Twice in a Lifetime

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Jude chained his bicycle to a rack directly in front of Heloise’s Hair House at just after two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon.

“You’re late,” Heloise greeted him when he stepped through the door.

“Only by a couple of minutes.” He threw his denim jacket on the chair at her station and headed for the back where she kept the coffeepot. There were only two customers in the shop besides himself and they were both old women sitting under dryers, their hair done up in curlers for their weekly hairdo.

He brought his cup of coffee over to Heloise’s station.

Heloise was a woman of undetermined age. Or Jude couldn’t figure it out. His friend, Danny, who’d lived in Sutter’s Bay for an eternity, said she’d looked the same when he was just a child. Jude was pretty sure she’d had work done on her face and neck, but Heloise wouldn’t admit to anything, especially how old she actually was. But with her perfectly coiffed, platinum blond hair, and star-studded fake eyelashes, she was one of Jude’s favorite people.

Heloise wrapped a smock around his neck, humming an Abba song. Ever since Mama Mia came out starring Meryl Streep, the shop had played the soundtrack over and over. She picked up a comb.

“Isn’t it time to find something else to play?” Jude asked. He winced when the comb dug into his skull.

“I like Abba.”

“Yes, but it’s not Abba, it’s Meryl Streep.”

“Do I tell you what to play in your shop?” She sniffed. “So, you’ve finally had it with the green, eh? What’s it to be this time? Purple? Magenta? Ruby red? Nice yellow?”

He shook his head. “Dark brown.”

She paused in the middle of separating locks of his hair. “What? You’re not going natural?”

For some reason, Jude found himself blushing. He felt like the three people in the shop all stared at him. Stupid, really. The old ladies under the dryer weren’t paying the least attention to him.

He cleared his throat. “All right black then.”

Heloise raised an eyebrow.

“With a few blue highlights.”

She nodded. “Now that sounds more like you. What’s up? Why the attempt to go conservative on me?”

Jude snorted. “Hardly. I just thought it might be rather shocking to people if I suddenly went to my natural hair. Not that anyone here would know what that was.”

“Yes, but there’s plenty of folks who have brown hair. Not so many with green hair or black hair with blue highlights.”

Jude agreed. “I do like to stand out.”

“You will. Still it’s a pity to be getting rid of the green.” She lifted up bits of his hair. “It’s getting a bit longer. You want me to cut it so you can spike it?”

“No, I think I want it longer.”

Heloise studied him, her expression shrewd. “You have your eye on some new man, haven’t you?’

“What? No, of course not.”

She laughed. “Yes, you do. I see the sparkle in your eyes. Who is it?”

Jude scowled. “No one.”

“Come on. Is he someone here in Sutter’s Bay?” She turned to mix the colors.

“Honestly, there’s no man. I just want a change.”

She sighed heavily. “All right, close your eyes then, and I’ll work my magic.”

* * * *

By the time he returned to his shop, twilight had set in. After getting his hair dyed, he’d stopped at the drug store for some new makeup, and then he remembered Sebastian needed cat food and he had to stop at another store.

Since St. Jude’s wasn’t a chain florist, he didn’t have any employees other than himself. In the summer, when there were weddings, he hired part-time high school kids who were on their break. But business wasn’t exactly booming in late September so there was only him. He’d turned over the closed sign when he went to his appointments and now as he returned and the street was quiet around him, he decided to close up entirely.

Vic’s next door stayed open only for breakfast and lunch, and they were the sole businesses on this end of the street. Houses surrounded them.

He locked up, grabbed the day’s mail, and headed upstairs to his flat when his cell phone sprang to life playing the theme from the movie Halloween. He flipped it open, glancing at the caller ID as he did.

“Hello, Daniel.”

“Are you bringing by the fall centerpieces for the high school benefit Friday afternoon or do I need to pick them up?”

“Sure, I’ll bring them by. How about one o’clock?” He sorted through the assortment of bills and catalogues as he went up the stairs. He got to one that seemed to be a letter, but it slipped out of his hand. Jude tried to grab for it before it dropped through the opening in the stairs and down below to the ground, but he missed, slipped on a step, tripped and fell on his right knee with an ungraceful thud.

A burning, stinging pain shot through him. “f**k me.”

“Jude?”

He grabbed his knee. “Sorry, I just fell. Hold on.” He sat down heavily on the stairs and looked. His jeans had ripped where his knee hit the stone step and blood gushed out of the scrape. His fingers had smears of blood where he’d grabbed onto his leg. “I cut up my knee, I’ll ring you later.”

“Are you all right?” Daniel asked.

“Oh yeah, it’s just a bit messy. I’ll live.” He hit End Call and returned the phone to his pocket. He glared down at the envelope on the ground he could see through the spaces in the stairs, and grabbing hold of the railing, stood up. He’d retrieve the damn letter when he was done cleaning up.

Jude reached the landing and pulled out his keys. As soon as he opened the front door, Sebastian flew out the door like his tail was on fire. “Sebastian! You bloody bastard.”

Brilliant.