“Well, if he had been, then Stella would be his kinfolk,” Piper said.
“Hey, Luke and Tanner are coming home this evening. I just remembered,” Stella said.
“Well, duh! We’ve been talking about it for two whole days and I’ve moved into a new place and tonight I’m leaving your house. You’d think you would have . . . okay, where have you been and who have you been doing it with? You’ve got that glow that says you had sex and you’ve forgotten everything we talked about for two days,” Piper said.
“And I smell Stetson again,” Charlotte said.
“And I don’t deny or affirm one thing, so there,” Stella said. “Trixie, has Piper been watching the clock like the end of the world was coming?”
Trixie leaned forward so that Piper could get to the last bit of hair with the curling iron. “Yes, she has. And the news in the café this morning is that Gene’s new woman broke it off with him, changed churches, and told him to never call her again. And this is for your ears only.” She lowered her voice.
“Oh?” Stella leaned closer.
“What’s said in the Yellow Rose stays in the beauty shop, right?” Trixie asked.
“Only a psychiatrist’s office is more sacred than this place,” Piper said.
Trixie went on, “He thinks he’s getting a promotion at the company picnic and he’s goin’ to win a trip to Hawaii. But neither one is happenin’. He’s still got a job but he ain’t gettin’ no fancy office with his name on the door. He’s still just a cubicle person at that company where he works and his hours are being cut so he won’t be working full-time,” she said.
“How do you know that?” Piper asked.
“Agnes isn’t the only one with a snitch on the payroll,” she said.
“Trixie!” Stella exclaimed.
“Well, I haven’t had to hire one for wet work, as they call it on the television, but I do have a little fund earmarked for that if it becomes necessary.” Her phone rang and she took it from her pocket, put it to her ear without saying a word, listened for a minute, and then hit a button and put it back in her pocket. “I’ve got to run up to Bless My Bloomers. Alma Grace heard something that she can’t or won’t repeat on the phone.”
As soon as Trixie had left Charlotte singsonged, “One week until the ball and then we’ll know who Stella’s seeing.”
“Nine hours until my boys are home and I hope they like what I’ve done.” Piper’s off-key voice came right in behind Charlotte’s.
“This has been a month to remember, hasn’t it?” Stella sat down in her chair and fluffed at her red hair. She was so ready to be Jed’s wife, to live with him and wake up every single morning with him beside her. She was ready to take on the battle of being his wife, if she had to knock Heather square on her ass to get the job done. It was long overdue and Stella was up to the job.
“Agnes will be so proud when she finds out.” Stella could hardly wait to share the news of her marriage and really start a new life with Jed, right out in public for the whole world to know about.
“What’s that about Agnes? I’m wondering what she’ll say about me getting sexy things from Bless My Bloomers for my bridal shower. Earth to Stella! Where is your mind?” Charlotte snapped her fingers in front of Stella’s face.
“My mind was on telling y’all who I’ve been seeing. To answer your question, Agnes will entertain us for hours about sexy underwear,” Stella said.
“I’ve got a confession,” Piper said. “I hated the idea of you having a man in your life when Nancy put your name on that list at the church. I didn’t ever want you to get hurt like I did and I couldn’t bear for you to ever get married. I prayed that God wouldn’t hear the Angels and that he’d make Charlotte see that she didn’t need to get married, either.”
“That was mean,” Charlotte said.
Piper’s head bobbed up and down in agreement. “I know and I apologize.”
“Y’all know I’m about half-superstitious,” Stella said. “So I’m wondering if your prayers is why Charlotte felt the way she did. Up until my name got on that list, Charlotte was floating around in bridal cake heaven.”
Piper clapped a hand over her eyes. “Oh, no! I didn’t think my prayers got past the ceiling. They sure didn’t when I prayed that Gene would come back to his family that week he divorced me.”
“Sometimes God says no when it’s for your own good,” Charlotte said.
“Are you still my friends?” Piper asked.
“We’ve been through worse. Hell, we’ve been through wars, not piddlin’ little arguments,” Charlotte said. “Y’all have held my head up when I upchucked because I was so worried that Boone would break up with me over that floozy that moved in here from Dallas when we were seniors in high school.”
“And you held my hair back for me when I turned twenty-one and got so damned drunk and when I wanted to die when that damn boy bragged all over church and town that we’d had sex in his truck.” Stella smiled.
“And we didn’t tell Nancy, either,” Piper said.
Stella put her head in her hands. “Believe me, she knew. I can still see her peeling peaches at the kitchen sink. She told me that we live with the choices we make and learn from them and when I made a mistake to hold my head up and not make the same one twice.”
“She might have been talking about one of your short skirts or you wearing too much makeup to church,” Piper said.
“No, she knew.”
“My mama would have harped on it for a week,” Piper said.
“Mine would still be fussin’,” Charlotte told them.
The door swung open and Stella looked up, expecting to see her first appointment of the day. But it was a lady with a floral delivery.
“Hey, how are y’all this morning? It’s going to be another hot one. I’ve got a rose for Piper and a balloon for Stella.” She handed them off and asked, “Y’all goin’ to this barbecue ball? I see you’ve got a poster in your window. The previous owner over at the flower shop let them put up a poster and left a ticket in the cash drawer for me. But it sounds a little boring. By the way, I’m Gloria.”
“Oh, believe me, it won’t be boring,” Stella said. “I’m Stella. This is Piper and that would be Charlotte.”
“Pleased to meet y’all. I just bought the flower shop and this is my first day. A woman named Heather was my first customer. She hired me to make a centerpiece for the head table at the ball.”
“Where are you from?” Stella asked.
“I moved here from Wichita Falls. I’ve got a shop over there, too. I’ll probably send my niece over here to take care of this one when I get the inventory all straightened out. Well, got to go. I left the door open,” Gloria said.
Piper opened the card attached to the single pink rose in a gorgeous cut-glass bud vase: Your beauty far exceeds that of this perfect rose . . . RM.
She held it to her chest until Charlotte grabbed it and said, “I think I’m going to swoon. That is the best pickup line I’ve ever heard.”
Stella opened her card carefully and held on to it tightly. It read: Saturday night I’ll float higher than this balloon . . . yours through eternity.
She didn’t fight with Charlotte when she slipped the card from her fingers and sighed. “I didn’t get sweet words and prizes, but I got to admit I’m so happy for you both that my heart is singing and it’s not off tune like Piper was this morning.”
“You’ve been getting flowers and balloons and presents for months. It’s our turn,” Stella said.
“I see weddings and happy ever afters,” she sang.
Stella tied the balloon to the back of her chair and stared at the big red heart with I Love You written in the middle. Yes, she was finally ready, and it had taken every bit of the turmoil since that damned sign went up at the church to get her ready.
“How in the hell did Gladys se
ll the flower shop so slick? I haven’t heard a word about it,” Piper asked.
“She has her hair done at Walmart in Sherman and she goes to church up there, but we should’ve heard something,” Charlotte said.
“Blame it on the barbecue ball and that church billboard. That’s what everyone is talking about these days,” Stella said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nancy’s backyard was filled with laughter, friends, and the faint odor, still lingering, of smoke. She’d gone inside to refill the sweet tea pitcher and took a moment at the kitchen window. God might work in mysterious ways but prayers did get answered.
Boone leaned down and kissed Charlotte on the forehead. Their gazes caught so solidly that it was evident that for a moment there was no one else in the backyard but the two of them. Nancy nodded. That’s the way it should be. They needed to hold on to that moment and remember it when the times got tough.
Rhett collapsed in the grass with two boys hanging on him. He shook them loose and jogged over to the picnic bench to cop a seat by Piper. She was still skittish even after the rose he’d sent the day before, but she would come around. Luke and Tanner loved him already and Everett always said that you couldn’t fool kids or dogs. Nancy giggled when Jonas, their big old yellow Lab, laid his head on Rhett’s knee. He began to scratch the dog’s ears but his eyes kept shifting over to Piper.
Stella was sitting in a lawn chair, her phone in her hand and her thumbs moving like lightning. Most likely she was talking to her boyfriend. Nancy frowned. Was her daughter ashamed to bring him home because of them or because of him? Either way, the whole situation worried her.
Jed rounded the end of the house, waved at Everett, spoke to everyone, and sank down into a lawn chair beside Stella. He was the best preacher Nancy had ever known. He always delivered a down-home message on Sunday that got right to the point and that she had no trouble understanding. There didn’t seem to be any of that stiffness in him that some preachers had. Maybe that’s what made the strange friendship between him and Everett work so well.
“Sinner and saint,” she whispered. “It’s like Everett’s swearin’ just rolls off him like water off a duck’s back. And it’s like him being a preacher don’t faze Everett.”
Her phone rang and she pulled it from the hip pocket of her jeans. Without looking at the ID she said, “Hello.”
“We’re spittin’ dust out here, Mama. You need some help with that tea?” Stella asked.
“I’m on my way out the back door.” She hit a button and shoved the phone back into her pocket. “Rotten phones. Time was when a person yelled. They didn’t call their mama from the backyard to the kitchen. Damn technology will be the death of all of us.” She was still fussing under her breath when she set the pitcher on the table.
“What are you mumbling about?” Stella asked.
“Them damn phones. They’re good in their place but good Lord, Stella Joy, calling me when I’m standing in the kitchen window and not fifty feet from you? That’s ridiculous.”
“I didn’t know that you were in the kitchen. I thought you might be in the back of the house. Get a glass of tea and come sit beside me and Jed. Don’t get so worked up over a phone call that your blood pressure goes up,” Stella teased.
“Hey, Nancy, make Everett tell me his secret about smoking the brisket for your part of the barbecue. I can’t get a thing out of him except that he’s using some peppers in the water when he makes it this time,” Boone yelled across the yard.
“See! Yelling works. He didn’t have to use a phone.”
“He won’t tell anyone that secret,” Nancy said. “I’m surprised he doesn’t keep it in his gun safe under lock and key. I’m just grateful he only has to make one brisket for my contribution instead of cooking for the whole crowd.”
Stella raised her voice above the kids, dogs, and conversation floating around the backyard. “Daddy, I really need to know the secret to good smoked chicken so I can win the prize at the barbecue ball.”
“I’ll leave it to you in my will, but I’m not telling you today. And besides, you don’t need that ugly set of angel candleholders. They look like shit.” Everett nodded.
“I’m going to go throw a Frisbee for Luke and Tanner so Piper and Rhett can have some time to talk,” Jed said. “Hey, guys, y’all come on over here and show me how to throw this thing. I’ve forgotten how you hold it.”
“We’ll show you,” Tanner said. “And we’ll show you the right way since we like you.”
“Piper, can I buy this kid from you?” he asked.
“Sorry, he’s not for sale today, but there might be a day when I’ll give him to you and not charge a dime if you’ve got a good barbecue recipe for country ribs.” Piper laughed.
Tanner covered his ears with his hands. “Mama! Don’t think of it.”
Piper pulled Tanner to her side and kissed his sweaty little cheek. “Honey, I’m not getting rid of you. I kind of like you.”
Tanner hugged her tightly. “I love you, Mama, and I’m so glad to be home.”
“So you like your new house?” Rhett asked.
“Wow, man! It’s like heaven and Poppa Everett said me and Luke can each have our own puppy. We done picked out the ones we want and we get to take them home tonight. This is the best day in the whole world. It’s okay if we call him Poppa Everett, isn’t it? He said we could. It’s kind of like a grandpa but it really ain’t,” Tanner answered.
“That’s just fine,” Piper said. “Now that you’ve had time to think about it and slept in your new room, you aren’t disappointed not to go back to your old house?”
“Heck, no!” Luke answered for his brother. “That was just a house. This is heaven. And starting on Tuesday, we get to stay right here with Poppa Everett and Nanny. Miz Nancy said we could call her that since she’s kinda like a nanny. We’ll miss Grandma and Grandpa, but we’ll see them every other weekend like before. Now we got to go teach Preacher Jed how to throw a Frisbee.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, Mama, we’ll be nice. He is the preacher, you know.”
He went from standing still to a blur as he and Tanner raced to the other side of the yard, where Jed twirled the bright-red Frisbee on the tip of his forefinger.
“I remembered how to do this, but you guys need to show me how to throw it,” Jed said.
“They’ll be practicing that for weeks now,” Piper said.
Nancy dragged a chair across the yard and sat down at the end of the table. “Everett is really excited about having them stay with us. He’s already talking about making and painting birdhouses and doing some pond fishing with them.”
Rhett chuckled as he watched Jed with the Frisbee. “He’s really good with kids. Do I need to worry about losing my place?”
“I don’t think so. The first thing they asked me last night was if you knew we’d moved,” Piper told him.
Rhett’s smile covered his sexy face. “Wow!”
Piper nudged him with her shoulder. “To them you are ten feet tall and bulletproof, too.”
What on earth that handsome man saw in a big, gangly woman with legs that were too long and who shopped at plus-size stores was beyond Piper. Not that she was griping one bit. Sitting beside him with the hot summer breezes fluffing up her hair, she felt like a dainty princess about to be rescued by the handsome prince.
“Now that my ego is properly inflated, I’m going out there and see if I can help Everett,” Rhett said.
Boone stood up. “Me, too. Those two will wear Jed out in a while and we’ll need to rescue him.”
“Y’all are crazy. Luke and Tanner will tire out before Jed,” Charlotte said.
Stella joined them at the table and the guys went to the back of the yard where the smoker was located.
“Hey.” Charlotte poked Piper. “Where’s your mind? I asked you if you slept well last night in your new pla
ce.”
Piper smiled. “I’m sorry. I was woolgathering. The boys were like live wires last night. I didn’t realize how much they needed a fresh start, too. But yes, we all three slept better than we have in weeks.”
“I was afraid they’d be sad,” Charlotte said.
“Not one bit, and when they heard they were staying with Everett and Nancy, they about brought the house down with their squeals. They love their grandparents but things are very tense over there right now.”
Charlotte refilled their tea glasses. “How did Lorene take the news?”
“She was relieved. Said that since she’d offered to keep them, she didn’t feel like she could tell me to put them back in day care but that things were kind of tough since Gene came back to the ranch,” Piper answered.
Stella downed the rest of the tea in her glass and reached for the pitcher. “Mama, you are awfully quiet.”
“I’m just thinking that it’s less than a week until you reveal the name of that man who has a drawer in your bedroom,” Nancy said. “You could just tell me now. I’ve already quit the Angels.”
“And ruin all the fun,” Piper said. “Stella is enough like Agnes that she’ll be dramatic about the introduction.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be my friend.” Stella wanted so bad to tell them but the faintest mention of his name and the wind would carry it right back to everyone in Cadillac.
“I am, and friends are honest with friends. You won’t tell us and we have been best friends forever and the way I see it is that after the way things have gone in the past, Stella deserves a big moment.”
Charlotte turned around and put her legs under the picnic table. Piper did the same so that they were all facing each other. “You could tell us his initials,” she whispered.
Stella flashed a brilliant smile. “Okay, darlin’ friends, his initials are SF and they stand for ‘Stella’s feller.’ ”
With a long arm, Piper reached across the table and smacked Stella on the forearm. “You are downright mean.”
“Nancy, you might have to put them in opposite corners of the room if they’re going to fight,” Charlotte teased.
The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop Page 27
