The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(25)

“That feels so good,” she murmured. “But”—she twisted around so she could look into his eyes—“I just about stood up on the table and told them all that we were married tonight so Charlotte would stop trying to do some matchmaking between you and Piper. And yes, I was jealous.”

“I didn’t notice Charlotte as much as I did Piper’s boys. They’re just little boys and they don’t cover their tricks up so well.” He chuckled.

“Hey, Stella! Where are you?” Charlotte’s voice rang out from the living room.

Stella jumped but he wrapped his arms around her, making a shelf for her breasts. “Tell her you are in the tub. She won’t come in here,” he whispered.

His warm breath caused more shivers.

“I’m in the tub. You stayin’ here tonight?” Stella called out.

“Oh, no! Boone is all mine tonight, darlin’. He’s waiting in the truck. I’m just bringing some leftover fish for your dinner tomorrow. Want me to put it in the fridge?”

“No, just leave it on the bar. I might want some before I go to bed,” Stella yelled back. “Lock the door on your way out.”

“Will do. See you Tuesday.”

Jed pulled her hair loose from the braid, picked up a cup from the floor, and poured water through it. “Plannin’ on workin’ up an appetite, are you?”

“We always do.”





CHAPTER SIX

Heather and half a dozen of her most devout Angels met on the front porch of Ruby’s Beauty Shop and set up for the bake sale just after daylight on Monday morning. According to Heather, folks came early to a bake sale so they wouldn’t have to cook breakfast. Heather opened up a leather-bound notebook embossed with gold angel wings, and between customers they wrote down ideas for the ball. Heather, God love her heart, had never lived in a small town before Cadillac and thought she was keeping everything between the covers of her fancy little book. But nothing was ever a secret more than five minutes in Cadillac. If all the gossips died and were buried in the Cadillac cemetery, they’d figure out a way to tell tales from the graves.

Heather was sitting in a cute little fold-out chair with a cup pocket on the side, her gold fingernail sparkling in the morning sun, when Nancy brought six loaves of banana bread and two dozen chocolate chip cookies to the sale.

“How is it going?” Nancy asked.

Heather pointed her brand-new gold fingernail at Nancy. “Today begins my marriage ministry in earnest and I’m so happy. By the end of the summer your daughter will be married and submitting to the will of her husband and I will be on my way to becoming the first marriage minister in history. It’s so exciting that I can hardly take it all in.”

“I can’t see Stella submitting to anyone or leaving Cadillac, either, if that’s what you’ve got in mind,” Nancy said.

“Oh, she will, believe me. I never thought I’d submit to moving out of my precious big city and into this podunk town. I just came for a visit to my sweet little aunt Violet. She introduced me to Quinn and I fell in love. Now I see that it was God’s plan for me to move here to help women like Stella find her place in God’s will. And if that requires that she move away from Cadillac, then so be it.”

Nancy exhaled slowly. “You’ve picked out a name for the ball and you said you were ordering posters to put up all over the county. I talked to Everett last night and he’s willing to cook the meat. The Fannin sisters called me and they’ll help me prepare the rest of the food and help serve it. I was thinking maybe the admission to get into the ball would be a covered dish.”

Heather shook her head. “But if we don’t charge admission, then we won’t make enough to begin an account for the marriage ministry. To further my ministry, I’ll need to be able to cover expenses like having a website and office supplies. We’ll have to charge an entry fee but we’ll make it worthwhile. For their ticket, they get supper, a partner, and dancing for the evening. Oh, and I heard a story that Stella is pregnant and it’s a girl. Congratulations, Nancy, you’re having a granddaughter, but now we have to pray harder that the man will come forward and marry her, don’t we?”

Nancy put up both palms. “My daughter is not pregnant. That is a nasty rumor because her best friend knits baby things and don’t you be spreading it around.”

Heather smiled but it did not reach her eyes. “Oh, honey, I never spread gossip. It would be unbecoming to a marriage minister.”

Trixie Matthews dashed across the street and picked up a loaf of Nancy’s banana bread. “Agnes said y’all was plannin’ a big barbecue ball out in one of Miz Violet’s barns. Sounds like fun. I haven’t had an excuse to wear a pretty formal since my senior prom. I just love those new fancy dresses with the halter straps and all that bling all over them. Here’s five dollars. Y’all keep the change since it’s going to a good cause. Even if no one gets married, we’ll love having a barn dance.”

“It’s a ball, not a barn dance,” Heather snapped.

“Whatever.” Trixie grinned.

As soon as Trixie was gone, Heather rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and sighed so heavy that she snorted. “Damn that Agnes. She’s going to be trouble. As God is my witness, she will be a nightmare. My sweet little aunt Violet warned me that she might try to sabotage my ministry.”