The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(33)

“Figured out what?” she asked.

Piper plopped down in the chair at her station and twirled it around so that she could see her friends. “You are sleeping with Rhett. I don’t care what people say. I approve. He’s good with kids and he cooks a mean hot dog. The boys were still singing his praises this morning. Don’t tell Preacher Jed, but they said they like Rhett better than him.”

Charlotte dropped her knitting in her lap. The little pink baby hat was coming along fine. “That’s yesterday’s gossip, darlin’.”

“I’m not seeing Rhett.” Stella held up two fingers and then crossed her heart like they’d done when they were little girls. “I promise it’s not me that he’s interested in. He cooked those hot dogs for you, darlin’. I’ve barely spoken to him . . . oh, speak of the devil . . .”

Rhett’s presence filled the beauty shop with enough sexiness to set the whole shop into a hum. His shoulders stretched the white T-shirt and his biceps bulged beneath the two folds on the sleeves. The six-pack leading down to his belt buckle was as defined as if it was bare for all three women to stare at. His jeans were snug and his boots scuffed and when he smiled, the cleft in his chin deepened.

“Good mornin’. Heather and Quinn were having breakfast this mornin’ at Clawdy’s and she gave me this money order for a free haircut in here,” he said.

“Did you see the sign on our door?” Charlotte asked.

“No, ma’am.” Rhett grinned and the whole room glowed.

“Well, since you didn’t see it, I think Piper is free to do a haircut. I’ve got an appointment that should be here in five minutes and Charlotte’s first one is runnin’ late but she’ll be here . . . there she is now.” Stella smiled. “Put away the knitting and get ready to do Trixie’s hair.”

“I will torture you, Stella Joy,” Piper whispered.

Rhett headed for Piper’s chair. “I like to keep it short in the summer when I’m coaching the little boys’ ball team. It’s cooler that way and besides, it sets an example for them.”

Stella nodded and smiled sweetly.

Piper vowed revenge. She might start going to church on Thursday nights and praying with the ladies that Stella would find a husband before her birthday.

“Sorry I’m late. We had a big breakfast crew this morning. Gossip must make people hungry.” Trixie hopped up in Charlotte’s chair. “This barbecue ball and finding Stella a husband are the best things for business since the chili cook-off in the spring.”

“I didn’t know you was lookin’ for a husband. Is that what this southern Kardashian ball is all about? I heard it was to get all the women in Cadillac hitched, not just you. Heather is on some kind of Holy Grail mission about it. Quinn says any time me and Boone are going fishin’ he’d love to go just to get away from her fussin’ around about the ball and all her ideas for making Cadillac into some big fancy city.” He smiled in the mirror at the look on Piper’s face.

“What’ so funny?”

“Southern Kardashian.” She giggled. “Next thing you know the whole thing will turn into a reality television show.”

“Hush!” Stella said loudly. “If Heather even hears there’s a possibility, she’ll jump on it like a hungry dog with a ham bone and turn God into a movie producer.”

“Surely to God, they aren’t going to pray at the ball, are they? Why don’t you just pick your own husband before the ball starts and show them that you’re the boss, Stella? I got lots of friends.” Rhett chuckled.

“I’m not looking for a husband no matter what they put on the church sign and thank you for the offer to hook me up, but no, thank you. I can do my own finding, my own dating, and my own proposing if I have to,” Stella said.

Piper picked up her scissors and started feathering Rhett’s hair. She wasn’t ready for the sparks that danced around the shop when she ran her fingers through his thick dark hair or for the effect it had on her hormones. She chalked it up to not having sex for more than six months. Hormones could whine around or throw little tantrums because she dang wasn’t interested in any kind of relationship: one-night stand, long-term, or friendship. She wouldn’t have asked Rhett to supper if she’d known he wasn’t the one Stella had been seeing on the sly.

“Hey, what’s this about y’all not cutting men’s hair anymore?” Alma Grace hiked a hip up into Stella’s chair. “If Rhett Monroe isn’t a man, then I’m seeing things over there in Piper’s chair.”

“The Angels had a bake sale to make money to buy money orders for haircuts. Rhett didn’t see the sign but he’s our last male customer, at least until after the barbecue ball,” Piper explained.

Rhett chuckled with a slow Texas drawl that tightened up Piper’s gut.

“We just put the sign up and Rhett is the only one we’re going to honor,” Charlotte explained further.

“I’m not sure I understand any of this. I wasn’t at our church on Sunday so I’m in the dark. What’s that sign all about, anyway?” Alma Grace said.

“Nancy put Stella on the prayer list for a husband. She’s the one that the sign is all about,” Piper said.

Alma Grace’s light-baby-blue eyes widened until they were about to pop right out of her head.