“Non, non, ma fille.” Marcelle Martine was a stately looking woman. At least five foot ten, she towered over Seraphina, but the differences didn’t stop there. Miss Marcelle, as they called her, despite her marital status, was one of those women who didn’t look her age. Oh, she’d read the woman’s file and knew she was sixty-two, but Marcelle could have been in her forties for that barely lined face. Her hair was up in a turban and she wore a brilliantly colored caftan that contrasted her dark skin. “You work on Lisa’s hair. I will deal with the town heroine myself. Girl, everyone is talking about you.”

If only they would come into her clinic. It was a little better than it had been before the accident. She’d had a follow-up with Hallie Rayburn, who’d promised to bring her baby back for a full well check soon. A local teenager had decided making videos of himself doing skateboarding tricks was a good idea. He’d discovered the joys of getting a cast.

Lisa was sitting in the chair beside her and gave Marcelle a smile that came nowhere near her eyes. Not even close. “Really? Because I was thinking it would be a fun way for Sera to get to know my sister.”

Ah. She knew all her sister’s tricks. “I think I have to go with Miss Marcelle. Everyone says she’s the finest hairdresser in town, and obviously Sera would know exactly how you like your hair done since you’re so close.”

Sera practically vibrated with enthusiasm. “Oh, I’ve actually been dying to get my hands on your hair, Lis. It’s so thick. I can make it go a mile high. You’re going to love it.”

Sera clapped her hands and ran toward the back of the salon.

Marcelle shook her head Lisa’s way. “You should be ashamed, trying to sic that puppy on your poor sister. You know she’s going to try to talk you into highlights. Unless you want to leave this salon looking like a broke-down disco ball, you will hold that line.”

“You hired her,” Lisa said, the words coming out in a whisper as she made sure Sera wasn’t around.

Marcelle shrugged. “She’ll be good one day. It’s not like I have a lot of options since Francine took off for Florida to live out her dream of working at a retirement home. I’ve never known a woman so focused on the elderly. I miss her. Sera finally finished cosmetology school and she’s willing to do ten perms a day on some of the oldest, orneriest clients you’ve ever met, and I include your mother-in-law in that group.”

“You are my mother-in-law’s best friend,” Lisa pointed out. “And her partner in crime.”