“Rachel? Teri?” Maryellen couldn’t have been more surprised—and delighted. “What are you doing here?”
“We are on a mission of mercy,” Rachel declared. She set a white take-out bag on the coffee table in front of Maryellen, then reached for her hand. Shaking her head, Rachel gave a disparaging sigh. “Just look at those nails,” she muttered.
“And I was thinking you could do with a haircut,” Teri said cheerfully. “And since we were coming, we decided to bring lunch for all of us.”
Maryellen felt like laughing and crying at the same time. “How did you know I’ve been longing for some TLC?” she whispered, endeavoring not to weep.
“A little birdie told us,” Rachel said, grinning. She walked into the kitchen and collected three plates.
“This place is beautiful,” Teri said. Hands on her ample hips, she glanced around. “Rachel said Jon did most of the work himself. Mighty talented husband you’ve got there, my friend.”
Maryellen had to agree. She liked both women immensely; Rachel had done her nails for years, while Teri had only recently started cutting Maryellen’s hair. Teri had a flair for the outrageous and was genuinely entertaining. More than that, she was a kind-hearted and compassionate person—as her visit today proved.
Over the years, Maryellen had gotten to know them both pretty well, and at one time had tried to set Teri up with Jon. Now she was astonished that she’d ever thought of such a thing. Teri and Jon were completely unsuited, but Maryellen hadn’t even considered that. She’d been fighting her own attraction to him and had managed to convince herself that if he turned his attention elsewhere, he’d forget about her and vice versa. However, Jon was interested only in her.
“We brought you teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies,” Rachel said as she pulled containers from the white sack.
Maryellen’s appetite had been almost nonexistent for weeks. Jon had to coax her to eat at every meal. But all at once she was ravenous.
“That sounds fabulous.”
“Good.” Rachel handed her a filled plate and a pair of chopsticks.
Maryellen sat cross-legged on the sofa while her two friends arranged ottomans on the other side of the coffee table. The three of them dug into their lunch as Teri explained that it was from a new take-out place on the outskirts of Cedar Cove. They all proclaimed the food to be delicious and worth getting again. Teri had been considerate enough to leave a menu with Maryellen. “For when you guys just want to order in.”
“I think I should cut your hair short,” Teri said next. “Really short. You’ve got better things to do than fuss with your hair.”
Maryellen smiled. It was all she could do to get it combed every day. “Jon won’t like that.”
“Hey, he isn’t the one who has to wash it and brush it,” Teri said. “He’ll get used to it.”
Maryellen could imagine how he’d react. The last time she’d had more than a trim was soon after Katie’s birth. Until then, Maryellen had worn her dark hair long and straight, reaching the middle of her back, much as it did now. Jon had never actually said he didn’t like her new style, but she could sense that he’d been disappointed. He often told her how much he loved her long, glossy hair, how beautiful he found it.
“Okay, what do you mean by short?” Maryellen asked.
Teri’s dark eyes twinkled. “Wait and see.”
“I hope you realize I can’t afford this,” she felt obliged to remind her friends.
“That’s not your concern,” Rachel was quick to tell her. “It’s all been taken care of.”
“And,” Teri added, “included in the fee was a more-than-generous tip.”
“Who did this?” Maryellen asked, although she could guess.
“Your fairy godfather,” Rachel told her. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
“Cliff.” Just as Maryellen had thought. Her new stepfather, Cliff Harding, had arranged this.
“Like I said,” Rachel scolded, drawing two fingers across her mouth, “my lips are zipped.”
The next two hours were such a pleasure. Teri washed her hair in the sink, and while she cut, dried and styled it, Rachel worked on her nails. God bless Cliff for this—and so much else. Ever since her mother and Cliff had met, she’d been impressed by what a loving, thoughtful man he was.
“Tell me the latest gossip,” Maryellen said as the two women continued their beauty treatment.
“Well,” Teri said, sighing deeply, “the biggest news is that Nate Olsen’s back in town.”
Nate was the young warrant officer Rachel had been seeing. Her friend had an ambiguous relationship with a widower named Bruce Peyton, which had gone on for three—or was it four?—years. Then this navy man had entered her life. Maryellen wondered which one Rachel would eventually choose.
“Would you stop!” Rachel cried. “Nate and I are dating casually, that’s all.”
Maryellen doubted the “casual” part but didn’t comment.
“What about Bruce?” she asked, knowing how close Rachel was to Bruce’s daughter, Jolene.
“We’re just friends.” She brushed off the questions, sounding a bit impatient, but Maryellen suspected Rachel’s feelings for Bruce went deeper than she realized.
“You know what I don’t understand?” Teri said, expertly wielding her scissors. “Rachel has two men on the line and I haven’t hooked a single one.”
“You should’ve put in your bid at the bachelor auction,” Rachel teased, referring to the charity event at which she’d “bought” Nate.
“Those men were far too expensive for my pocketbook,” Teri muttered, still clipping. Long pieces of hair fell to the floor.
She bent to gather up Maryellen’s hair. “Want to donate this to make a wig for a cancer patient?” she asked.
“Sure!” Maryellen felt good about giving to someone in need—especially since she’d received so much herself. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
A few minutes later, Teri switched on the television to check the weekend weather. “Hey,” she said, stepping back from the screen as the local news broadcast concluded. “There’s a big chess championship coming to Seattle.”
“Do you like chess?” Maryellen asked.
Teri shrugged. “I don’t know much about it. It’s a lot like checkers, isn’t it?”
Rachel and Maryellen exchanged looks.
“Well, not really,” Rachel answered. “It’s a little more complicated.”
Soon after the two women finished, packed up their supplies and left, Jon and Katie got home. He seemed exhausted and Katie did, too. When Jon saw Maryellen, he did a double take.
“Do you like it?” she asked tentatively, putting her hand to her head. Then she went on to explain how this change in her appearance had come about—mentioning her satisfaction at donating her hair for a cancer wig.
Jon nodded. “That’s great,” he said. “And I love your new look. I’ve always liked your hair long but this is…nice. Nice,” he repeated. “It suits you and I can see that it’s much more practical.”
Maryellen was pleased at his response, which seemed exactly right to her. Katie crawled into her lap then and laid her head against Maryellen’s shoulder. Within minutes, the little girl was fast asleep. Maryellen settled Katie on the