“What the hell kind of drink is that?” Mick demanded.
“The new Après manager’s idea. I think it’s a clever one. Nell’s not completely sold, but I like it,” Drea continued. “Especially since Morgan made me one.”
“She didn’t make me one.”
Drea shrugged at her daughter. “You didn’t say you wanted to try one. She also claims she can make a special drink with whatever scrub and lotion the spa highlights, and I believe her. In addition, I’ve shifted our policy in order to give her a list of events booked for six months.”
“That I agree with. It keeps staffing more structured. She carded me during her interview. I still can’t get over it.”
“What do you mean ‘carded you’？” Miles asked.
“I wanted to watch her make a drink, and she said she had to see my ID before she served me.”
Rory let out a rolling laugh. “Baby love, take it as a compliment.”
“What it was? Ballsy.” Nell shrugged. “I have to agree with that, too. I hated losing Don, but I have to say she’s better at managing staff. Opal complains she’s slower mixing and pouring—”
“Opal complains water isn’t wet enough when she’s cranky.”
“True,” she said to Liam. “And the fact is, tips are up, and so—marginally, so far—is Après revenue.”
“She’s not slow,” Miles commented.
Now Lydia angled her head. “Oh?”
“I was in there Friday night for a while. About midnight, I guess, and at that point she worked the bar solo. Good crowd in there, and the service was quick enough. I didn’t see any bump in it even when she dealt with a guy over-celebrating his divorce and his two close-to-sloppy-drunk friends. All of them pretty well smashed by the time they sat at the bar.”
Because he’d hit his limit, Miles switched from coffee to water. “She established they were guests of the resort before serving them, but in a way that didn’t put their backs up. And when divorce guy hit on her, she deflected in a way that let him keep his pride.”
“She’s Olivia Nash’s granddaughter, after all,” Mick stated.
“You were at Après when you texted me?”
“You texted me first.”
Nell opened her mouth, rethought. “Maybe.”
“Both of you should be doing something besides work on Friday at midnight.”
“They both texted me, and I was doing something besides work.”
Nell turned to her younger brother. “What’s her name?”
He just grinned.
“And with that, this meeting is adjourned.” Mick winked at his grandson. “Let’s eat.”
Chapter Ten
On her day off, Morgan bowed to pressure and sat in a chair at Styling salon.
The stylist, Renee, wore her pink-tipped golden-brown hair in a gorgeous fishtail braid. She took one look at Morgan’s hair and sighed.
“Woman, what have you been doing?”
“I just…” In defense, Morgan pushed a hand through her hair. “Snipped a little.”
“We’re going to make a deal.”
“We are?”
“If you like what I do, you never snip again.” Now she combed her fingers through Morgan’s hair. “Nice and healthy. Natural blonde, too, like your mom. You’re a lucky one. What are you looking for?”
“Simple, easy to deal with. I used to wear it a little shorter, more angled. But I was afraid to snip that much.”
“Praise Jesus.” Renee narrowed her eyes, studying Morgan in the mirror. “You’ve got a good face, strong, pretty, diamond shaped. We’re going bold and sassy.”
“Oh, well—”
“Trust me. You’re going to love it.” After the shampoo, which felt wonderful, Morgan sat back in the chair. Sounds and scents bounced around the salon as Renee snipped.
She’d never spent much time in salons, just a quick cut every six weeks or so. In and out. Here people seemed to linger, holding conversations in the pedicure chairs or at the manicure tables, while more voices, the snap of scissors or buzz of razors carried around with voices from the chairs.
Like a bar, she realized, it was a kind of world with regulars, walk-ins, and those who served them.
“It’s a good cut,” Renee decided as she squirted something in her hands, rubbed them together. “And you got body, so you won’t need a lot of product unless you want to fuss it up. You get some of what I’m using.” She began combing her fingers through again. “Like this, before you blow-dry. Or you can use it between shampoos on dry hair.”