if they passed each other on the street. Today, they’d bonded over chocolate-chip bagels with cream cheese and lattes made with whole milk.
Playing detective, Cassidy discovered that prior to coming to Jackson Hole to live with her grandparents, Jewel’s life had been one of turmoil. The fact that they both had mothers who cared more for their drugs and boyfriends than their daughters had been an instant bond between the two women.
When Cassidy asked Jewel if she’d like to earn extra money doing makeup for weddings and other events, Jewel had seemed genuinely intrigued. Best of all, she hadn’t said no. Not yet, anyway.
A car backfired on the street, drawing Cassidy’s gaze out the window. Her heart hitched. But as the guy drew closer, Cassidy saw the tall, broad-shouldered man wasn’t Tim. Other than being about the same height and build, the two didn’t even resemble each other.
“Earth to Cassidy.”
Cassidy turned back to find Jewel staring at her with a bemused smile over the rim of her cappuccino cup.
“You promised to tell me about Old West Days. But—” Jewel glanced at her phone and made a face at the time displayed “—you have to get back to the salon and I have to get home to the ranch. So just give me the good stuff.”
“Good stuff?”
“You’re stalling.” Jewel pointed a finger at her. “I’m talking hot cowboys with big, ah, Stetsons.”
Cassidy realized during the entire course of the evening she hadn’t seen a single hot cowboy. That was a first. “There weren’t any.”
She heard the note of stunned disbelief in her voice.
“They were there.” Jewel rolled her eyes. “You just weren’t looking. You had eyes only for the handsome doctor.”
Probably true, but this type of speculation was something Cassidy needed to nip in the bud. She carelessly waved a hand in the air. “It was an arranged thing. I guess I felt I owed Tim my full attention.”
Her tone was offhand, just as she intended. It would never do for word to get around that she was hung up on Dr. Tim Duggan. Especially with the attraction being one-sided.
“Did he ask you out again?”
The hopeful gleam in Jewel’s eyes surprised her. She wouldn’t have guessed the woman was a romantic. Cassidy decided not to hold this fact against Jewel.
“Of course not. We didn’t go on a real date. It was just a bachelor-auction payment thing.”
Jewel’s brows pulled together. “You had a good time and enjoyed each other’s company, right?”
“A second date wasn’t part of the deal.” An unexpected lump rose to Cassidy’s throat. She cleared it before continuing. “I don’t expect to hear from him again.”
“It’s only Monday.” Jewel made it sound as if a couple days of silence after a fabulous evening were no big deal. “He’s probably one of those guys who follow the three-day rule.”
As far as Cassidy was concerned, waiting three days to call someone you were interested in seeing again—just so you wouldn’t appear too eager—was incredibly juvenile. When Cassidy found herself hoping that was the reason, rather than the fact that Tim simply didn’t care, she realized Jewel wasn’t the only one with a romantic heart.
“I have to get back to work.” Suddenly edgy and more than a little irritated with herself because it did matter, Cassidy pushed back her chair and stood.
Jewel rose and they left the coffee shop together, splitting off in different directions once they reached the sidewalk.
Lost in thought, Cassidy flipped into autopilot mode and turned toward her salon.
The truth was, things couldn’t have gone better on the date. Tim had lightened up considerably under her teasing. They’d ridden the mechanical bull, eaten cotton candy and danced. He’d bought her a gift.
A tin star.
Exactly like the one she’d wanted so desperately as a child. The badge was now tucked safely into one of the pockets of her large zebra-striped bag. As she pushed open the door to the salon, Cassidy resisted the urge to take the badge out and gaze at it one more time.
“Look what came for you,” Daffodil Prentiss, one of the stylists, announced before the salon door even had a chance to close.
Cassidy came to an abrupt halt. She widened her eyes to take in the huge bouquet of Gerbera daisies taking up most of the reception desk counter. The bright, flashy colors drew her to the flowers like a moth to a flame. Her heart skipped a beat. “These are mine?”
“Your name is on the card.” With well-practiced ease, Daffy put a customer under the dryer then stepped forward.
“They’re quite lovely, don’t you think?” Kathy Randall, Cassidy’s next appointment, piped up from her seat in the waiting area. Ignoring the magazine lying open in her lap, she stared at Cassidy and the bouquet with undisguised interest.
Cassidy had no doubt word that she’d received flowers would be all over Jackson by nightfall. Kathy was extremely well connected in the community. Her son, Tripp, was the mayor of Jackson.
Reverently, Cassidy touched the edge of a hot-pink petal with the tip of one finger. No one had ever given her flowers before, not even a basket on May Day when she’d been a kid. Of course, in her neighborhood, any basket left would likely have been stolen off the porch before the recipient opened the door.
She couldn’t imagine who would have sent them. A satisfied customer? Perhaps a bride, thanking her for making her special day even more special?
“Here.” Daffy reached into the bouquet then pressed the card she’d retrieved into Cassidy’s hand. “You should read—”
The waiflike blonde with the huge blue eyes and gentle spirit appeared to reconsider what she’d been about to say.
“Or do it later.” Daffy spoke quickly, her cheeks now a deep pink. “Your two o’clock is here.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Kathy Randall protested.
Deliberately slipping the card into her pocket, Cassidy smiled at Kathy and spoke loudly enough for everyone. “Tell me that today is the day you’re going to let me add a pretty pink streak to your hair.”
The entire salon erupted in laughter at the thought of the mayor’s proper mother going pink.
Crisis averted.
While the flowers could be from a bride or a customer, the bouquet was too perfectly chosen to have come from anyone but Tim.
* * *
Cassidy didn’t have to worry about seeing Tim at the book club meeting at Mary Karen and Travis Fisher’s home the following night. While many of the women brought their husbands or boyfriends for a meal prior to the book discussion, Tim had no reason to be in attendance.
Jayne also wasn’t part of the book club group. For Cassidy, tonight marked only her second meeting.
When Hailey Ferris, speech therapist by day, makeup artist extraordinaire by night, had approached Cassidy several months earlier about joining the group, Cassidy had been hesitant. Granted, most of the women