The Rancher's Blessed Event by Stella Bagwell

front of one of the larger grocery stores in town.
    â€œTwenty minutes will be plenty of time,” she told him as she opened the door and slid to the ground.
    â€œI may not be finished by then. Why don’t you go to the beauty salon next door and get your hair done while you wait on me.”
    Her face screwed up with comical disbelief. “Cooper, have you gone crazy or something?” she asked, then tentatively touched her hand to her French braid. It was clean and neat. Or at least she thought it had been. “Or do I look that bad?”
    Snow was falling on her wool cap and shoulders and her breaths made little puffs of steam in the cold air. Looking at her, Cooper wanted to shake her and kiss her and tell her she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. Instead he raised up off the seat and dug his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. “Here,” he said, throwing a couple of large bills at her. “Do as I say and don’t argue.”
    Her mouth fell open as she picked up the money. “But Cooper—”
    â€œDamn it, get inside before you freeze to death!”
    Glowering at him, she slammed the door shut, then mouthed through the window at him. “Gladly!”
    After he’d driven away and Emily had collected her senses, she decided to go to the salon first and pick up the groceries she needed last.
    A young hairdresser reading a tabloid magazine perked up when she spotted Emily coming through the salon doors. Tossing the sheets of gossip aside, the woman rose from the dryer chair. “Can I help you?” she asked pleasantly.
    â€œI’m not sure. Do you have time to do my hair?” Emily asked as she glanced around the large room decorated in shades of pink and white. It was a rare day when Emily went to a hair salon and she’d never been in this particular place. She had no idea if she could trust her hair to any of the three women. But she was here and it had been a long time since she’d had a good trim. Now was her best chance to get one.
    â€œSure. Why don’t you get unwrapped and come sit down by the shampoo bowls,” she cheerfully invited.
    Still uncertain, Emily slowly took off her wool cap and coat and hung it on a nearby rack. When she turned back around, the hairdresser was patting the chair in a way that made her think of her first visit to the dentist.
    â€œI really don’t know what I’m doing in here,” Emily said as she took a seat and the woman began to fasten a plastic cape around her neck. “I don’t do anything to my hair except wash and brush it. Maybe you could just trim the dead ends. That should do it.”
    â€œOh, surely you’d like to do something a little bit different.” The woman’s nimble fingers began to unbraid Emily’s long hair. “Do you always wear it pulled back?”
    Emily nodded and wondered why she felt like she’d been committing a crime. “I...don’t have much time to spend on my hair.”
    â€œHmm. None of us do. And even if we do, we don’t like to.” She lowered Emily’s head back into one of the pink shampoo bowls.
    â€œI’m going to have a baby the first part of March,” Emily felt inclined to warn her. “So I don’t want anything that requires a lot of care.”
    â€œOh, a new baby! Well, this calls for something extra special,” she exclaimed. “And I know just what you need.”
    The “something” pushed a panic button in Emily. Her eyes darted to the girl’s name tag pinned to the pocket of her white uniform. “Uh, Lori, I don’t think I need anything special.”
    â€œNonsense!” She blasted Emily’s scalp with a spray of warm water. “You’re too pretty to be pulling your hair back in a braid every day. And I promise, once I get through with you, I’ll bet your husband will agree. He won’t be able to keep his hands off