I smiled. Good to know he hadn’t completely outgrown me yet.
I headed back to the car where Jessie was waiting. She was leaning against the poor old Camry, watching Cody like I’d just been. “Is it just me or was it like two days ago that you were carrying him like a football tucked under your shirt?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I know. I was just thinking I’m already too old to be cool now. He doesn’t want his friends to see him with me.”
Jessie actually rolled her eyes. “Kids these days.”
We fell silent, both watching the school. The kids had virtually all headed inside and the parents were pulling out of the school parking lot to make a hell of a traffic jam, so I wasn’t too worried about getting out of there right that moment.
“You ever feel like you’re just not getting it right sometimes?”
Jessie glanced away from the school to stare at me. She had a cute bob that was black streaked with a line of blue on the left side. She got away with it only because I ran a hair salon and it was important to show I did trendy stuff as well as the more traditional styles.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked, raising a delicate brow. She used that time I had to get Cody ready for school to do her makeup, so she always looked pretty if a little too done up. “You’re an awesome mother. Cody’s lucky to have you.”
I sighed and shook my head. “I just mean that this is hardly a life, you know? This town, this place…Let’s face it, it’s not exactly the safest place in the country.”
Jessie lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Yeah, but what can you do? Nowhere’s as safe as it used to be. It’s all drugs this and crime that. At least our murder rate is relatively low.”
I fixed her with a stare.
“What? I mean, this isn’t New York City or Chicago. At least here we’ve got a chance to live mostly safe lives.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, but I wasn’t very convinced. This place was run by dirty cops and the people who paid them.
Just keep your nose clean, I thought to myself. All you’ve got to do is keep plugging away.
It was hard to believe that was true when I was barely making rent and had to ask for Jessie’s help for some of the school supplies this semester for Cody, but I tried. Mostly it was because it was the only thing I could do.
# # #
Jessie and I arrived at The Cut with twenty minutes to spare. Enough time to get both the salon and the convenience store attached opened and ready for business. I unlocked the door, heading inside. Holding the door open for Jessie, I made sure it closed behind her and locked before getting started. The neighborhood wasn’t necessarily the worst, but it definitely wasn’t the best.
“I’ll set up,” Jessie offered.
I was very grateful. Technically, I’d hired Jessie as a cashier only. She was twenty-three and didn’t have a lot of job experience thanks to a pricey degree in philosophy. She still quoted it as the worst decision she’d ever made, though I could tell she didn’t regret the experience as much as she claimed.
But despite Jessie’s inexperience, she was a hard worker and more help than the last three people I’d hired. She went above and beyond her job descriptions, plus Cody loved her. She was great with kids.
“If you were any more perfect, I’d seriously consider being a lesbian.”
She laughed. “Like you have a say in that.”
I shrugged. “No, but sometimes I wish I did.”
Shaking her head, she pulled out the merchandise that we put in the back of the store for safe keeping at night. As she was putting it up, she said, “Face it. You may want a woman for a partner, but in the end you can’t help but love a good co—”
“Jessie!”
She grinned at me, then did her best innocent expression. Which had zero effect in convincing me. “What? I was just going to say a good cook. Where did your mind go?”
We bantered like that for the rest of the morning, though I delicately steered it away from men, relationships, and cocks I was craving. Which, okay, I was, but it wasn’t exactly something I had a lot of time for. Finding a good man in these parts was already difficult. Add in one that was okay with a six-year-old kid and an independent, business-owning woman? That basically knocked my choices down to zero.
So until Mr. Right came along, I would have to satisfy my needs with my vibrator and whatever kinky dreams my mind decided to supply me with.
At eight o’clock, I unlocked the door and flipped the Open sign. Jessie went next door to the convenience store to cashier, which meant she was standing at the counter that straddled the salon and the store.