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hadn’t really been hers at all.
    “May I help you?”
    Startled, she looked up and nearly backed guiltily away from the display. “I don’t know.”
    The woman behind the counter smiled indulgently. “Are you looking for anything special?”
    “Everything seems special.”
    The indulgent smile warmed. “I’m glad you think so. We’re very proud of our selection. I’d be happy to help you if I can, or you can feel free to browse.”
    “Actually, I have a dinner tonight, and nothing to wear.”
    “That’s always the way, isn’t it?”
    “Literally nothing.” When the clerk didn’t appear especially shocked by this confession, Darcy drummed up the courage to go on. “I suppose I need a dress.”
    “Formal or casual?”
    “I have no idea.” Realizing the quandary, Darcy scanned the gowns and cocktail suits on display. “He didn’t say.”
    “Dinner for two?”
    “Yes. Oh.” She turned back. “It’s not a date. Exactly.”
    Willing to play, the clerk angled her head. “Business?”
    “In a way. I suppose.” She pushed at the hair that was tickling her ear. “Yes, that must be it.”
    “Is he attractive?”
    Darcy rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t begin to describe him.”
    “Interested?”
    “You’d have to be dead ten years not to be. But it’s not that sort of … thing.”
    “Maybe it could be. Let’s see.” Lips pursed, the clerk studied Darcy through narrowed eyes. “Feminine but not fussy, sexy but not obvious. I think I have a few things you might like.”

    The clerk’s name was Myra Proctor. She’d worked at the Dusk to Dawn Boutique for five years since she and her husband had moved to Vegas from Los Angeles. He was in banking, and she had worked in retail most of her adult life. She had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl had just turned thirteen and would surely make her mother’s hair gray. Though, at the moment, Myra’s hair was a sleek auburn.
    Darcy learned all this because she asked. And asking helped put her at ease while Myra approved or rejected outfits.
    One cocktail dress, beaded jacket, evening purse and sparkly earrings later, Myra gave her a gentle nudge toward the salon.
    “You ask for Charles,” Myra advised. “Tell him I sent you. He’s an absolute genius.”

    “What,” Charles demanded when Darcy sat in the cushioned silver salon chair, “happened to your hair? An industrial accident? A near-terminal illness perhaps? Mice?”
    Wincing, Darcy cowered under the stark white cape that had been draped around her. “I’m afraid I cut it myself.”
    “Would you remove your own appendix?”
    She could only hunch her shoulders as he glowered down at her with searing green eyes under dark, beetled brows. “No. No, I wouldn’t.”
    “Your hair is a part of your body and requires a professional.”
    “I know. You’re right. Absolutely.” The back of her throat began to tickle and she swallowed gamely. It wasn’t the time to laugh, however nervously, she reminded herself. Instead she tried an apologetic smile. “It was an impulse, a rebellion actually.”
    “Against what?” His fingers dove into her hair and began to knead and tug. “Being well-groomed?”
    “No. Well … there was this man, and he kept telling me how I should wear it, and how it should be, and it made me mad, so I whacked it off.”
    “Was this man your hairdresser?”
    “Oh, no. He’s a businessman.”
    “Ha. Then he has no business telling you how you should wear your hair. Cutting it off was brave. Foolish, but brave. The next time you want to rebel, go to a professional.”
    “I will.” She took a deep breath. “Can you do anything with it?”
    “My dear child, I’ve worked miracles with much worse.” He snapped his fingers. “Shampoo,” he ordered.

    She’d never felt more pampered in her life. It was so beautifully indulgent to lie back, to have her hair washed, her scalp massaged, to listen to the birdlike murmurs of the shampoo girl. Even when she was