Jake’s eyes widened and they both heard Nina this time. “Rachel! My timer went off!”

“I’ll call you.” Jake grabbed Emma’s hand and he practically dragged her out the door. She protested but they were gone before Nina made it to the front of the store, looking very put-out.

“My time’s up!” Nina announced.

Mine too, Rachel thought, watching Jake’s retreating back. He was still holding Emma’s hand but they were walking at a more normal pace through the mall, heading home. Rapunzel’s was located on the lower level of a high-rise apartment complex in downtown Chicago, just one shop in the midst of many. The residents didn’t have to go anywhere if they didn’t want to. They had all the amenities located on the bottom floor.

“Okay, let’s get you rinsed.” Rachel touched Nina’s shoulder and turned her away from the store front, nudging her down the aisle. “Sorry I missed the timer, I had to ring up a customer.”

“Do you do everything around here?” Nina inquired as she settled herself into a chair at a sink.

“Pretty much.” Rachel turned the water on and began to rinse Nina’s hair. The woman started talking and Rachel just listened-this time it was Hollywood gossip, something about Charlie Sheen and a meltdown. That was easy to say “uh-huh” and

“oh really” to without too much effort, and that was a good thing, because it took Rachel an hour to finish Nina’s hair to the woman’s satisfaction and the entire time, she was thinking about Jake.

That, and wondering what was going to happen when Nina found out her daughter’s hair had been cut off-and that Rachel had been the one to do it. While Nina herself had been sitting at the back of the salon drinking cappuccino and reading Cosmo. Of course, that was probably nothing compared to what the dragon-lady would do or say if Nina had known her hairdresser was going to go on a date with her ex-husband.