Anna's Courage (Rose Island Book 1) by Kristin Noel Fischer Page B

made me take a driving test.”
    “No, I didn’t.” I turned on the faucet and held my hand underneath the water to test its temperature. “Anyway, Nick isn’t a stranger. He’s my next door neighbor. I figured if the United States government can trust him with equipment worth millions of dollars, maybe I should, too.”
    Bianca scoffed and addressed her older sister. “All I know is, when he stopped by the other day, I took the baby to run errands while Anna cut his hair. I wasn’t gone more than five minutes when he came rushing into the bank, insisting he had to leave. His hair was wet, and I noticed a dab of lipstick on his bottom lip.”
    “That’s not true.” I protested. Was it?
    Bianca tapped her own bottom lip. “Right here. It was a coral color, kind of like . . . hey, it was kind of like the color you’re wearing, Anna.”
    My cheeks reddened, but I lathered Jillian’s hair and tried to ignore Bianca’s accusations. “Give it a rest. Please?”
    “ Oh, my  . . .” Bianca said.
    Jillian brushed water off her forehead. “What?”
    “It’s worse than I thought.” Bianca’s tone was dramatic. “She really likes him.”
    I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around Jillian’s head. “Nick and I are friends. That’s all.”
    Bianca winked at Jillian. “And that’s why she kissed him again. Right here in the salon. Probably here at the sinks, in that very same chair you’re sitting in, Jillian.”
    I tried to hold back my smile, but it refused to stay hidden. “I honestly don’t remember.”
    “You did!” Bianca clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful and deliciously unprofessional at the same time. Give us the details.”
    Shaking my head, I walked Jillian back to my station as Bianca skipped alongside, begging for information.
    “Don’t you have something more important to do than meddle in my personal life?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “No, not really.”
    Jillian sank into the salon chair, her expression somber and lacking the excitement of Bianca’s. “Nick is the soldier you kissed last New Year’s Eve, right? He’s Ethan Peterson’s brother.”
    “That’s right,” Bianca said. “Of course, you didn’t get to meet him because you went with Bryan to his parents’ house in Dallas instead of spending New Year’s with your family. And you missed the funeral because you were picking up Bryan from the airport.”
    Jillian rolled her eyes. Bianca wasn’t one to hold back her opinion, and she often expressed disdain for Jillian’s new boyfriend, secretly calling him Boring Bryan.
    The front door opened, and Bianca’s next client, the Morgan family’s favorite veterinarian, Dr. Lindsay, entered the salon. “How are y’all doing?” she asked in her usual cheerful manner.
    “Wonderful,” Bianca answered. “We’re discussing Anna’s new love interest. That gorgeous Nick Peterson.”
    Dr. Lindsay tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear and smiled at me. “You have a new boyfriend?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    Bianca waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t listen to her. Come on back, and I’ll tell you all about it while I wash your hair.”
    I shook my head, refusing to engage in the usual salon gossip and banter, especially since it involved me. Turning back to Jillian, I combed out my sister-in-law’s hair.
    “I can’t stop thinking about the Peterson girls,” Jillian said. “And then I think about Travis growing up without knowing his father . . . it just seems so unfair.”
    I rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’s a shame that Travis hardly knew Marcus, but he knows you and your boys. He knows Vicki and Bianca and your parents. Every day, he experiences his father’s goodness reflected in your family.”
    She wiped her eyes. “Have you been in therapy or something, Anna? You sound so well adjusted.”
    I laughed. “Therapy, yes. Well-adjusted? I don’t know about that. I’m just trying to—”
    “Move on?” she