The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop

by Carolyn Brown

  Piper raised her hand and raced down the hall.

  Stella shook her head.

  “When Piper gets out, Charlotte, you go in that bathroom and lock the door behind you. Sit on the floor with your back to the door and don’t turn on a single light. Clear your mind and don’t think about anything for at least a whole minute, and then I want you to imagine life without Boone,” Nancy said.

  Charlotte sucked in a lungful of air and started to speak, but Nancy put up a palm.

  “Think about coming home without him in the house. You won’t ever feel his arms around you again. Don’t think about him dead, because that’s a whole different feeling. If you didn’t marry him, you’d still be sad if he died so that’s not what you get to think about. Once he’s out of your life—although it will just be in your imagination—I want you to think about all the things you will do without him,” Nancy said.

  Charlotte cocked her head to one side as if she was already thinking about it.

  “Trips. Other boyfriends. Other men to sleep with . . . don’t look at me like that, I know y’all live different than we did at your age. I’ll knock on the door in half an hour and you can come out. Give me your cell phone,” Nancy said.

  “Why?”

  “You have to stay in there thirty minutes and you can’t talk to anyone but yourself. You can yell, rant, rave, or just sit there with your thoughts, but I’ll guarantee you, just like Claudia’s mama promised me almost thirty years ago, that you will have your mind made up when I knock on the door,” she answered.

  Charlotte handed over her cell phone. Piper stepped to one side when she started down the hall.

  “What’s that all about for thirty minutes?” Piper asked.

  “She’s gone to do some serious soul-searching,” Nancy answered. “Now, what time are y’all going to start packing tomorrow night? I’ll bring over a Crock-Pot of potato chowder and a loaf of fresh bread so you don’t have to stop and eat. You don’t have to move appliances. We left those in the trailer in case Stella ever wanted to live in it but she’s bought the house in town.”

  Stella thought about life without Jed. Seeing him around town with another woman. Her feelings with another man after having slept with the love of her life. Her heart was as empty as the drawer had been before he put his things in it. Suddenly, she wanted to tell the world that they were married. That she was a preacher’s wife and she trusted Jed to never break her heart—but would she ever have second thoughts?

  She shut her eyes and tears welled up at the horrible feeling of never seeing him again, or worse yet, seeing him with another woman. Thinking of his hands roaming on someone else’s body the way they had touched Stella’s was agony. Thinking of life without him tore her heart into a million pieces.

  God, she prayed earnestly, please don’t ever let me experience this pain for real. It’s excruciating in thoughts. I can’t imagine it in reality.

  Suddenly a visual of him lying beside her, sleeping with those thick lashes fanned out on his cheekbones, appeared like an answer to the prayer. Then he woke slowly and a brilliant smile covered his face as he looked up at her, like he’d done dozens of times. All the ideas of second thoughts were gone when she felt someone poke her on the shoulder.

  “Stella!” Piper raised her voice.

  “What?” Stella didn’t want to leave that picture of Jed behind but she had to open her eyes.

  “I asked you what time your last appointment is tomorrow so we’ll know when we can start packing.” Piper reclaimed the recliner but she didn’t prop her feet up.

  “Five o’clock.” Her voice sounded hollow.

  Nancy nodded. “Then I’ll have supper at your house right after that and you can eat when you want as we all four get some work done. I’ll get Everett to break down a bunch of boxes and put them by your back door. I’ll bring the tape and the Magic Marker.”

  Ten minutes later they heard mumbling coming from the bathroom. Five more and the weeping started.

  Nancy checked her watch. “She’s tough.”

  “It’s only been fifteen minutes,” Stella said.

  “I lasted fourteen and Claudia’s mama said that I was the toughest she’d ever seen. That she’d about decided I was going to call off the wedding and give that pretty dress to my sister when she got married,” Nancy said.

  “Then you aren’t going to make her stay in there thirty minutes?” Piper asked.

  “If she does, y’all better be ready to go tell her mama there won’t be a wedding after all,” Nancy answered.

  Stella couldn’t take her eyes off the clock. Dammit! She didn’t want to deliver that kind of news. It might be the only time in history, but she had no doubt she’d never leave the Miller property alive after all the money that had been spent and the work that had already been done.

  Twenty-eight minutes after she went into the bathroom, Charlotte came down the hall. “I’m going home to Boone right now. I won’t be staying here another night, Stella. And, Nancy, thank you.” She held out her hand for her phone, wiped her wet cheeks, and marched out the door.

  Stella wiped the sweat from her forehead. “That was a close call.”

  “She’s tougher than she looks. That don’t mean she won’t argue with him, bitch at him, or make him sleep on the sofa some of the time. It does mean that she’s in this for the duration and nobody better mess with her marriage because she’s sure about what she wants now.” Nancy sighed.

  “Why the sigh?” Stella asked.

  “Doesn’t that make you happy?” Charlotte asked.

  “Yes, it does. I care about all three of you girls and I want you all to be happy. I was just thinking, though, that I thought Claudia’s mama was ancient when she gave me that advice. Now that I look back she was about my age.”

  “And you’re thinkin’ you are old?” Stella slung an arm around her mother’s shoulders.

  “Hell, no, I was thinking that Claudia’s mama was pretty young to be that smart.” Nancy laughed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Stella woke at midnight and reached for Jed. She opened her eyes and realized he was gone, picked up his pillow, and threw it against the wall. She was wide-awake, her stomach growled with hunger, and she had to go to the bathroom.

  Slinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she heard a noise at the window and her heart did one of those crazy dances like always when he arrived. She quickly turned, but it was just a tree limb scratching the window.

  With a moan, she headed toward the door and to the bathroom. She didn’t turn on the light when she washed her hands because she didn’t want to see herself in the mirror above the sink. She made her way from there to the kitchen as quietly as possible and opened the refrigerator.

  “You couldn’t sleep, either?” Piper said from the table.

  Stella squealed, slammed the refrigerator door, and jumped six inches straight up off the floor. “You scared the shit out of me. What you doing sitting in the dark?”

  “Trying to figure out a way to apologize to you and disappoint your mama,” Piper answered.

  Stella turned on the light above the table, pulled out a chair, and sank down into it. “My heart is still racing. You scared me so bad that I saw the pearly gates in the distance. Thank God, I’d already been to the bathroom.”

  “I probably would have seen the biggest bonfire Lucifer could get going instead of hearing angels singing and playing harps if you dropped dead,” Piper said.

  “Enough of the lame jokes. What are you doing sitting in the dark and why are you saying that about disappointing Mama?”

  Piper shrugged. “I didn’t think to ask you when Nancy made that offer. They’re your parents, not mine. And I’d be overstepping my boundaries to move out there. I can’t do that to our friendship. I love you too much, Stella.”

  Stella pushed her red hair out of her face.
“What in the hell are you talking about?”

  “I keep saying this but it’s the truth. You and Charlotte have helped me get through the tough times. Remember that old saying about how a good friend will double your joy and half your sorrows? That’s what y’all do. And you’ll wind up resenting me if I move that close to your folks. Your dad will get even closer to the boys than he is now and when you have children . . .” She let the sentence trail off.

  Stella reached across the table and laid a hand on Piper’s. “I get so mad at my mama that I could strangle her, but believe me when I tell you she’s got a big heart and there’s plenty of room in it for all of us.” She paused to get the next words right. “And FYI, honey, it was my idea in the first place. I suggested that she offer you that trailer house and that she bring up the idea of renting your place to a teacher. Rosalee asked me last week if I knew of any rental property available. Her friend’s great-niece, or was it her neighbor’s son’s dog walker’s cousin’s boyfriend’s cousin by marriage—you know how it goes in Cadillac—is one of those new teachers that Mama mentioned.”

  Piper giggled. “You can always make me laugh with that line.”

  “It’s not a line. It’s the gospel truth according to Rosalee and is probably one of the lost books they talk about sometimes in church. If truth was known there’s a cousin’s camel walker who married a niece’s maid somewhere in there, but it got lost in the uncle’s tent as they crossed the Red Sea.”

  “Hush or I’ll laugh so hard I’ll start snorting,” Piper said and then got serious. “Are you absolutely sure? I can turn this around in the morning and find another place. Hell, we could convert the top floor of the building we rented for the shop into an apartment. Darla Jean lives in the back of her church a few doors down. The boys and I could turn the back of the building into livable space.”

  Stella shook her head hard enough that her hair was soon back in her eyes. “I won’t have Luke and Tanner living above a beauty shop and playing on the sidewalk. Kids need fresh air and sunshine. So yes, ma’am, I’m sure.”

  Rosalee followed Stella into the shop, set a paper bag of tomatoes on the coffee table in front of the sofa, and eased down into the corner. “Y’all have to share them but I guess the whole bunch of you are livin’ together most of the time anyway. When do Piper’s boys come home?”

  Stella smiled. “You are sitting in Agnes’s favorite spot.”

  Rosalee waved a hand in a gesture that said Agnes wouldn’t care. “Arthritis is acting up or I’d help y’all pack tonight. Don’t look so surprised. Nancy and I had breakfast together at Clawdy’s this morning and she had to tell someone or she’d blow up. And I can keep a secret for at least two days. I did tell Agnes, but that don’t count.”

  “I want to surprise the boys,” Piper said.

  Rosalee put a finger over her lips and closed her eyes. With the heavy silence, the shop was as eerie as the music in a horror film. Finally her eyes popped open and her mouth turned up in a wide grin. “Agnes left the story about you moving out up to me and I just figured it all out.”

  “What?” Stella asked.

  Rosalee just smiled. “If you want a diversion to work, even in gossip, it’s got to have just enough truth in it to shock the shit out of everyone. Y’all just go right on about your business and don’t try to be all secretive about a damn thing. I’ll take care of the rest,” Rosalee said. “I’ll call Agnes after a while and we’ll hash it out to see if I’m on the right track. I’ve had more fun this summer than I’ve had in years.”

  “You can tell us so we’ll be ready for whatever you two old gals cook up,” Charlotte said.

  “Y’all just get on about your jobs tonight and trust me to do mine. Now, let’s talk about the barbecue ball. I’ve rented a limo to take us and Agnes and Nancy and whoever from Bless My Bloomers and Clawdy’s wants to go with us,” Rosalee said in the same tone that she’d told them they had to share the tomatoes.

  “Holy shit!” Stella said.

  Rosalee rubbed her hands together. “It’s the finest limo you’ve ever seen. It’s camouflage and it’s one of them Hummer things. I wanted a pickup truck, but it was already taken for a wedding over in Tom Bean. We’ll meet at Darla Jean’s church and go from there. Give y’all plenty of room to park your cars and trucks that way.”

  “Is Darla Jean going?” Piper asked.

  Rosalee tucked her chin down to the top of her overalls and looked up over the top of her bifocals. “Sure she is. I told her if she didn’t, I’d quit going to church and that God sure enough wouldn’t let a former hooker in heaven if she couldn’t keep her congregation in attendance.”

  “Well, thank you. I will be honored to ride in a camo limo.” Stella laughed. “But why go to the expense? Heather will be inside and won’t see it.”

  Rosalee smiled. “Done got that covered. The newspaper in Sherman is sending down a reporter to cover the ball and she will be there in time to photograph the limo. Hell, I wouldn’t pay out them big bucks if it didn’t bring me some happiness. And I bet with all the hoopla we can get Heather outside long enough to see the limo.”

  “Does Heather know about this reporter?”

  Rosalee adjusted her glasses. “Oh, yes, and the television station. We want her to spend lots and lots of money, and she’ll do it if she thinks she’s got something flashy happenin’. Marriage ministry, my ass. That girl thinks she can make God into one of them Internet dating services.”

  Stella sat down beside Rosalee. “What else have you two got up your sleeves?”

  “Lots of wonderful surprises. Piper, you will be dancing with Rhett, so wear high heels if you’ve got a mind to,” Rosalee yelled across the room.

  “How can you promise that? I might get paired up with one of those McKay brothers and they barely come up to my shoulder. If I wear high heels, their noses will get buried up in my boobs when we dance,” Piper said.

  “Trust me and FYI—or is it SYI? I can’t ever remember them alphabet soup things you kids say these days. Oh, Lorene says that Gene bought a ticket to attend the ball,” Rosalee said. “Just thought you should know.”

  Piper groaned. “What if Heather draws his name and then mine?”

  “I told you to trust me. You will be dancing with Rhett. As for the rest of it, there ain’t no tellin’ what might happen at the barbecue ball.” Rosalee patted Stella on the knee.

  “Can you tell me who I’m dancing with?” Stella asked.

  “I could, but I ain’t. If you don’t stand up and testify about that man that’s sneaking in your bedroom window at night and out again in the morning, then your dance partner will be a big surprise,” Rosalee told her.

  Stella’s cheeks immediately flooded with crimson. “How did you know about that?”

  “Grasshopper, you have a lot to learn before Agnes dies and leaves Cadillac to you.” She giggled. “I’m off to Ruby’s to see what kind of trouble I can stir up. Agnes has given me the job of pestering Violet.”

  “But she’s in rehab,” Piper said.

  “They’re bringing her to Ruby’s in a special van to get her roots done this morning,” Rosalee said.

  Silence once again fell on the shop after the door closed behind Rosalee.

  Charlotte stared at Stella.

  Piper couldn’t even blink.

  “Is it true that your boyfriend is sneaking in the window at night? We were teasing about the music. We thought you were using it to cover up Charlotte’s snores,” Piper said.

  Charlotte air slapped her on the shoulder. “Mine aren’t as loud as yours.”

  “Back to the window and the man sneaking in and out,” Piper said.

  “Yes, he does,” Stella said, “and the music isn’t to cover up your snores. And no, I’m not telling who he is until after the barbecue ball. And now he won’t be coming in the window because one of you would be hiding
to see who he is. And if I get bitchy, you can blame yourselves. So there,” Stella said.

  “Why wait until after the ball?” Charlotte asked.

  “Because that’s my mother’s punishment for putting my name on that damned prayer list and starting all this and because . . . it’s a secret,” Stella answered.

  “But you and Nancy made up at the fireworks show,” Charlotte said.

  “We did, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get punished.”

  “Stella Joy Baxter, your mama loves you,” Charlotte said.

  “Don’t triple name me. I know she loves me and I love her, but the man I’ve been seeing and I have decided to wait to come out of the closet. You will be one of the first to know, I promise,” Stella said.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The curb in front of Piper’s place looked like Piper was either having a garage sale or else she’d turned her place into a used-truck lot. Nancy and Everett had come in separate trucks with Jed parking right behind Everett. Boone brought his truck and cattle trailer and Rhett showed up in a truck with a flatbed trailer hitched to the back. Rosalee and Agnes had better have their stories down real good, because when the first piece of furniture went out the door, the stories would start flying around Cadillac.

  “I brought the preacher with me,” Everett said. “He ain’t got church tonight and he volunteered.”

  “Thank you,” Piper yelled from the kitchen. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”

  Everett touched his wife on the shoulder. “Okay, Nancy, you’re the organizer. What do we do first?”

  “The living room. Take all the furniture out and put it in Boone’s trailer and truck. Those”—she pointed to the boxes lined up on the wall—“are to go in the same truck and trailer. We’ll unload that one last when we get there. When that’s all done, I’ll tell you what to do next and y’all can grab a bowl of soup while you rest.”

  Stella poked Piper on the arm. “See, I told you. Controlling.”