Donovan Read Free Page A

had felt for him - once, a long time ago, came pouring back.
"Not a peep," I said. “I don’t even know if anyone knows where he is
now. But I don't think he'll ever come back."
    "What
makes you think that?" Dori asked.
    I sighed.
"I don't know if I ever told you, but after he left, I wrote him letters.
For a while I knew he was living in Ohio, not far from the college he attended,
but about a year after he graduated from the university, he just up and
disappeared. I know that Lisa occasionally talked to him, but she didn't tell
Frank." Dori played with my hair a little bit,
fluffing it with her fingers as she stared at my reflection in the mirror.
    "What
happened between those two?" she asked. "What could've been so
horrible as to cut off all Donovan's communication with his family? He never
even communicates with his brothers or sisters?"
    "Not that
I know of," I replied. "I'm not sure exactly what straw it was that
broke the camel's back, but I do know that Donovan and his dad had several
rather large arguments about his intention to leave the ranch and start his own
business."
    "I
remember when you and Donovan used to date," Dori smiled. "You guys made the cutest couple. Donovan was so handsome with his
wind-swept dark hair, those gorgeous blue eyes, and that perpetual tan he had
year-round. And you, Memphis, were always the belle of the ball, weren’t you?
That blonde hair of yours, your green eyes, and that perky little upturned nose
dotted with freckles always turned the boys’ attention your way."
    I glanced
once again at Dori's reflection in the mirror.
"I wasn't a big flirt and you know it," I grinned. "Besides, I'm
ready for a change. If you've got time, I want to go ash brown today." Dori tilted her head slightly to the side, pursing her lips
as she squinted at my reflection.  
    "I
think light ash brown would suit your bone structure and skin tone
wonderfully," she said.
    She shook
out a clean plastic apron and placed it over me and fastened it securely around
my neck. "And I want a cut," I stated abruptly, nodding at my own image.
Yes, I needed a definite change. "Short. Like pixie short."
    "Sure,
I can do you. You sure you're up to it?"
    I sighed.
"At this point, I'm not sure I'm up to anything. But, life goes on,
doesn't it? I've got to work at the restaurant tonight, and tomorrow I need to
find out what's going on with the autopsy and then I need to sit down with Lisa
and ask her about funeral and burial arrangements."
    "Did
they already have plots picked out?" Dori asked.
    "I'm
not sure," I said. My heart thudded dully in my chest. I was going to miss
Frank - his booming laugh, his comforting presence, and most of all, the deep
sound of his voice. Donovan's voice was just like his dad's, and I felt a new,
burgeoning ache in my heart. Frank's death had brought emotions and feelings to
the forefront that I had pushed away for years. I had loved Donovan with all my
heart and soul. I had thought we were going to be married, and then, from one
day to the next, he was gone. Out of my life. Not a
word.
    "You
okay, Memphis?” Dori asked. Her question jarred me out
of my self-pity, and I glanced up at her face in the mirror, realizing that
tears were streaming down my cheeks and my breath was coming in small, quiet,
hiccupping sobs. Dori leaned down and enveloped me in
a gentle hug, and I grabbed her hands and held on tight. "I miss him so
much," I choked out.
    "Frank?" Dori asked.
    I nodded. "And Donovan too.”
    Two hours
later, I stared at a new me. "I look quite different, don't I?" I
asked.
    "Light
brown hair certainly suits you," Dori agreed.
"How's the length?" She ran her fingers through the short cut,
tweaking and fluffing here and there.
    I turned
to try and see my profile better, and Dori handed me
a mirror so that I could gauge the length of my hair at the back. Dori had run her fingers through my hair, giving it a
little bit of lift and a funky bounce.
    "Perfect,"
I commented. "I was always sweeping