The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(32)

Yeah, right, Nancy thought. It’ll take someone bigger and meaner than your *footed cousin to toss Agnes out on her ear. She’ll have him on his ass so quick he’ll wonder what hit him, so you’d do well to steer clear of her.

Beulah wrung at her hands. Evidently she’d worn out every hankie in her possession and the new order hadn’t come in yet.

Floy smiled, which was a miracle. She always looked like she had just sucked all the juice out of a lemon.

Heather went on. “Now, let’s go on to the menu. Everett has agreed to smoke all the meat for the ball and we’ll serve buffet style. We need centerpieces. Nancy? My aunt, God love her darlin’ heart, says you are the best at centerpieces.”

“I’m in charge of helping with the buffet table. Someone else can be in charge of centerpieces,” Nancy answered. “But if I could make a suggestion. What about a simple jar candle with silk rose petals around it? You could give the candles away to each couple as they leave and since they are in jars they wouldn’t drip wax on the tablecloths.”

“I like Nancy’s suggestion and second the motion to do that. I’ll be in charge of finding a good deal on jar candles and silk rose petals,” Floy said.

“Good, let’s move on to”—Heather dramatically ran her finger down the list inside her angel book lying on the podium—“volunteers for decorating. We’ll need to meet at the barn two days before to clean it up and then put up all the illusion so that it looks like a castle. I can just see it all in my mind already and it takes my breath away, it’s so beautiful. Nancy, you can be in charge of that committee.”

Nancy stood up. “I can’t. Remember, I’m on the food committee and I will be helping Everett with smoking the meat. The Fannin sisters called and volunteered to bring the rest of the food and help me cook it. I won’t have time to do any decorating. None of them cook so I’ll have to oversee every step of the side dishes, but it was very generous of them to offer to donate the food, don’t you think?”

If looks could have killed, there would have been nothing but bones and a greasy spot on the church floor where Nancy had been standing.

“The Fannin sisters are not on the committee,” Heather said through clenched teeth. “They upset Aunt Violet last year when they took the Easter egg hunt away from her. Poor dear, that’s probably the reason her knee has given out and had to be replaced. She’s been doing too much since then to show them that she’s still able to keep going. She is pushing seventy-five, you know.”

“They might not be on our committee, but they are members of our church and they are attending the ball and they want to lend a hand with the supper. They’ll be a big help in my kitchen with the preparation. And your aunt is the same age as Agnes, so that makes her every bit of eighty,” Nancy told her.

“We can always use all the volunteers that we can get.” Beulah spoke up. “And it’s time some of the younger ladies in the community showed up at the Angels’ meetings on Thursday night, so you might think about a membership drive after the ball is over, Heather.”

“Okay, then, Nancy is taking care of the food and nothing else,” Heather said in a whine.

Well, while we’re blessin’ hearts and God-lovin’ souls, let’s put Beulah in line for some of that heavenly love. If she didn’t have a hankie to wring on, maybe her energy would go to her vocal cords and backbone more often. Nancy bit her tongue to keep the words inside her head.

“I could ask for help from Aunt Violet’s club,” Heather said. “If they saw what a great thing I’m doing, they might agree to join our prayer group on Thursdays. Thank you, Lord”—she looked up at the ceiling—“for sending that idea down through the rafters to me.”

“Why couldn’t they help? It could be a joint effort,” Nancy asked. “I’m sure that Anna Ruth and Andy and several of the other members of club will be attending the ball, so they might have some great ideas.”

“I second that,” Beulah said.

“We’ll have to have a motion before we can have a second,” Heather said.

“Then I motion that we ask the Blue Ribbon Society to lend a hand with the barbecue ball,” Beulah said.

“And I’ll second it,” Floy came in right behind her.

Nancy sat down and bit back a giggle. She’d done it. She’d refused to let anyone push her around and it felt damn fine. Now, if only God would toss a husband into Stella’s lap when a man came into her shop for a haircut, her life would be perfect.



Piper hauled a container of leftover hot dogs, buns, and all the condiments, along with a bowl of potato salad, one of baked beans, and what was left of a blackberry cobbler to the beauty shop that Tuesday morning. She didn’t notice the sign on the glass door with the big neon-green arrow pointing downward. It said, “As of July 1, Men’s Haircuts Are No Longer Available at the Yellow Rose Beauty Shop.”

She carried all the food to the back room; put the potato salad, beans, cobbler, and hot dogs in the small refrigerator; and set the buns on the table. “I had leftovers from last night so I brought them for our lunch. Lorene picked the boys up today but they’re staying for Bible school tonight at their church so they won’t be home until bedtime. And Stella, I figured it all out.”