Perfunctory Affection Read online

  “It’s a versatile cut.” The stylist turned Meg back around and took the mirror. “I promise it will look good with a wash-and-wear, too. Spend a little attention, and you get fabulous!”

  “It is amazing,” Meg said, truly stunned at what the woman had managed. “Thank you so much.” Eyes fixed on herself, she shook her head again to feel the waves cool against her neck.

  “It was my pleasure.” With a flourish, the stylist took off the drape.

  Meg smiled in delight as the basic-black drape was whisked away and the true impact of the last hour in a chair were revealed. Her black hair was a dark accent against the colorful new V-neck top that she and Haley had found before hitting the home furnishing stores. The soft fabric was cut tight to show off her small chest and narrow waist, and it went well with the black capris, new as well. Seeing it all together with her updated hairstyle, she dreaded the thought of putting her sneakers back on. Not when she looked this good. Haley had found everything on the just-in rack, convincing the woman to let her wear them out for their afternoon of shopping entertainment.

  “Sit tight,” the stylist said as she gave Meg’s shoulder a light touch. “Your toes aren’t dry yet. I’ll see if Emily is available to do your nails. You want the same color, yes?”

  “Yes please.” Meg glanced at the nearby rolling rack. The array of bright reds, purples, and even golds were daunting.

  “How’s your coffee?” the woman said as she put her curling iron away. “Need a refill?”

  “No, I’m good.” Meg took her paper cup of tan coffee from the nearby counter and raised it in salute. She took a sip as the stylist click-clacked away. It was sweet. Haley had made it for her, and she was beginning to get used to the sugar overload.

  “That neutral is a good color on you,” Haley said from her perch on the nearby, vacant stylist’s chair, her head down over her phone. “You were right not to go with the red. It would have drawn too much away from your dark presence. But that shouldn’t surprise me.” Her head came up, smiling. “You have a great eye for color. Must be an artist thing.”

  A wave of belonging went through Meg, almost painful from its long absence. Grateful, she set her coffee down as Haley texted someone, her own bright red, newly polished nails flashing. “I really appreciate this,” Meg said, wiggling her toes at Haley. “But if I get my nails done too, they’re just going to get ruined on Monday at class.”

  “Then they will look fabulous tonight.” Closing her phone down, Haley smiled brightly and recrossed her knees. She was sitting sideways to look like a fashion model, and again Meg wondered why the woman was spending the day with her. “Let me do this for you, Meg,” Haley said as if reading her mind. “It’s the only way I know how to say thank you. And my God, you look great. I knew there was a real beauty under the artist. There always is.” Getting up, Haley came to stand behind her, leaning so that both their heads were together as they looked at their reflections. “Wow. We look great,” Haley said, and Meg felt herself warm.

  “I can never repay you,” she said, flustered.

  Haley drew back, eyes still on Meg’s curls as she smiled. “For what? No, this is my treat. I want to, and it’s my pleasure. Besides, we’re going to look fabulous when we walk into Swanks tonight. Reservation for two, all set.”

  Haley patted her back pocket where her phone lay, but Meg’s flutter of anxiety quickly evolved into anticipation. They would look fabulous. She could hardly wait to put on that skimpy, gold-silk dress that she’d bought between the tin mixing bowls and chicken potholders. It was so light, it was like wearing nothing.

  “You are not going to put those sneakers on over your new toes,” Haley said, abruptly swooping down to pick them up where they sat beside the pedicure cart. “You can wear your sandals out.” Holding the sneakers with two fingers as if they were dead rats, Haley took them to the register where their things lay piled and began searching.

  Meg smiled and looked away, wondering how Haley was going to find her new sandals among everything else. Pleasantly exhausted, she was content to sit and be pampered, knowing she would fall asleep fast tonight with nothing to keep her awake.

  She and Haley had hit all her favorite stores, the ones she never got into but knew their entire stock from the catalogs that failed to brighten up her dull apartment. Between Meg’s knowledge of what they had and Haley’s willingness to spend money, they’d outfitted the small apartment in an afternoon. Haley was a power shopper, and what sat beside the door was perhaps only a third of what they had bought. The rest was scheduled to be delivered on Monday.

  Her new dress hanging behind the counter in a protective bag had been last-minute. Haley had practically dragged her into the high-end clothier, soundly beating the saleslady in a snob-down before pushing Meg into a dressing room and throwing three yellow and gold evening dresses in to her. Meg appreciated having been spared the torture of trying to find something suitable. All of them had fit perfectly, thanks to Haley’s expert eye, accenting her narrow hips and modest bust to make her sleek and slim. Confident. Feminine in a way that said power. Meg had only needed to pick her favorite. It was far away and distant from her usual earth tones, making her feel like someone else as she had stared at herself in the changing mirror.

  And I’m going to wear it tonight at Swanks, she thought, touching her soft waves again.

  “Good Lordy,” a masculine voice said from the store’s waiting area. “Is that Meg?”

  Meg flushed at Rorry’s voice. Full of a pleased anticipation, she spun her chair to see him in the threshold of the spa as if reluctant to enter without an invitation. “I thought you were gone for the weekend,” Meg said, and Rorry came in, giving the receptionist a slight nod. A faint thread of dismay pulled through her, even as she was glad to see him. She wasn’t going to spend the night with Haley if Rorry was there, and even as she thought it, her dismay shifted to worry. That loon, Christopher, knew where she lived, and Meg’s eyes dropped to her purse next to the stylist’s counter. She could call Daniel, but it had been twelve hours, and he probably wouldn’t come out.

  “I am,” Rorry said as Haley joined him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and a bland side hug. “But the commute home is unpredictable and tends to break down. I’m aiming for tonight, but I was not about to get involved in Haley’s decorating. Not after last time.” His attention slid to the pile of bags, and he actually shuddered. “But it seems that I’ll be her pack animal despite my plotting.”

  Haley beamed, giving him another squeeze before sliding away. “We could use your help. Thanks for coming to get the stuff,” she said, and Meg silently nodded, now knowing who Haley was texting earlier. “Can you imagine us trying to lug all that home on the bus?”

  “Yes.” Rorry sourly looked at the pile again. “I can. But I came anyway because I wanted to see Meg. Wow.” Smiling in appreciation, he looked her up and down. “You look amazing. Love your toes.”

  “Thanks.” Still flushed, Meg took her sandals as Haley extended them. “It’s Haley’s fault.”

  Rorry grinned. “It usually is.”

  Haley gave his shoulder a backwards smack with a good-natured sourness. Chuckling, Meg dared to put her sandals on over her still tacky toes, marveling at how pretty they were.

  “Hey, this means we’ve got an apartment,” Rorry said. “I can’t wait to get out of that hotel room. Key?” he asked, hand outstretched, and Haley reached for her purse.

  “I need this back after you’re done lugging everything over there,” she said as she handed him the thick key still holding a paper apartment number tag. “Before you leave, Rorry. I don’t want to get stuck trying to explain things to the manager again.”

  “I’ll stop and get a new one cut,” Rorry promised as he pocketed it. “Maybe two,” he said, grinning at Meg.

  Meg’s head snapped up as Haley’s eye twitched.

  “Stop it,” Haley said, sounding annoyed. “Meg and I are just having a girls’ weekend while you’re gon
e. Meg has her own life.” Her brow furrowed, Haley sat on the adjacent stylist’s chair again, knees crossed. “Though I’ll admit I’m glad she’s going to be with me tonight. That horrid man we saw at the putt-putt is lurking about. Did you know someone from the government is looking for him?”

  “Daniel?” Meg blurted in surprise. She’d been so careful not to mention him around Haley.

  But Haley’s shoulders slumped in relief, and she reached across the space and touched Meg’s hand as if needing the support. “He talked to you too?” she said, eyes pinched. “Clearly the deranged man has a type. It’s probably a good idea we’re both staying somewhere he doesn’t know about. With some luck, he’s already back in custody, but until I know for sure, I’d sleep better if someone else was in the apartment.”

  She thinks we’re a type? Meg thought, her concern for Christopher vanishing in a swirl of belonging.

  “So, Meg.” Rorry leaned against the stylist’s counter. “How did you ever get her to settle on one place so fast? It usually takes forever.”

  “It was the light,” Meg said immediately, and Haley nodded her agreement. “The living room has sun from noon on. You’re going to love it. I’m surprised you didn’t want to go apartment hunting and have a say.”

  Arms going over his chest, Rorry looked at Haley. “She never listens to what I want,” he said softly. “Sun in the living room, huh?”

  Haley chuckled and took a sip of her own coffee, her gaze on the nail stylist still finishing up with her client. “There’s sun in your room. I’m not looking at your desk over dinner anymore.”

  “See what I mean?” Rorry’s lips twitched, and then Meg watched him pack his annoyance away. “I can’t wait to see it,” he said, his attention going to the pile of bags beside the door. “Really,” he finished with a half sigh. Then he brightened. “Haley, I want to give it to her now. Before I leave.”

  “Rorry!” Haley exclaimed, looking not afraid exactly, but maybe affronted?

  “Why not?” Rorry coaxed. “It will go with her new dress better than that old chain of silver she has on.”

  “Give me what?” Meg asked, then turned to Haley. “When did you tell him I got a new dress? When?” But the real question might be why did she tell him she got a new dress.

  “When you were trying them on.” Haley looked a tad uncomfortable. “I called him to come and get the new stuff for the apartment. If he doesn’t want to go shopping, fine, but I’m not going to lug it all home by myself. That you were trying on dresses came up in conversation.” Brow furrowed, she turned to Rorry. “Rorr, it’s too soon. She’s going to think we’re crazy.”

  Rorry pushed himself away from the stylist’s counter. “No she isn’t,” he said, but a hint of dismay colored his usual upbeat mien. “It’s just a necklace.”

  Meg felt a stirring of worry as Rorry reached into a front pocket and drew out a length of delicate gold chain, a heavy, fractured stone pendant weighing down its center. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Meg said in awe as she took it, unable to help herself. The bright lights in the salon lit the stone as if from within, the smooth finish of the teardrop shape a startling contrast to the broken look of it as cracks radiated out from the center. “I’ve never seen anything like it. What kind of a stone is it?” she asked, knowing that she could never accept it.

  Rorry pressed close, clearly pleased. “Do you like it? It will go better with a gold dress than your silver necklace.”

  He had crouched to put his face beside hers to look at it, and regret that she was going to give it back was heavy in her. “Rorry, I can’t accept this,” she said, wincing when his expression fell. Behind her, she heard Haley mutter “I told you.”

  “It must have cost a fortune,” Meg said, trying to put it into Rorry’s hands, but he had backed up, his worry obvious. “I’ve never seen anything like it, but I can’t accept it.”

  “I told you it was too soon,” Haley grumbled.

  Rorry took it—only to undo the clasp and put it around her neck. Her curls were a soft tickling whisper, and she froze, the sensation going all the way to her toes.

  “It didn’t cost a fortune,” Rorry said. “I want you to have it. It’s as unique as you are, and it belongs around your neck.”

  Meg stared at herself in the mirror, her hand going up to touch the stone still warm from Rorry’s pocket. It fell just below her mother’s necklace, the smooth, fractured stone at the nadir point. “It’s beautiful,” she said, loving the way it looked, even if her neck was cluttered with both of them there. “But really, I can’t accept it. I just met you two.”

  “You ruin everything,” Haley said, her frustration looking old on her. “You know that, Rorry?”

  Rorry’s smile faded. “I’m… It’s just a necklace,” he protested, his crestfallen expression making him look as if he’d done something wrong.

  Guilt seeped into Meg, and she began to fidget. “Rorry, it’s okay,” she finally said, thinking Rorry’s embarrassment was worse than her guilt at the clearly expensive present. “Thank you. I love it.”

  Relief filled Rorry as Meg put a hand possessively over the stone and she effectively accepted it. “You do? You’ll keep it? I’m so glad,” he gushed, and Haley arched her eyebrows, still disapproving of Rorry’s innocence. “I wish I could be there tonight to see it on you. Haley, take a picture tonight, promise?”

  “Okay.” Haley said. “Are you sure you don’t want to come to dinner with us?” she asked, but her tone said for him to back off.

  Meg’s fingers fell from her new necklace. She would’ve liked to have him see her all dressed up.

  Everything clearly right with the world again, Rorry looked out into the busy mall. “No. I’m going to wait for my commute. If I don’t make it tonight, I’ll have to wait until morning.”

  “That’s too bad,” Haley said, but Meg could tell she would be glad to be rid of him for a while.

  “So, where are you going?” Meg asked. “Home?” Her mother’s necklace looked dull and faded beside Rorry’s gold dewdrop, and she frowned at it.

  “Yep.” Distracted, Rorry fiddled with the cart of nail polish. “Perfection. I can’t wait. It’s been almost a year.” Eyes alight, he looked at Meg. “The air is so clear, you almost drink it, pooling in your lungs like light itself. And at night, the sky turns pink and gold and purple when the sunset reflects off the mountains. Never the same colors twice. In the winter, there are more reds, and in the summer, golds, but always purples.”

  “It sounds beautiful,” Meg said. They live near the mountain? she mused, having no idea where. Their faint accent was totally unfamiliar.

  Haley cleared her throat, and Rorry quit touching the nail polish to lean back against the stylist’s counter and look tall and sleek, his gaze oddly distant. “When the conditions are right, the ocean reflects it all, and it’s like you’re living in heaven,” he said with a sigh.

  “Wow. Oceans and mountain both?” she said thinking it sounded European. “Lucky you.”

  “I bet you could paint it,” Rorry said, and Meg’s smile went faint. Her new style didn’t lend itself to colors and shapes that the eye wasn’t already expecting, but she might be able to do something banal with her old techniques.

  “Maybe someday,” she hedged, and Rorry beamed.

  “Rorry…” Haley warned.

  “Sorry.” Rorry pushed himself up. The light in his eyes was utterly gone.

  “It’s not the kind of place you can get to with a passport,” Haley said as she came forward to put a hand on his shoulder. “Rorry, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  Irritation crossed Rorry, then vanished. “Sure.”

  Meg reached for her overly-sweet coffee as Haley drew him away, her eyes traveling down his slim build in appreciation as they stood in the threshold to the mall. It had grown obvious that Haley and he were not a couple and never would be. He liked her new look. And best of all, he wasn’t so interested in Meg that he set off her warning flags.
/>   Meg’s eyes dropped to the necklace as she fingered it, feeling the difference between it to her mom’s necklace. At least, not much, she thought, letting it fall to press into her with a comfortable weight. It looked odd with her mother’s necklace, and she finagled the clasp, feeling somehow unburdened when the cool silver slipped from her. “Just until I get home and put you away properly,” she promised as she consigned the bejeweled palette to her purse.

  Smile fading, she eyed her reflection as she waited for their return, hardly able to see herself under the new style. The faint unease that Haley had been keeping at bay began to rise again. She looked so nice. Nothing like herself. This was what she wanted, but she increasingly felt as if she was a leaf being swirled down a fast river.

  Maybe Austin is right, she thought, fingering the stone again. Maybe she should slow down.

  But she was very sure she didn’t want to go back to her apartment alone. Christopher might still be out there, and he was…troubled. Very troubled, the kind of troubled that tended to spill over and make other people troubled. She didn’t like that he had been a client, and then patient, of Dr. Jillium’s. That Dr. Jillium had broken the doctor/patient privilege to make sure Meg wasn’t lying about the side effects didn’t make her feel any better.

  Meg’s gaze dropped to her purse, her ignored diary still sitting in it like a guilty secret. Maybe she should call Austin and apologize. He was only concerned about her, and apparently, the danger in a bad reaction was significant if Christopher was any indication. Austin had been so good to her, understanding even when she’d been at her lowest point, unable to leave the apartment for a week last Christmas, making sure she ate and even washing her hair for her when it seemed like a mountain.

  Her gaze rose to Rorry and Haley standing against the backdrop of the busy shoppers. Haley’s hands moved expressively, and a feathering of anxiety brushed against her. Meg looked at the time, relief a warm blanket as she realized she could take another pill. She needed to talk to Austin, yes, but there was no way she could cancel on Haley tonight. Not after Haley had gone to so much trouble in helping her pick out a new dress, and making reservations at Swanks.