The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(27)

“Thanks, Daddy,” Stella said.

He waved over his shoulder and hollered, “See you at the football field on Friday for the Fourth of July celebration if I don’t see you before then. We can share a funnel cake like we always do.”



Charlotte purred like a kitten as she rolled over and wrapped her arms around Boone that morning. Her eyes flew open when she realized that all she had was a handful of feather pillow, but then she smelled the coffee and smiled. Boone was making his famous straight-from-the-can cinnamon rolls. She shut her eyes so she’d be surprised when he brought the tray to the bed. Her hand touched something that felt like paper so she peeked over the pillow and there was a note attached with a safety pin: Sorry, darlin’. Thought I had the day off but I have to go in after all. One of the other firemen came down with the flu and it’s my rotation for overtime. Coffee is made. Love, Boone.

Charlotte moaned, pulled the covers over her head, and whined. Now that all her Monday plans had been shot to hell, she might as well go on to the shop and help Stella clean up. She could work on that knitted baby blanket she’d started the week before or finish reading that new cowboy romance by Joanne Kennedy, but neither one sounded as good as gossiping with Stella.

Maybe after they cleaned the shop they could get some lunch at Clawdy’s and then run up to Sherman and shop. It would be the perfect day to try on dresses for the barbecue ball Agnes said they had to attend. Truth was that she’d love to get dressed up all pretty for Boone and spend a few hours in his arms on the dance floor.

She slipped a hand out from under the covers and searched for her cell phone on the nightstand. When she found it, she hit the speed dial number for Piper.

“Good morning?” Piper answered.

“I’m going to help Stella clean the shop and talk her into lunch at Clawdy’s and then having an afternoon in Sherman to try on dresses for this ball that Heather is planning. You should come with us.”

“Can’t. Remember, the boys asked Rhett over for supper. I just know he’s going to tell me that he’s the one who is seeing Stella and he’s going to ask a million questions about her because we are her best friends. Don’t go shopping for pretty dresses without me, promise that you won’t. Why don’t y’all come for hot dogs and a baseball game out in the backyard?” Piper said.

“Well, she did say that her feller was the worst man in the whole county for her to fall in love with. So it might be Rhett, but he’s not going to tell you anything if she’s right there, so get all the information and fill him in on everything about her that you can without telling our private secrets and call me tonight when he leaves. I’ll put the thumbscrews to Stella. Between the two of us I bet we figure it out by bedtime.”

“Y’all have a good time, but no shopping until I’m there. I’m cooking. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and I mean to find out just what he’s hiding in his heart for our friend,” Piper told her.

When life gives you lemons, make chocolate chip cookies and make the whole world wonder what you’ve been up to. That was what Charlotte’s grandmother used to say, and it sure enough applied that day. Charlotte had had the day planned, but now it had taken a ninety-degree turn the other way and she wasn’t sad anymore. She and Piper might not agree on the way Stella was keeping her distance from Nancy, but they were united in their mission to find out who Stella was keeping company with. Lord help if Stella’s boyfriend was Rhett Monroe, the resident bad boy of Cadillac, Texas. Nancy might crawl up in a casket and breathe her last if that was happening right under everyone’s noses.

Charlotte remembered the bake sale when she saw all the cars parked in front of Ruby’s Beauty Shop and whipped her vehicle into an empty space. Stella loved her mama’s banana bread, so if there was a loaf left, Charlotte intended to use it to pry information out of her about this new feller. She opened the car door to a blast of summer heat and had second thoughts about using food to get Stella to talk. By the time she went from car to porch, sweat rolled down her face, melting all the makeup she’d so carefully applied. She whipped a rubber band from the pocket of her shorts and pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she crossed the yard.

“Well, I sure didn’t expect to see you here,” Nancy said.

Beulah fanned with one of those church fans with Jesus on one side and an advertisement for a funeral home on the other. “Hot, ain’t it?”

“Good mornin’, ladies. Y’all got any of Nancy’s banana bread left?” Charlotte asked.

“Honey, that was gone within an hour of the time we opened up. We have one of Heather’s special carrot cakes,” Beulah said. “I’ll sell it to you for half price if you want it.”

“I’ll just look around,” Charlotte answered.

Everyone in town knew that Heather couldn’t cook. She bought her bake sale donations out of the grocery store freezer section, removed them from the packaging, and put them on a fancy disposable tray before she wrapped them in plastic wrap.

“That peach cobbler is from Clawdy’s,” Beulah whispered. “I bought it special for the bake sale. And I made the banana pudding myself.”

Charlotte nodded and looked around some more. She picked up a couple of caramel popcorn balls and handed them to Beulah with a wink. “I think I’ll have this chocolate cake, too, but only if you made it.”