Free Shampoo and a Stiff by Cindy Bell

wanted to check in. But you're right, maybe I'll make a nice dinner for Nick and me.”
    “ Sounds like a fantastic idea,” Sammy nodded and tilted her head towards the customer. “Better get over there before her curls are extra crispy.”
    “ Sammy, can you do me a favor and schedule Minnie for tomorrow afternoon? I'm going to look up some of the ingredients from the shampoo and see if I can single out the oil that is helping with the color so much. If I can get it more concentrated then we might get her hair back into shape faster than I thought. But I'll need some time in the morning to hunt down the oils, so if you can make sure there are no morning appointments that would be great.”
    “ No problem,” Sammy nodded. “It's been pretty quiet. We shouldn't get much of a rush until the weekend.”
    “ All right. Call me if you need anything, okay?” Bekki called over her shoulder.
    “ I know, I know,” Sammy laughed before her voice was drowned out by the sound of the dryer.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Bekki stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items she could use to make dinner. She knew that Nick enjoyed pasta so she bought everything she needed to make an easy but delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs. She knew she wouldn't get the results from the mug until the next day, and she wanted to see what Nick turned up about Mr. Blake before she took the next step she was planning.
    When Bekki started to prepare dinner in Nick's kitchen, she was a little thrown by the situation. She wasn't really sure where anything was. Most of the time if she had cooked Nick dinner it had been over at her place. Even though Bekki had moved a few kitchen things in with him, she hadn't really paid attention to where she put them. When she looked for a pot for the water she went under the sink. But the only things under there were extra containers. She looked in the cabinets and eventually found a pot she could use. When she tried to find the strainer for the spaghetti she looked everywhere and was just about to give up, when she remembered Nick's height. She looked at the upper cabinets. It made no sense to her to put a strainer in there but she looked anyway. Sure enough, it was there, right next to the cans of vegetables which certainly should have been stored closer to the stove.
    Bekki resisted reorganizing the kitchen. It was hard to find that balance between hers, Nick's, and theirs. When she finally got the water boiling and the sauce warming she prepared some garlic bread to go along with the meal. When she sprinkled the garlic on the bread the strong scent filled her nostrils. It reminded her of the essential oils in the shampoo that she wanted to look up. She left the sauce to simmer and opened up her computer in the living room. She pulled up the picture of the label on the bottle of shampoo. She began searching the different ingredients included in the shampoo. While she was looking them up she heard Nick walk in the front door.
    “ Smells delicious!” he called out as he headed straight for the kitchen.
    “ I'll be right there,” Bekki called back. She was distracted by all the information that she was discovering about the oils included in the shampoo. So far she hadn't been able to determine exactly which one was responsible for the effective stripping of the hair dye.
    “ Would that be before or after the kitchen is painted red?” Nick called back. “Because this sauce is bubbling so much I think it might have hit the ceiling.”
    Bekki gasped and glanced at the clock on her computer. She had been so caught up in her search an entire hour had passed. She jumped up and hurried into the kitchen.
    “ Oh Nick, I'm so sorry,” she gasped out as she saw the stove covered with spatters of red sauce. “I'll clean all this up,” she promised and grabbed a rag from the sink.
    “ Relax,” Nick smiled as he pulled her into his arms. “There's nothing to apologize for. This is your kitchen, too, and if you