For example, I told her about how Baylor and Petunia was getting along so well so far, because Petunia wasn’t the type of dog that went to just anyone.

“Paul loved his fucking dog more than me, I really think. But that’s great that Petunia went to him willingly, I know she took a while to even warm up to Blaine,” she joked as she leaned up against her violet tool chest at her station, filing her nails as we talked.

“So when is lover boy coming to get you?” Just as soon as she asked, the door opened and there was my man in all his sexy glory, his broad shoulders filling out a Jenkins Plumbing t-shirt paired over khaki cargo shorts. The man was absolute sin in anything he wore. Julia had only seen the picture that was placed on my end table so seeing her initial reaction to Baylor was priceless. Her mouth was hanging open and her fingernail file suspended in midair. Yeah, she liked what she saw, but careful, girlfriend, he’s mine.

She quickly recovered herself and straightened her posture just in time for Dean to come into the Salon right behind Baylor. Baylor’s face lit up once our eyes connected and he came straight over and bent down to give me a brief peck on my lips. “Your hair looks nice, babe,” he complimented me.

Julia had her scissors back in her hands, as if they were her own personal shield to fend others off. “I hardly cut anything off and he still noticed? Do you have a brother?” She teased, knowing damn good and well he did from my stories of the past.

Baylor held out his hand, like the gentleman he was, “You must be Julia, I’m Baylor. I want to say what a pleasure it is to finally meet you.”

“He’s handsome and polite? Sign me up!” Julia exclaimed as she grasped his outstretched hand. “Oh, and big strong hands.” She looked at me and said, “You know what they say about big strong hands,” and winked. Oh yeah, I knew all right.

“What’s that?” Baylor retorted while placing his hands into the pockets of his shorts, hiding the evidence.

I don’t think Jules intended for him to comment but she was quick with a comeback, “Oh you know, big hands equal massive gloves,” then released a giggle.

Dean was standing a ways back, looking quite uncomfortable. “Dean, come up here,” I said while waving my arm at him. “Dean, this is my best friend Julia. Jules, this is one of my best friends from high school, Dean.”

Julia didn’t look amused in the slightest and when I finally focused on what Dean’s gaze was fixed on I couldn’t say that I blamed her.

“Hey, chump!” Julia yelled, and pointed two fingers at her eyes, “my eyes are up here.” Finally Dean snapped out of his transfixed stare on her breasts, which by the way were fake. She would randomly yell that out to strangers because it was the one thing she had been able to get out of Paul and she was proud of them puppies. So I found it rather odd that she was directing him away from her cleavage that looked to be spilling over the top of her low-cut shirt. She perched a hand on her hip and jutted it out, “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to piss a lady off while she’s wielding a weapon?” She brought her other hand forward and pointed her scissors in his direction, showing him her weapon of choice.

Dean, not having spoken a single word since he arrived in the Salon, cleared his throat, crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, “You know, I do recall her mentioning something about that, but the only lady I see around is Eden and it takes a lot for me to piss her off. Plus her hands are free.”

Julia assumed her defensive position, “You ass clown,” she seethed, her chest heaving up and down. “Why I oughta,” she continued on, throwing her beloved scissors down on top of her work station and advancing towards Dean who was just standing there unmoving with a cocky smirk on his face.

I had to quickly dart from my chair to get in front of Julia, and Baylor moved swiftly to my side to help hold her back and keep her from pouncing on Dean, who continued to stand there unphased by the whole ordeal.

“Seriously,” Baylor said, “I feel like I’m trying to break up a fight between Norah and Polly. Calm down, you’re like a freaking spider monkey,” he continued on, struggling to keep her in his grasp.

Finally, she calmed down and began fixing her clothing which just made her chest protrude out even further on display. “I’m ok, I’m all right.” But I didn’t think she was all right, I thought my moving out of state away from her was going to be harder on her than I had thought.

Epilogue

Eden

The trip home lasted three days. Three long, exhausting days, each with about twelve hours of drive time split between the three of us. Baylor drove most of the time, but there were times when my overprotectiveness took over and I made him switch places with one of us so he could rest.

We were able to talk about anything and everything and there were things that each of us learned about one another.

For instance, Baylor could not sing to save himself. I vaguely remembered his inability to carry a tune but it had gotten much worse as he got older. Even so, it did nothing to hold him back from belting Taylor Swift at the top of his lungs. I believe my ears rang for several days afterwards.

Petunia wasn’t a fan of Baylor’s singing either, but she was even more wary of Dean. She was a spoiled dog who would choose to take up residence on your lap rather than rough-house, but Dean couldn’t seem to get that through his thick skull. He was bull-headed to a fault.

I also learned of Dean’s two ex-wives and how heartbroken they had left him. Although he would fight it tooth and nail on the topic, he wore his emotions on his sleeve and wanted nothing more than a woman to take care of. My first thought initially went to Julia, but the way she went up against him, she would eat him for lunch and spit him out at dinner, so that was out. He seemed to think that being a divorce lawyer made him automatically ineligible for having a happy ever after of his own. He definitely didn’t see the potential in himself like I did.

Even before we made it to our home, I made Dean, who was driving at the time, take a detour.

Seeing the thrilled expressions on my parents’ faces when they opened the door and saw me standing there and then telling them the news was enough to erase away the exhaustion of the thirty-eight hour drive. As I’ve said before, my dad was a man of very few words but his actions spoke volumes. His eyes behind his glasses were filling with unshed tears as he pulled me into him for a joyous embrace. Whispering in my ear, he said, “Welcome home, Eden. Now I’m not saying that it will, but if something happens between you and Baylor and you try and skip town, I will personally drag your ass back. Kicking and screaming if I have to, because this is your home, always has been and always will be.”

We left my parents after a few more tears were shed and a few more hugs were given, and soon we were walking into my new house through the garage. Suddenly my stomach started doing major somersaults as I was hit with an extreme case of anxiety. My nerves instantly dissipated as soon as Norah ran in from the living room with Baylor’s mom, Stella, in tow and came up throwing her arms around my neck, grasping on for dear life.

She hardly even knew me apart from brief talks in passing and stories from Stella, Baylor and Dean and yet there she was, instilling her trust and happiness in me. Things were going to be just fine around there.

I gave myself a few days for things to settle down after I moved in, then ventured out to Eugene to follow up on the part-time radio job that Baylor had mentioned to me. The schedule actually worked out perfectly, because I was able to drop Norah and often times Polly at school before my shift and I was home in time to meet Norah as she was getting off of the bus.