Page 36 of Best Kept Secret

“How are things going with your baby’s daddy?” Jenna asked the woman sitting in her chair.

Kelsey’s head popped up at the mention of a baby, even though people talked about babies all the time. She smiled as an image of Annie’s big blue eyes and chubby cheeks came to mind.

“It’s hard when I have to drop her off and drive away. It’s not that I don’t trust him, but I don’t trust him, you know?”

Jenna laughed, sounding just like her sister, Stacy, who was Kelsey’s best friend. It paid to know someone in the hair biz, especially someone who did as great a job as Jenna.

“Is there any chance you two will get back together?” Jenna asked. She pulled random sections of hair away from the client’s head and measured them against each other. She could be scattered and disorganized, but in her job, she was meticulous.

“Absolutely not.”

“He’s that bad, huh?”

The woman shook her head, and her pretty blonde locks swirled around her face. “He’s not bad. He just wasn’t the right one for me.”

“I can relate to that,” Jenna said. Then she looked over and caught eyes with Kelsey.

Oops. So much for not eavesdropping. Kelsey gave her a little wave and wondered what she’d meant by that last comment. If Hudson was a player, Jenna was his female equivalent. She’d done her share of dating, but she avoided serious relationships. Kelsey thought Jenna hadn’t been with a guy long enough to determine that he wasn’t right for her. She usually kicked them to the curb long before that.

“He used to be quite the player,” the woman confided. “But I think his love life, or should I say sex life, took a serious hit when he found out he was a father.”

“I can see how that could happen,” Jenna said as she plucked a can of hairspray off her table. “But is he a good dad?”

Kelsey was fully invested in the conversation by now, and she listened closely for the woman’s answer.

“Yes. In fact, Annie’s face lights up whenever she sees him.”

“That’s the most important thing, then…”

Kelsey had stopped listening because she was stuck on the name Annie. Could this woman be Annie’s mom, Emily? No way. What were the chances? Besides, Emily wasn’t the only single mom in the area with a daughter named Annie. This woman could be anyone. Still, the idea gnawed at her.

While most people would have chalked it up to coincidence, she wasn’t most people. She was like a dog with a bone. Now that the idea was in her head, she was going to chew it down to nothing.

She set down the magazine and stood. Then she went up to the front desk and waited patiently for the receptionist to finish her phone call.

Finally, the young woman hung up and said, “Sorry about that. How can I help you?”

Kelsey leaned in and said in a low voice, “This is going to sound strange, but can you tell me if the woman at Jenna’s station is named Emily? I think I might know her, but I want to be sure before I say anything.”

“Let me check,” the receptionist said.

While she was looking at the computer screen, Kelsey eyed her nametag and filed her name away for future reference.

Then the receptionist looked up and said, “Nope. Her name is Sonia. Sorry.”

Kelsey wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. She settled on relieved since it would have been embarrassing to rush up to Jenna’s client and call her Emily!

“Thanks, Lexie. I appreciate you checking.”

“No problem,” Lexie said, shooting Kelsey a dismissive look.

Kelsey walked back to her seat, wondering if Lexie thought she was a nutjob. She was about to sit down when Jenna and Sonia came walking toward her. Sonia was even more striking up close. Kelsey admired her silky blonde hair, which was cut in a stylish, asymmetrical bob and swished when she walked. She also had large eyes that were as blue as the sea on a clear, sunny day. In fact, they kind of reminded her of Annie’s eyes. What a strange coincidence.

“Lexie will check you out,” Jenna said to Sonia. “And good luck with the co-parenting.”

Kelsey almost said something to Sonia about mistaking her for someone else, but then she decided not to. She’d already made a spectacle of herself with the receptionist, and she wasn’t sure what Sonia’s reaction would be. Instead, she kept quiet and waited for them to finish saying goodbye. She wasn’t a fan of long goodbyes, expect with Hudson, of course, especially if they were kissing…

“Okay, Kelsey. You’re up,” Jenna said.