Spring is in the Air by Jane Orcutt

Author:Jane Orcutt [Orcutt, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8249-4928-0
Publisher: Guideposts
Published: 2009-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Wednesday morning, Louise and Alice decided that they both needed haircuts, and so they headed for Betty Dunkle’s hair salon, Clip ‘n’ Curl. Betty preferred that her customers make appointments, but she’d take walk-ins if she wasn’t too busy.

When Alice pushed open the front door of the salon, she was greeted by the familiar smells of perm solution and hair spray. These chemical odors were ameliorated by vanilla-scented candles burning on a side table inside the entrance. Posters of hair models hung on three walls, and country music served as background for the sounds of a hair dryer.

Tapping one foot in time to the music, Betty hovered over Florence Simpson, who sat in one of the two barber chairs set in front of the large mirrors on the fourth wall. Betty turned when she heard Alice and Louise come in and waved her styling comb at them. “Hi, girls,” she said, her short blond hair bobbing around her round face. “Are you here for cuts?”

“If you have time,” Alice said.

“Sure. I’ll be with you shortly. Have a seat.” She gestured toward the cracked leather chairs in the waiting area on the other side of a glass-block divider.

The sisters waved to Florence in the mirror, and in reply, she fluttered the black nylon cape that covered her.

Betty chatted with Florence while she combed out and sprayed her hair. “So anyway, I’m buying at least ten raffle tickets,” Betty said proudly.

“For the Little League team?” Florence asked, looking at Betty in the mirror. “What will you call the team if you win?”

Betty shrugged. “How about the Curls?”

“The Curls? What kind of name is that for a baseball team?”

“I don’t know, Florence,” Betty said pleasantly. “If major-league teams can call themselves the Red Sox or the White Sox, I guess a team can be named after a hairstyle.” She laughed.

“Well, I’m certainly not interested in naming rights, but I’m behind the team,” Florence said. “I think organized sports are a great way to keep kids off the streets.”

“They’re only fifth-graders, Florence. They’re a little young to be juvenile delinquents.”

“You never know. Kids get rowdier earlier nowadays, don’t they?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Most of them are pretty well behaved.” Betty studied Florence’s hairdo, then gave it a final spritz. “All finished. Want to check it with the hand mirror?”

Florence nodded, and Betty turned the chair so that Florence could check the back of her head. She nodded her approval. “It looks fine.”

Betty unsnapped the protective cape and removed the towel from around Florence’s neck. “There you go.”

Florence laid her payment on the counter and patted her hair. “It looks nice,” she said. “Thanks, Betty.”

“See you next time. Alice? Louise? Let me sweep up here a bit, then I’ll take whichever one of you wants to go first.”

As Alice and Louise rose from their seats, Florence asked, “Are you two backing the baseball team?”

“Of course,” Louise said. “In fact, Jane is helping Pastor Ken and Hank with the practices.”

Florence raised an eyebrow. “She’s not coaching, is she?”

“No, she’s more like administrative help,” Alice said.

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