“Are you married now?”
“No,” she said on a sigh. “Always a bridesmaid. My friends say my standards are too high. I don’t think my own Mr. Darcy, complete with title, estate, and impeccable manners is too much to ask for, but they think I have my head in the clouds. Or in my books. I do hair but I’m still a bookworm at heart. What about you?”
“Not married, much to my mother’s disappointment.”
“Don’t get me started on the suffocating disappointment of a marriage and grandchildren obsessed mother.”
I laughed. “Tell me about it. And I’m an only child, so all her hopes are pinned on me.”
“Same,” she said, meeting my eyes in the mirror. “So much pressure. I don’t think that helps the situation.”
“It really doesn’t. My mom still hasn’t forgiven me for not marrying my high school boyfriend.”
“How dare you,” she said with a smile.
“I know, right?”
“Do your parents still live in Pinecrest?”
“My mom does. My dad passed away a couple of years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks. What about your parents?”
“They’re still here, in the house I grew up in. Honestly, I partially blame them for my unrealistic relationship expectations. They met in preschool, were friends their entire lives, started dating in high school, got married, and have been blissfully happy ever since.”
“That’s so sweet.”
“They really are. My parents are nice, but they don’t understand why I’m still single in my thirties.” She paused, letting a piece of my hair drop. “Actually, I don’t understand why I’m still single in my thirties, but here we are.”
“I know the feeling. I’ve dated and even had a couple of relationships that I thought might be the one. But nothing has ever worked out. Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing wrong. I’d love to get married and have a family but it just hasn’t happened yet.”
“I feel the exact same way. Are we long lost sisters?”
“I think we might be.”
“At least you have the advantage of being the new girl. You’re interesting. And you don’t have memories of every eligible bachelor in town from when they were still afraid of your girl cooties.”
“Have you ever thought about moving somewhere else?”
She shrugged. “Yes, but no. I love living here and I don’t particularly want to live anywhere else. Plus I have my salon and it would be hard to start over professionally. I just keep hoping some dashing gentleman will appear and sweep me off my feet with over-the-top romantic gestures and we’ll build a house on the river and fill it with babies.”
“That’s not specific at all.”
“I know, I know.” She sighed again. “But it could happen.”
“It absolutely could. You deserve a dashing gentleman.”
“Thank you.” She stopped cutting and fluffed my hair, then checked the length on either side of my face. “Speaking of gentlemen, I can’t say I know everyone in Tilikum, but I do know a lot of people. If you ever want the inside scoop on someone before you take a chance on a date, let me know. There are plenty of good guys around, but definitely a few I’d need to warn you about.”
I felt a nervous flutter in my belly. I hoped Josiah Haven wasn’t one of the ones she’d warn me about. Not that I wanted to date him or anything. “Oh, really? Who would you suggest I avoid?”
“Let’s see. Joel Decker for sure. He’s been divorced twice and he’s a jerk in general. His sidekick, Cory Wilcox, is just as high on the jerk scale. I probably don’t even need to warn you about those two, though. If you meet them, you’ll see what I mean.”
“I don’t think I’ve met either of them.”
“And I’d be careful of anyone with the last name Montgomery. Some of them are perfectly decent people, but there are some bad eggs in that family.”
“Good to know.” I waited, wondering if she was saving the worst for last and I was about to find out that Josiah had ten kids with six different women or something. But she didn’t continue. “I guess I haven’t met a lot of people, now that I think about it. Mostly the people at work and Missy at Happy Paws. And Josiah Haven.”
“Oh yeah? How do you know Josiah?”
“I’m renting a house from him.”
“You must have met Annika Bailey, then. She’s one of my best friends.”