Cole
"Are you sure about this? I'm sleep deprived and unlicensed." Wynn stares at the back of Taylor's head, her skepticism plain.
"Positive." Tay pulls the elastic band from her ponytail with one hand while carefully cradling Lyla in the crook of her other arm. "I saw the haircut you gave Colby and I want the same one. You've got natural talent, sister dear."
Wynn puffs out a flustered breath, shaking her head as she combs through Taylor's lengthy locks. "Fine. But seeing as we're family, I'm taking lawsuits and murder off of the table should you hate it."
"I won't! Isn't Auntie Taytay gonna be gorge little Lyly?" She coos at the sleeping infant, already powerless putty in Lyla's tiny hands like the rest of us.
"I think you'd better let me hold her while Wynona cuts your hair," my father says, rising to his feet to retrieve his granddaughter. "We don't need her getting hair splinters all over her face."
"That, or you need another excuse to hold her." Tay grins at our enamored father as he takes Lyla in his arms.
"It's part of my job," Dad gruffs. "I'll always have her best interests at heart."
"Plus you wanted to hold her again," Tay persists, bringing a sheepish smile to Dad's face as he waves her off.
"Looks like you're nearly unpacked," Dad says, smoothly changing the subject. "Just in the nick of time, too. Football practice starts Monday?"
"Yep. And I'll be ready, so long as that sleep sniper in your arms allows me to get some rest."
Dad only nods, but his eyes never leave his grandbaby. I take my final armload of clothes into our bedroom, hanging them in the closet and enjoying the familiar sounds of comfortable conversation flowing from the living room.
I almost can't believe it's real.
My father, my sister, my wife, and my daughter are all occupying the same space voluntarily and cheerfully. Stranger things have undoubtedly happened, but I've never been witness to them. Mom would be the only one we'd need to complete the picture, but that's never going to happen.
She's moved on from Dad, and it could be ages until we see her again. Our history together is a painful burden laden with guilt that I know she'll always carry, but the distance she's put between us is...well, it's hurtful. In truth, she believes my acceptance of Dad's new ways to be nothing short of crazy.
Instead, she's opted to remove herself from the situation permanently, having already secured a new beau. Phone calls and texts are the most we receive at this point, though I hope for more someday. I can't ask her to forgive him just because I have.
"We're going to miss you three," Dad says as I rejoin them. "It'll be lonely in Tyler without you."
Wynn makes her first tentative snip of Taylor's hair. "We'll be less than three hours away. Come visit. We'd love to have you both."
"Will do," Dad agrees, watching her closely. "You're very handy with scissors, Wynona. Have you thought about licensing?"
"Sure," Wynn says. "It's out of our price range for now, but maybe someday."
"Definitely someday." I watch Wynn breeze her way through another haircut without an ounce of training. Unbeknownst to me, she's been doing her own hair for years, only recently having taken on a few clients in Colby and Morgan. She was hesitant at first, but she's a whiz with shears.
YOU ARE READING
Make You Mine (Book Two)
Teen Fiction**Completed** Cole Galloway has always had just enough of an ego to believe that the women falling at his feet were deserved. With an abundance of charm and looks to die for, who wouldn't want him? Wynona Caldwell. That's who. When Cole sets his s...
