The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(13)

She cupped his face in her hands. “I don’t want to leave Cadillac, Jed. I have my business and my friends and my family, and by the end of your first contract, they’ll see that I’m the best preacher’s wife in the whole state.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “You do not have to prove one thing, Stella. I wouldn’t change a thing about you. I love you, darlin’.” A smile tickled the corners of his full, sexy mouth and his blue eyes twinkled in the moonlight. “I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world, who is already an amazing preacher’s wife.”





CHAPTER FOUR

Stella was not looking forward to the next day and hearing her name at the top of that damned prayer list. If she could, she would turn off her phones and put that CD with the rainstorm on repeat in the player beside her bed. That way she couldn’t hear Piper and Charlotte when they tried to call or came knocking on the door demanding that she go to church. But she was not giving Heather that kind of power over her. She’d crawl out, get dressed, and play the piano like always. Thank God Heather couldn’t carry a tune in a golden bucket and had to sit out in the congregation. At least she’d be far enough away that Stella couldn’t rip the belt off the dress she intended to wear and strangle the woman with it.

She parked in the driveway to the east of her little two-bedroom brick home. She’d rented it from the McKays when she moved back to Cadillac with the agreement that if they ever wanted to sell she had first option on the purchase. It had been built for wheelchair access, so there were no steps up to the deep front porch with a white railing around it. With only two bedrooms and one bathroom, it was plenty big enough for a single woman or a couple, but the backyard was small. Thank goodness she didn’t have a dog and hadn’t gotten around to bringing a cat home from her folks’ house.

She flipped the switch right inside the front door of her small house and there were Piper and Charlotte, both wearing pajamas and blinking against the bright overhead light. Charlotte was cuddled up under a quilt in the burgundy leather recliner and Piper was stretched out on the matching sofa with a soft throw over her long legs.

Stella grabbed her chest. “What the hell? You two scared the shit out of me.”

“Is it morning?” Piper yawned.

“Where the hell have you been?” Charlotte asked.

“I passed my twenty-first birthday a long time ago and it’s not morning by a long shot and I don’t have to tell either one of you where I’ve been,” Stella started.

Charlotte held up her palm. “We were there with you when you turned twenty-one, darlin’, and we were there when you’ve had all the rest. We are your best friends, remember? So tell us where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to.”

Piper sat up and patted the sofa. “We’ve shared everything since we were babies. Is that afterglow on your face?”

“If this is a damned intervention, you can forget it. I’m going to bed, and yes, I will go to church tomorrow morning so this is all unnecessary,” Stella said.

“I’m calling Nancy and telling her to take you off the prayer list because you’ve got a boyfriend and you are bringing him to Sunday dinner. You really should spend some time with Trixie. She’d give anything to have her mama in her right mind so she could talk to her every day,” Piper said.

Stella plopped down on the sofa. “What makes you think I’ve got a boyfriend? And I love you, Piper, but you are not sending me on that guilt trip.”

Piper sniffed the air. “Number one, I smell shaving lotion all over you. Stetson, I do believe it’s called.”

Charlotte popped the chair up into a sitting position. “And the look on your face says that you’ve been to bed with the wearer of Stetson in the last few hours. Maybe sooner since it only takes about ten minutes to drive from the nursing home to here at this time of night. Like I said, we’re your friends. You can’t sneeze without us knowing where you’ve been and whether there was ragweed there. Just be grateful that you’ve gotten away with your secret this long, girlfriend.”

Stella crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you been stalking me?”

Piper shook her head and stretched. “Hell, no! We wouldn’t do that. Besides, who needs to? The gossip comes right to us over a hotline. We know you’ve been parking at the nursing home to hide your car. And Trixie didn’t mean to tattle. She thought we knew you were hiding it there.”

Stella slumped down in a rocking chair, shut her eyes, and groaned. “I forgot about Trixie’s mama.”

“We’ve sworn Trixie to secrecy. She swears she won’t tell Cathy and Marty and for damn sure not Agnes,” Piper said quickly.

“So who is he?” Charlotte asked.

“I have been seeing someone. I’m not ready to tell anyone who he is, but I will tell y’all that fate is a bitch. I’m probably the worst woman on the face of the earth for him and it’s going to be a secret for a while longer. And all this prayer shit couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Stella said without opening her eyes.

“Why would you be the worst woman . . . oh, that?” Charlotte said.

“Yes, that. You know small towns. Cadillac won’t ever forget or ever forgive. I’m not so sure I can, so why should I expect them to,” she said.