The day of the gala roared up on us with the speed of a breakaway locomotive. The days prior were spent in a frenzy of last-minute details. Because Lexi was hip deep, working onsite with Jackson still acting as her driver/bodyguard, Sophie took it upon herself to pry Lexi away from the development to get cleaned up for the big event.

The afternoon found us at Benz Hair Design, being blown out and styled by Barb and Ben Fimbrez, the owners of the salon, of which Soph was a longtime customer. Barb, a pretty woman with a thick mane of beautiful black hair and a contagious smile, took one look at Lexi and hustled her into a chair, clearly realizing she had her work cut out for her. I waited while Ben sat Sophie down in his chair and began to work on styling her hair in the updo she wanted for the gala.

I thumbed through a magazine and listened to them talk. Soph was telling Ben the latest happenings at our office. He was a good listener and knew exactly when to crack a joke when Soph started to get too uptight about the business. The fact that he could do that while wielding five different hair implements at once made him a wizard in my book.

When Soph was finished, it was my turn in the chair. Barb was still working on Lexi as they’d decided to give her hair a little boost since it had been sorely neglected for the past few months. Ben asked me what I wanted to do with my hair. I had no idea. Honestly, the thought of going to the gala without Nick being there depressed me to no end.

I hadn’t seen him since the night he left my house. The curtains remained drawn, and there was no sign of life coming from his home. I hadn’t even seen Lupita, Juan, or Jackson. I almost wondered if everyone had moved out and I was there on the property by myself.

I shrugged and Ben, in his dress shirt and jeans and perfectly cut silver hair, studied me from behind his glasses for a moment. “Are you willing to trust me, Annabelle?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said. I figured I had nothing to lose; besides, Soph’s hair had come out perfect. The man clearly had skills.

“All right then,” he said. The wizard set to work, and I tried not to think about the coming evening and how I was going to have amazing hair, an amazing dress, and no boyfriend to share it with. It made me mad all over again. Damn it.

We dropped Sophie off at her house to get ready as she was driving to the gala with Miguel. Then Lexi came with me to my house, where she and I would get dressed. Given that neither of us had dates, we’d decided to go together.