(Text message from Tony Gillespie to Dex)Evacuated an apartment. (Dex)When I ran down to Sally’s on Friday morning, Amanda was behind the counter. Strangely enough, the place was almost deserted. The television was off and classical music drifted from the radio near the cash register.“Hi, Heather.” Amanda surprised me by leaning across the counter and giving me a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you came in. I wanted to thank you for telling Sally I was looking for a job.”The two men who were sitting a few stools down stopped talking and stared at me. I smiled. They didn’t smile back.“How is it going?” I asked the question even though I had a hunch what the answer was going to be. Amanda looked better than she had the day she’d come into the Cut and Curl. She was wearing a white polo with the café’s logo on it, a pair of checkered capris and snazzy orange canvas slip-ons. And she’d created a headband out of a yellow scarf. The biggest difference, though, was in her smile.“Couldn’t be better.”
