The Prince Charming List

I did, however, know purses. They were kind of my specialty. And I was pretty good at finding shoes that matched, too. Encouraging him might not be a good idea, but I couldn’t resist. I grabbed a pen, took out a fresh sticky note and wrote the first thing I thought of when I imagined a rip in my Juicy bag.

You might lose something important.

I put it back in Haggai, chapter one. A booby trap to see if I’d catch a snoopy handyman.

Chapter Seven

Likes children (and not just because he thinks you do) (The List. Number 8)

No one had warned me that Friday was payday at Whiley Implements. There was a line waiting outside the Cut and Curl when I skipped downstairs. I had three walk-ins before I finally figured out why business was so brisk at the salon and that was because one of the women asked me to cash her check so she could get her hair cut.

I hesitated, not sure if Bernice made a practice of this. When the rest of the women lined up by the window noticed me staring at the check, they all came to her rescue and set me straight. Bernice did cash payroll checks but only the first two or three—then she’d remind everyone the Cut and Curl wasn’t a bank and she’d pencil them in while they went to the drive-thru.

Payday turned the salon into a gathering spot for women who hadn’t had time to pamper themselves for two weeks. There were kids playing tag around my shampoo chair and by noon I’d made three pots of coffee.

At the end of the day, just when I was getting ready to indulge in some possible first date scenarios, Annie Carpenter, the youth pastor’s wife, burst in. Her hair was in two loose Laura Ingalls Wilder braids and the yellow sundress she was wearing made her look like a daffodil.

I hadn’t seen her since the gift opening on Sunday. I’d been thinking about her, though, because Bernice had made me promise I’d keep an eye on her over the summer. Annie was a first-time mom and having two babies had to be an adjustment. I’d loved Annie the minute I’d met her, which had been at Faith Community Church the day after I’d met Bernice for the first time. Bernice had told me later she’d never set foot in a church until that morning. It was through Annie and Elise’s influence that Mama B had become a Christian, but she’d also said it had had a lot to do with the message I’d left on her answering machine. Which made me think of another one of Grandma Lowell’s favorite sayings.

God’s timing may not match ours, but it’s always perfect.

“You’re twin-less,” I said as Annie wrapped me in a hug. She smelled like a combination of baby powder and men’s cologne, probably from snuggling with her favorite three people.

“Stephen took the afternoon off so I could sneak out for an hour. When I left, he was practicing his Sunday school lesson on the twins, but he wanted me to invite you over for dinner after church on Sunday. He’s going to grill chicken and I’m practicing potato salad this week.”

Practicing potato salad?

“That sounds great. What can I bring?”

“We got an ice-cream maker on our last anniversary,” Annie said. “The old-fashioned kind. I’ll buy the ingredients if you figure out how it works.”

The phone rang and I leaped toward the counter to answer it. That’s another thing Bernice had forgotten to warn me—the boss and only employee of the Cut and Curl—about. I didn’t know how she made it through the number of appointments scheduled in a day with the phone ringing constantly.

“Cut and Curl.”

“You sound like you own the place,” a teasing voice said.

“Mama B!” I’d been wondering if she’d call. I’d been dying to check in on her but she was on her honeymoon so I’d resisted the temptation. “Where are you?”

“I don’t even want to tell you. It’s too embarrassing.”

“Can you see the Eiffel Tower?”

“Uh-huh.”

I looked past Annie and saw Prichett’s water tower in the distance. It was shaped like a giant Q-tip. For some strange reason, I didn’t feel the least bit envious.

“Guess who’s here? Annie.” I said I was impulsive. Sometimes I even answered my own questions.

“Is that Bernice?” Annie crowded into my personal space but I didn’t mind. All of us—Elise, Annie, Bree and I—missed Bernice already and she hadn’t even been gone a week. I held the phone away from my ear so we could share the conversation.

“Hi, Annie. I’m glad you’re there because I have a confession. I shipped Nathaniel and Joanna some things.”

“From France?” The wonder in Annie’s voice made me smile.

“Yes, France. And I think there’s something from London, too. I’m losing track.”

“Bernice, you can’t spoil them like that.” Annie made a face at the phone.

“Yes, I can. And we haven’t been to Italy or Greece yet. I found a silk scarf for Esther today. If I tuck it into the next outgoing batch, will you make sure she gets it?”

Esther Crandall lived in the Golden Oaks Nursing Home. Another one of Bernice’s friends I’d promised to check on over the course of the summer.

“Sure. Now I’m going to back out of this conversation so you and Heather can talk.” Annie made a kissing noise into the phone and handed it back to me.

“How did you survive Mrs. Kirkwood?” Bernice wanted to know.

“I think the wounds are finally healing.”

Bernice laughed. “I knew you’d charm her.”

“Charm her?”

“Did she schedule another appointment?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“There you go.”

We talked a few more minutes and I told her about horseback riding with Bree and Marissa’s haircut and Jared Ward coming to town. Bernice may not have raised me, but her next question proved that her Mom Alert was completely functioning. And set on high.

“Jared Ward? What’s he like?”

Since I knew I’d have this exact conversation with Mom over the weekend, I figured I might as well practice. “He’s about twenty-three or twenty-four.”

“Really?”

Is he good-looking? Three…two…one…

“What does he look like?”

Close enough. “He looks a little like Orlando Bloom.” With a motorcycle. “Denise told him he could stay in your apartment for the summer.”

“What!”

“It’s all straightened out.” I probably should have mentioned that first. “He’s living in Marissa’s garage instead.”

I heard Bernice whispering something to Alex. Maybe she was asking him to hire a private investigator to check into Jared’s background. She and Alex could probably split the cost with Mom and Dad!