Love's Promise

Chapter 1-1

CHAPTER 1

Mona Santoes looked around Cut and Curl, the hair salon where she worked. Mona did not have any formal training. She learned everything she knew from her mother, watching her working on ladies’ hair. As soon as she was tall enough, her mother let her help. She was giving perms by the time she was eight.

Her dad was gone. He had run out on her mom and Mona when she was two. The only good thing he did was leave them a hundred-acre farm. He signed the deed over to her mom before he left. They were not able to farm it themselves, but they had a place to live, and they leased the land to the McCray ranch. It helped to pay the taxes, so they didn’t have to worry about losing their home.

The police brought them news of the death of Mario Santoes two years later. He had died in a car crash. His death had very little impact on their lives. They did not even have to bury him. His girlfriend at the time had already taken care of it for them.

When Mona was eleven, her mom remarried. She married Giles Santoes, a cousin of Mona’s dad. They didn’t even have to change their last name. Mona soon had two half-sisters and a half-brother. Mona adored the little ones, and they loved her, too. Mona took care of them when she was home from school.

Both Giles and her mom were working the evening shifts. Giles worked as a mechanic at a local garage in Barons. Her mom was working part-time at the Cut and Curl Hair Salon. Everything was going okay for them. They were not wealthy, but they managed to keep food on the table, everyone had decent clothes, and Mona was able to make friends with the girls in her class at school.

After graduation, Mona managed to get Pat, the manager of Cut and Curl, to give her a job doing hair. Giles fixed up an old Chevy car and gave it to Mona for graduation. It provided Mona a way to get back and forth to work.

Mona managed to remain friends with the girls from school. They would come to her to get their hair done. She was happy to be included in the party to Danny’s Bar and Grill for Charise’s bachelorette party. She very much wanted to look in the magic mirror, but even though she looked more than once, she did not see anyone in the mirror. Mona was disappointed. She was twenty-four, and, after five years working at Cut and Curl, she was beginning to think there was no true love for her.

She was invited to Charise’s wedding at the country club. She could not afford a dress fancy enough for a wedding attended by the Governor and a Senator, so she feared she was going to have to make some excuse and turn down the invitation, but Charise solved the problem for Mona when she asked Mona to be one of her bridesmaids. She told the girls not to worry about dresses because Charise was buying all of the bridesmaid dresses, so they would match in the theme she had for the wedding. All they had to do was show up for fittings. Charise also included shoes in the package, so they matched the dresses. Mona was thrilled. She offered to do Charise’s makeup and hair for the wedding for free as a wedding gift.

When it came time for Charise to have a new bachelorette party, Zachery flatly refused for it to be at Danny’s in Sharpville. Everyone laughed at him, but he was determined, and Charise was so in love with him, she went along with his wishes. The party was held at Fitness Central. The girls told the guys to find another place to be, so the guys went to Danny’s.