“I see.” She discreetly glanced over at the girl’s father, but the man didn’t make eye contact with her. Kept his gaze on his daughter as Becca tried to work the hair tie free. Her heart squeezed with sympathy, just a little. A single dad with a young daughter? No wonder he hadn’t noticed the gum in her hair until it was a disaster. She imagined that raising a child alone was hard, and with no women to lean on? He was doing a great job.

Libby rattled on and on as Becca picked and fussed at the knot on her head. Long minutes passed, but Libby wasn’t much of a squirmer compared to some of the other kids Becca got in her chair, which was a good thing. She was content to talk and talk, asking about all the hair products on Becca’s counter and if she liked cartoons and flowers and everything else under the sun.

“Is this your daddy’s shop?” Libby asked as Becca’s oily fingers worked out another strand of hair.

“No, it’s my shop. I started it myself.”

“So you can play with people’s hair all day?”

She chuckled. “Yes, that’s right. I like playing with hair. Especially little girls’ hair.”

“Do you have a little girl?”

Her heart squeezed. “No.”

“A little boy?”

“I don’t have any family,” she said brightly. “No kids, no husband.”

“Daddy doesn’t have a wife, either.”

“Libby,” the man growled.

Becca chuckled. “It’s fine.” Her cheeks were heating, though. She peeked at the man again. He was big and brawny, and under that crazy beard, he just might be handsome. Not that it really mattered all that much—she hadn’t paid attention to any man but Greg for the last while, so her radar was off. This particular guy wasn’t much of a talker, but maybe he was just shy. He did have a cute daughter, though.

Maybe . . . maybe this was a step in the right direction. Maybe she should take the bull by the horns and rustle herself up a date. Then everyone would realize she was over Greg and they weren’t getting back together, and they’d stop treating her like the bastion of lonely spinsterhood. She could show everyone she’d moved on.

All it would take was one date. They wouldn’t even have to have chemistry. It just had to be dinner, enough to show that she’d continued on with her life and everyone should forget about the Wedding That Wasn’t.