Do You Hear What I Hear?

So here he was.

Dr. Joshua Gardner of Gardner’s Ophthalmology. Footloose and fancy-free, and utterly unsure of what to do with his loose ends.

He’d readily agreed to Mabel’s request because chairing the Christmas party gave him something to do, and gave him a way to ease into the community he had joined. His agreement had nothing to do with the fact that the very bristly Ms. McGuiness would be working with him.

No. It had nothing to do with her at all.

She was his neighbor. This was just an excellent way to get over the hurdle of their first, inauspicious meeting.

That’s all it was.

Chapter Three

A business meeting.

That’s all this was.

People had them all the time.

The phrases ran through her head all day, and yet not one eased the raging case of nerves Libby had developed. It was only a meeting, and Libby didn’t know why it was bothering her so much. But when she accidentally dropped her scissors for about the hundredth time of the day, she knew it was useless to deny her anxiety any longer.

She was nervous as hell about this little meeting.

“Would you stop fluttering around the shop like some sort of drunken butterfly?” Josie asked, exasperation in her voice. “He’s only a man, sweetums. And men are a dime a dozen. You can take my word for that.”

“He’s not a man, he’s a business associate. That’s the only reason I’m seeing him tonight. Business.”

“If you say so,” Josie said with a sly smile.

“I do.”

“Well, then settle down.” There was more than a hint of indulgence in Josie’s voice.

“I’m not nervous,” Libby said with as much force as she could muster.

“Hey, my appointment just canceled,” Pearly called as she came in from the back room.

“Why don’t you just take off early?” Libby offered.

“That’s one idea,” Pearly said slowly.

Libby sensed a trap, but asked anyway, “What’s the other?”

“You could let me have a go at that hair. It’s getting so long, and it’s such heavy hair that carrying around that weight all day can’t be comfortable.”

Libby grabbed her braid. No way was she going to let Pearly start trimming. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Pearly asked innocently. Much too innocently.

“Of course I trust you,” Libby reassured her, even while she silently added, As far as I can throw you. “But I don’t have time to get my hair cut. I have a meeting in an hour and have to close up the shop and—”

“We’ll close up the shop for you. And I’m not talking a cut, just a small trim,” Pearly pressed.

“You really need one,” Josie said, blatantly choosing Pearly’s side as she joined the skirmish.

“Well…”

“Come on, Libby.” Pearly sensed the kill was at hand and pounced. “You just sit yourself in this chair and let me give your hair a quick rinse. We’ll have it all trimmed, smart and proper, before your date—”

“It’s not a date, it’s a business meeting,” Libby said again. Exactly who she was reminding she wasn’t sure. She’d had meetings in the past and had never felt this jittery about any of them.

“Who’s Libby meeting?” Mrs. Kane asked from Josie’s manicure chair.

“The new doctor next door,” Josie said.

“It’s just a meeting,” Pearly soothed. “Well, let’s get this done before your meeting shows up.”

Reluctantly Libby sat. The wash went fine, and Pearly led her to the chair, had the cape whipped over her shoulders before Libby could blink an eye. It wasn’t until Pearly picked up the scissors that the trouble started. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, what?” Libby asked, craning her head to peek in the mirror.

“I slipped with the scissors,” Pearly cheerfully responded.

“How did you slip with the scissors when you’ve only just started?”

“It was easy. But don’t you worry. You’re going to just sit here and let me fix up this mess I created.”

Knowing that her hacked hair was no accident, Libby resigned herself to a real cut—a cut she hadn’t asked for and didn’t necessarily want.

“Pearly, what are you doing?” she asked as the snipping seemed to continue for an inordinately long time. Libby cut hair for a living and knew that this was taking longer than a trim—even a trim with slipping—should take.

“You just sit back and relax. You don’t relax nearly enough.” Clip. Clip.

“And it doesn’t appear I’m going to get much relaxing done tonight.”

“Yeah, meetings aren’t very relaxing, are they?” Pearly asked. Snip. Snip.

“Especially not when you’re meeting with a handsome man like Joshua,” Josie added.

Clip. Clip.

“I haven’t met the new doctor yet.” Mrs. Kane looked interested. “Is he that good-looking?”

“Better,” Josie assured her.

“Worth getting an eye exam,” Pearly added. Snip. Snip.

Clip, clip, clip.