Winning the Baker's Heart

Chapter 19

It was hair care day in the Truman house. Mia and Kay had Rey laying on the counter as they washed his hair in the kitchen sink.

The two had been washing his hair since he could remember. He was never allowed to do anything on Sundays except let them do what they wanted. Usually he fussed, but this time he was all too happy to let them do it. It had been several months since he had allowed them to fuss over him, and honestly it felt good.

The Temptations played in the background, crooning "Just My Imagination" like they did every weekend. Rey felt his head bobble as his mother massaged his scalp while his aunt detangled his hair. The care and gentleness were comforting as well as very familiar. Water splashed on his face every so often, but it didn't bother him.

Growing up, he'd have to wash his hair more often. He was rambunctious and liked to get dirty. Mud had been his favorite accessory, and nightly baths had been a must. Somehow his hair had been saved. Every Sunday it had been washed, detangled and sometimes braided, and it happened again maybe on Thursdays depending on the shenanigans of the week.

When he'd gone off to school, he hadn't had the luxury of having the two women pampering him. He'd somehow managed. A couple of times he'd gone to a salon and had a barber or stylist do a deep condition. His favorite had been a lady named Stella. When he'd book an appointment with her, he'd bring drinks. They'd struck up a nice friendship during that time.

But nothing beat having his mom wash his hair. Maybe he was biased, but he thought her fingers were magic.

"Do you remember when Yumi tried to wash my hair?" he asked.

Mia snorted as she tried to hold back a laugh. A smile blossomed over her face anyway. "I felt so bad for her. It was obviously her first time managing coarse ethnic hair."

Kay gathered Rey's hair and doused it with lukewarm water. "What happened?"

Rey tilted his head back to look at her. "She got a brush stuck in my hair on accident. She was trying to simply brush it out. It was a nice gesture."

"We had to wet his hair and use conditioner to loosen the brush," Mia added. "It was the male version of "The Princess Diaries"."

"'I look like a moose'." Rey looked at his aunt again.

Kay laughed. "'But a cute moose. Make all the boy moose go...'"

"'Waah!'" they all chorused.

They all laughed. It was one of their favorite quotes from "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement". It wasn't the exact quote, but it never failed to make them laugh. It eased the tension in the room no matter what was going on. It had stopped plenty of fights over the years.

Mia and Kay settled into talking about work as they shampooed and conditioned Rey's hair. The young man stared at a spot on the ceiling. He wasn't really listening to the conversation. Since Mia was a pediatric nurse, she saw the happiness and sadness when it came to children. He didn't want to hear anything sad.

He'd been friends with one of her former patients. His name had been Tyler, and Rey remembered when he'd hit his head on the diving board at the pool. Blood had been everywhere when they'd rushed him to the hospital. Mia had ridden in the ambulance with them since she'd been administering CPR. Rey had waited for his day to come get him, sitting with Sheriff Lee until he'd arrived.

Tyler had survived the accident, but he'd had a mild brain injury and had been paralyzed. He'd gone from a happy, healthy kid to one who needed almost round the clock care for several years. Rey had last heard he'd graduated community college with an associate's degree in social work. He would need help the rest of his life, but he was a survival story.