Sundays on Squire's Isle Read online

  "Did you do this for a lot of people?"

  "Oh, sure. Never heard a complaint."

  Alex grinned. "Because your clients were all dogs?"

  Rachel scoffed and slapped Alex's shoulder. "No, silly. They were people." She waited a beat. "Barbie dolls count as people."

  Alex snorted.

  "Hey, they're good practice. Barbie's hair doesn't grow back, so I had to make sure I did it right the first time."

  "Well, don't worry." She adjusted the sheet over her lap. "I have a lot of hats, and I can wear a helmet at work. And if anyone asks, I can just say the ends caught fire and I had to slice it all off or risk my head catching fire."

  Rachel snickered under her breath. "Well, as long as you have a plan."

  The music continued, the hiss of Rachel's scissors adding harmony to the music. When she moved to cut Alex's bangs, Alex spread her knees apart and hooked her fingers in the belt loops of Rachel's slacks to pull her close. Rachel snickered and combed Alex's hair forward as Alex cupped Rachel's rear end.

  "That's not necessary."

  "Don't care."

  "I might get distracted."

  "Worth it."

  Rachel snickered and carefully cut Alex's bangs. She squirmed out of Alex's grasp, blew her a kiss, and bent down to make sure the sides were even. She ran her fingers through Alex's hair, a slow smile spreading across her lips as she tried to ignore the fact Alex was staring at her. Once she was confident the hair was cut evenly, she pulled Alex's head forward and kissed her soundly before letting her go.

  "You don't get that at the barber shop."

  "Well, not every time. But Frank can get very affectionate."

  Rachel backed away. "All right, you're done." She picked up a mirror and presented it like a shield. She bit the thumbnail of her other hand as she examined the finished product. "What do you think? It's a little choppy."

  "It's great. It looks like, uh..." She squinted and smiled. "It looks kind of like Audrey Hepburn if she was alive now. And kind of a punk." She ran her fingers through it, messing up the straight lines so they looked more natural. "It's amazing, Rachel."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah." She let Rachel unclip the sheet and fold it so that her hair was captured in it like a bag. "What do I owe you?"

  "Well, since you're such a faithful customer, I'll give you a discount. One kiss."

  "No discounts. Quality work deserves full price." Then she took the mirror from Rachel and put it down on the table, drawing her back between her legs. Rachel blew a few stray hairs off Alex's forehead, and then tilted her head down to capture Alex's lips. "And just so you know, you will be cutting my hair from now on."

  "I think I can make that happen."

  Alex put her arm around Rachel's waist and grabbed her wrist with the other hand. "And thanks to the time you saved, we now we have the whole afternoon ahead of us. What do you want to do?"

  "I want to think about it in bed. And if neither of us comes up with anything, then we can just lay down together in bed for a couple of hours."

  "I like that plan. You go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

  They pulled apart and Alex went into the bedroom. Rachel gathered the sheet and carried it to the deck, opening the door and letting it flap free. The hairs caught on the wind and blew out into the harbor as the ferry slowly pulled in to dock. She watched as the massive ship lined itself up and rolled toward land, then turned and went inside.

  The haircut may look nice, but it didn't receive her seal of approval until she knew how it felt to run her hands through it. She was willing to do rigorous testing to find out the answer.

  April 8, 2012

  Easter Parade

  "You look... cute."

  Molly turned and glared at Shane, who quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Molly rolled her eyes and looked into the mirror as she adjusted the elastic strap currently biting into both of her cheeks. The small rubber rabbit snout covered her nose and most of her upper lip, with two buck teeth hanging down in front. When she moved her mouth to speak, the whole thing twitched. It could have been worse. The bunny ears at least looked good; they were small enough to be mistaken for an unfortunately large, pink bow. She and Shane wore matching tuxedo shirts with pink bowties, handing out refreshments with crisp white Mickey Mouse-type gloves.

  There had been a white cotton tail on the seat of their black pants until Molly saw it could be removed without ripping the fabric. Some things were just unacceptable.

  Molly left the bathroom and Shane followed her out of the bathroom. "You're the one who agreed to this."

  "For time and a half," Molly reminded her. "Sunday plus holiday pay? I couldn't say no."

  "You didn't mind the Mrs. Claus getup."

  Molly turned and faced her. "That's because Mrs. Claus and Santa's elf had a lot of fun on Christmas Eve, when the fat man was away."

  Shane slid her arms around Molly's waist. "Well, you know what they say about bunnies, and how they spend their free time." She wiggled her nose and bumped it against Molly's.

  "Oh?"

  Shane made a strangled noise in her throat and then furrowed her brow. "What noise to rabbits make?"

  Molly thought for a second and then sucked her teeth. "Fft fft fft."

  Shane poked out her tongue. "Sexy."

  "I thought so."

  They kissed, tilting their heads so that their bunny noses wouldn't get in the way. Shane broke the kiss and tugged on the ends of Molly's bowtie. "Afterward. If you're good."

  Molly groaned, but with incentive like that, she thought she could survive the day. She linked her fingers with Shane's and let herself be led out of their apartment.

  #

  Nadine bobbed her head to the music coming through the speakers overhead as she carried the portable microphone to the edge of the stage. She normally didn't use a producer, but Billy had gone to a technical school and had proven to be a godsend on these remote broadcasts. She smoothed the hem of her yellow floral dress against her thighs as the wind threatened to give her a wardrobe malfunction. She carefully descended the stairs to the soft green grass of the park.

  Five kids were standing near the platform with parents standing beside them, and Nadine smiled as she approached them. "Is everyone ready to be on the radio?"

  Five heads bobbed up and down, and Nadine turned to watch Billy. REM was singing about how everybody hurt and, as the music faded out, he motioned to Nadine. The microphone in her hand went live, and she turned to address the people with her. "That was REM back in their heyday. I still can't quite believe they've broken up. Anyway, we're broadcasting live from the thirteenth annual December Harbor Easter Festival at the city park, and I have with me five participants in this year's Easter egg hunt. I'll let them introduce themselves to you."

  She crouched and offered each kid the microphone in turn.

  "Charlie."

  "Anna."

  "Michael."

  "Pamela."

  "Cindy."

  Nadine winked at them and gave them a thumbs-up. "Thank you all for being here. Charlie, have you participated in the hunt before?"

  He leaned toward the microphone and spoke louder. "Yeah, I did it last year with my big brother but he's too big to do it this year."

  "Ah, I see. So you'll be bringing home the treats and he'll have to beg you for some if he wants any. You can make him do all your chores for you." Charlie grinned and leaned back against his father's legs as Nadine turned the microphone to Anna. "Hi, Anna. Are you excited for the hunt?"

  Anna looked over her head at her mother. "Mom said that having chocolate all the time is bad, but today is an essuption."

  Nadine smiled and widened her eyes behind her glasses. "Ooh, yes, I definitely like bending the rules when chocolate is involved." She smiled up at Anna's mother, who patted her daughter on the head as Nadine continued down the line.

  She spoke with each child and then brushed some windblown hair out of her face as she stood again. "I'm going to let these kids go and develop their strategy for coming out with the most Easter treats, and I thank them and their parents for taking the time to talk with us." She turned to look at the platform. "We've got a lot of great music for you, including David Bowie, Cher, and your requests. Stay with us."

  When the commercial for Gail's Seafood Shack started playing, she turned back to the kids and their parents. "Thank you all so much for talking to us. If you go over to the booth, Mr. Billy is will give you some buttons and stickers for your bikes. Good hunting!" The kids and parents hurried off save for one, Pamela's mother Jaime. Nadine smiled at her. "Hello, Ms. Morgan. Thanks for letting Pamela talk with me today."

  "Of course." Her eyes darted to one side to make sure her daughter was out of earshot and she stepped closer. "We're new to the island and I've just started listening to your show... I have to say, it's really fantastic."

  "Thank you so much. I've heard people say I'm the voice of the island which is... daunting. And flattering. I'm glad I gave a good impression."

  Jaime nodded. "Oh, you definitely did. Um. Pamela's father and I are divorced. I came here for a fresh start. Maybe you could give me the official tour."

  Nadine's hair was caught in her glasses. Sweeping it away gave her an extra moment to consider if she was misunderstanding the situation. "Oh. Uh, I-I'm married." She held up her left hand to show off her ring.

  "Oh! I'm so sorry."

  "Don't be. I'm not." Nadine grinned and shook her head. "I'm flattered, really. If you're interested, there are always some single events going on down at the library. The island has a pretty big gay and lesbian community."

  Jaime smiled. "And since the first one I hit on was taken, the odds can only improve."

  Nadine winced. "Sorry about th
at. Put yourself out there and..."

  "It's fine. I broke the ice, so the next time will be easier."

  "Yes! That's the spirit." She looked and saw Billy handing Pamela some stickers. "Your daughter is adorable. Fifth grade?"

  "Fourth, going into fifth next year."

  Nadine nodded. "It's a great age. And a great grade! I know one of the fifth grade teachers; Jill Hood-Colby."

  "Hyphenated. That means--"

  "Married. Yeah. Sorry."

  Jaime laughed. "One more down! I'm bound to run into someone single before too long." Pamela rejoined them and showed Jaime the stickers she'd gotten. "Those are great, honey! Thank you, Nadine. You really made her morning."

  "Just setting her up for the big Easter egg hunt. I hope you find lots and lots." She bent down and cupped her hand by her mouth. "Look for the big white flowers. They like to use those to cover them up."

  Jaime grinned. "Thanks."

  "No problem. Welcome to the island, Ms. Morgan."

  Jaime nodded. "Thank you for the welcome."

  She walked off, and Nadine went to the platform to check with Billy. After the commercials, they would go straight into an eight-minute block of music. Plenty of time for her to track down Miranda and tell her about Pamela Morgan. It wasn't every day she got hit on. And if she played her cards right, she could fire up rarely-seen the possessive and jealous parts of Miranda's brain. At worst, she would end up getting taken out to dinner. At best she hoped for dinner, a movie, a walk on the harbor, followed by debauchery and sexual shenanigans once they were home.

  Nadine loved it when Miranda tried to win her over again. It was wholly unnecessary of course, but who didn't like a little post-nuptial wooing? She smiled as she made her way through the crowd in search of her wife.

  #

  A little girl was talking.

  "--favorite is rabbits."

  Nadine Butler said, "Oh, mine too. Do you like the hollow ones or--"

  "Noooo, I like all chocolate."

  "All right!" Nadine said with a laugh. "I like how you think, Pamela. How about you, Cindy?"

  Rachel pushed up and reached for the alarm clock, silencing the radio before she dropped back to the mattress. She pulled the pillow to her chest and tried to fall back to sleep. Her shift had officially ended at four-thirty, but paperwork and a last minute ER arrival (nail-gun accident) kept her from clocking out until almost six. She literally pulled into the driveway as Alex was getting into her truck. They reunited in the driveway, kissed good morning/goodnight, and Rachel went inside to sleep alone again.

  A part of her mind rationalized that the alarm had been on for a reason. If she'd gone to sleep at six-thirty, why would she set the alarm to go off less than five hours later? She was about to drift off again when the other shoe dropped and she remembered. "Oh, shit." She sat up and pushed the pillow away. The day was warm enough that she had only worn a pair of boxer shorts and one of Alex's shirts to bed, and she hopped into a pair of jeans that she buttoned as she headed down the hall to the living room just as the doorbell rang.

  Why hadn't she given herself more time to prepare? Because setting an alarm to sleep for just four hours was barely better than just staying awake. She ran her fingers through her hair and opened the door to find a woman standing on the stoop, turned to face the street. She wore a pair of crisp, brand-new blue jeans underneath a cream-colored blazer. When she turned back toward the house, her long blonde hair curling like a wave, Rachel saw a pin on her lapel that read: "HOOD-COLBY - 2012." According to Alex, her name was Leah Kincaid.

  Her smile wavered when she noticed Rachel's messy hair and baggy shirt. "Oh... my God. I'm so sorry. You were sleeping."

  "No." She realized it was pointless to lie. "Yes. But don't worry, it's fine. Alex told me you would be stopping by."

  Leah kept the apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to bother you, and I'll be brief. Is Ms. Crawford home?"

  "She's out. She was hoping to be back by now, but um..." She stepped into the house and retrieved an envelope off the end table. "She told me to give you this. It's, ah, her signed statement of support. You can use that in the newspaper, in ads..."

  "Thank you so much." She took the envelope. "Would you like to offer your statement of support for Patricia Hood-Colby's mayoral campaign? I'm sure the opinion of a respected doctor such as yourself would go a long way."

  Rachel looked at the envelope and tried for a graceful escape. "The fire chief's statement isn't enough?"

  "Every little bit helps."

  Rachel squirmed. "Oh... um, no, I'm sorry."

  Leah blinked. "You're not voting for her?"

  "I haven't decided yet. I know she's been doing a good job in her current position, but I don't think she's made the case for being mayor. I think it requires more than, you know, her gender or sexual orientation. Change for the sake of change is as bad as being stagnant."

  "Okay. Thank you for your honesty, and your feedback. I'll be sure to tell Patricia what she needs to do to secure your vote."

  Rachel smiled. "Sorry."

  "You're certainly allowed your opinions. And you have a valid argument. I'll let Patricia know, and I'm sure she'll address it at a town hall meeting. Thank you for your candor." She held out her hand. "And I'm sorry again for disturbing your sleep."

  Rachel shook her hand. "No problem. And, ah... good luck. No matter what happens, I'm glad she's running. If nothing else, she's showing the Dugans that they can't just expect to have the job handed to them on a silver platter. Whoever runs against her is going to have to work just as hard for my vote."

  Leah grinned. "Great to hear it. I'd rather have your honest criticism than insincere support any day. Hopefully we can win you over by November."

  "I'll keep an open mind."

  She waited until Leah was back in her car before she shut the door and shuffled back down the hall. She was on the precipice now, the point where she could either go back to sleep or start the day knowing she would be cranky and exhausted. She went back into the bedroom and put on the radio, stretching out on top of the covers as she considered her options.

  She fell asleep in the middle of an ad for Gail's Seafood Shack, and she dreamed of swimming with the orcas.

  #

  Patricia rechecked her makeup in the rearview mirror for the eighth time and touched the lapel of her purple sweater to make sure her pin was still in place. She took a deep breath, let it out, and then opened the door to step out into the sunshine. Her floral skirt reached almost to the ground, but there was enough of a breeze that it was comfortable.

  Physically comfortable, at any rate. The festival had usurped the parking lot of a nearby church, and the sun glinted off a row of windshields like shields of an advancing army. She adjusted her hair and made sure she had the little bag of buttons Leah had gotten made up. She eyed the crowd and grimaced. This was the part she hated. If only there was a way to get elected without having to shill like a politician. Catch-22.

  "Hey. There you are." She didn't turn at the sound of her wife's voice, looking at her only when Jill's hand came to rest on her arm. "Hey. You okay?"

  "Yeah." She turned and Jill's arms automatically went around her in a loose embrace. "Church with the parents all morning, and now selling myself to everyone whether they want to hear it or not. I feel dirty."

  "It's politics. If you don't feel dirty, you're not doing it right." She took the buttons from Patricia and stuffed them into her own pocket.

  Patricia wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Can I campaign for the other guy? I'm not so sure I want the job."

  Jill adjusted the collar of Patricia's sweater and teased her hair. "You've been doing the job for a long time. You're only running for the title. You'll get it. People love you."

  "Sure."

  "Do you know how many people I had to fight off to be the one who married you? The whole town. Every single woman in town."

  Patricia smiled. "Did you hurt them?"

  "Clawed their eyes right out." She pecked Patricia's lips. "Go on. You're not selling yourself, you're defending the job you've been underpaid for doing for two years. You deserve the title and the perks that come with it."

  "You'll be an excellent First Lady."

  Jill stepped back and took Patricia's hand. "I'll campaign with you for a while. At least until the Easter egg hunt."