Chapter 16

It took Marshall a few seconds to figure out what he was looking at. Elise was standing there, crying, and something about her appearance was off, different, though he couldn’t place it.

He crossed the room to her, looking frantically up and down for an injury that would cause tears. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Elise wasn’t the kind for big, emotional displays, so he was a little panicked. “Where’s Justin? Did something happen to Justin?”

Elise shook her head. “Justin just went outside to play on the swing set, and he’s fine.”

Relief coursed through Marshall. Justin wasn’t hurt, and Elise seemed to be trying to stem her tears. “You just need to take deep breaths. Calm yourself.”

She sniffled, reaching up to wipe her eyes, mouth trembling a little.

“Well, what’s wrong?”

He reached out and rubbed her arms below the shoulder, studying her face. There was something about her, besides the tears ... He blinked. Half her hair was gone.

“What happened to your hair?” Not that it looked bad. In fact, he kind of liked it. She looked softer, more natural, with her hair falling just below her chin. It was less showy, less blonde, or something, and her face was pale, streaked with tears. At some point over the past few days, she had taken off those plastic claws she’d called fingernails. If she had been gorgeous before, then she was beautiful, breathtaking.

“I took my hair extensions out.” She sniffled again, another tear squeezing out of each eye. “Did you know, Marshall, about Justin’s hair?”

Marshall dropped his arms. Not wanting to betray Justin’s confidence, he said carefully, “What are you talking about, exactly?”

“He told me that he lost his hair. He showed me.” More tears rushed down her cheeks.