A Better Man (The Heartbreak Brothers 3)

Chapter One

Courtney Roberts was late. And dirty. Neither of which was a good thing. Her cheeks were smeared with dust from the chicken coop, thanks to a half hour battle with Hester, the feistiest of her hens. Grabbing a clean tissue from her purse, she leaned forward in the car seat, angling the mirror to see the damage.

Was that poop in her hair? Ugh. There was no other option but an old spit-n-clean the way her granny used to do. Holding out a tissue and saying ‘spit’ as though it made it any better to have your face cleaned by your own saliva.

A knock on the window caused her to look up from her poor attempts to look like a normal thirty-one-year-old. Seeing the familiar smiling face, she rolled down the window, a sheepish expression molding her features.

“What are you doing?” her best friend Lainey asked. “Oh jeez, what’s that on your face?” She wrinkled her nose.

“I had a battle with Hester.” Courtney crumpled the tissue in her palm.

“Looks like she came out on top. Now come in and I’ll get you cleaned up. There’s no point in doing it yourself. It’s like mopping the floors before a cleaner comes. Just leave it to the professionals.”

Courtney grinned and climbed out of her car, following Lainey into the I Can Make You Beautiful salon, the strong smell of hairspray and polish remover wafting over her. It was sparkling clean in here, the way it always had been since Lainey opened the beauty salon. Courtney could remember the two of them giggling over possible names for the place, ruling out Curl Up And Dye along with Julius Scissors.

Was that really only a few years ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed. A different life. Courtney smiled and waved at the stylists standing behind their clients, and tried to ignore the way they were all giving her curious looks.

Maybe she could pretend it was due to her dirty face. But that wasn’t true. They were interested because she so rarely came into town. This was the second time in the last year that Lainey had persuaded her to actually sit in one of the cream padded seats and let her tame Courtney’s wild curls. She usually wore them up – a must when you spent your day knee deep in muck, trying to scrape a living from your small farm.

“Sit down and I’ll grab a cape,” Lainey told her. “Then we can talk through a game plan. I’m thinking hair, nails, and a facial. Does that work?”

Courtney glanced at her watch. It was past two p.m. “I don’t know if I have time. I promised Mary and Ellis I’d join them for dinner.”

“What time do you need to be there?” Lainey asked.

“Five.”

Lainey nodded, her expression serious. “We can do this. I’ll ask Nicole to do your manicure while Rhian does your facial. And I’ll attack the hair.” She pulled out a piece of hay, holding it up to the mirror with a deadpan expression. “You really should come here more than once a year.”

“I’ve been busy,” Courtney reminded her.

“I know.” Lainey’s expression softened as their eyes met again. They’d been friends for years. Ever since Courtney had arrived in town, a brand new ring on her wedding finger along with her new role as a farmer’s wife.

Another life. She sighed, looking down at her now-bare finger. It had taken her a year to take the ring off. It still felt wrong. Shaun was dead, but he was still her husband. She’d cried like crazy the day she finally put the slim diamond ring in the red velvet box beside her dresser.

“I think we’ll need to take a couple of inches off,” Lainey said, pulling the band from Courtney’s hair and letting her dark curls tumble over her shoulders. “Get rid of the split ends, give it some shape again. Did you even use that deep conditioner I gave you?”

“Yes.” Courtney bit down a smile at Lainey’s incredulous expression. “Okay, so I used it once.”

“Honey, you have to deep condition. You wouldn’t let the chickens go without water, so why do you starve your curls of moisture?”

Courtney scrunched her nose up. “I don’t have time to sit with that stuff in my hair for an hour. I’m lucky if I get to stand in the shower for five minutes.”

“I can tell that.” Lainey passed Courtney a pack of face wipes. “Now girl, clean your pretty face. We’ve got work to do here.”

Two and a half hours later, Courtney emerged from the salon blinking at the still-bright sun, as Lainey held the door. Courtney’s hair was gleaming, the curls framing her face in a way that she knew would only last until tomorrow morning when she’d have to tie them back and clean out the chicken coop. Her fingers actually looked feminine for once. Her normally-ragged nails were perfectly almond shaped, coated with a pale pink polish that she promised Lainey she’d try to keep as long as possible.

“Wear gloves,” Lainey told her. “At all times. That’s an order not a request.”

And of course her friend had refused any payment from Courtney. “Think of it as an early birthday gift,” Lainey said.

“It’s not my birthday until next January,” Courtney pointed out.

Lainey had grinned. “I meant my birthday. That’s next month. And I want to see my best friend look pretty for it.”

“I can’t guarantee I’ll still look like this next month.” Courtney grimaced. “The chickens might have something to say about that.”

; “That’s why I’ve booked you for an appointment in four weeks.” Lainey passed her a gold embossed appointment card. Courtney turned it over. Sure enough, there was an appointment already made. “And don’t try to get out of it,” Lainey warned. “I’ll hunt you down. You know I will.”

“Thank you.” Courtney hugged her. “I appreciate it.” And she’d be sure to put a tray of eggs outside Lainey’s front door tomorrow. It wasn’t anywhere near enough, but that’s how they did things in their small town of Hartson’s Creek. A neighbor made you a cake, you helped them repair their roof. The barter system was still alive and well in this little part of Virginia.

That was one of the things Courtney loved about living here.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Lainey asked her. “Like, model beautiful.” She sighed. “Have you thought about dating again?”

“You waited three hours to ask.” Courtney nudged Lainey with her shoulder. “I think that’s a record. And no, I haven’t thought about dating again. But I promise to tell you when I have.” It wasn’t a lie. Although, not quite the truth either.