The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(43)

Charlotte was already making a beeline to sit beside Nancy, so Everett better clean up the shotgun and book the church. But who would do the services, since Jed was the preacher and it probably wasn’t legal for him to perform the ceremony for his own wedding? And could the higher powers in the church make them stand up before the pulpit and get married again, or would the courthouse license be legal enough for them? Poor man! He had no idea what trouble he’d brewed up when he decided to keep company with Everett.

“Hi, Daddy. Mama. Jed.” She nodded at each person.

“Work hard today?” Everett asked.

“Busiest day of the year. Friday’s always tough, but add that to the fireworks festival and it’s nonstop,” she answered.

“Hello, Stella.” Jed smiled.

She sat down beside him. “Hi. I understand you and my daddy have been doing some serious fishin’ this week.”

He shifted a knee over to touch hers. “We have been havin’ a really good time. You should go with us sometime.”

“Maybe I will,” she said.

Nancy leaned around Everett and touched Stella on the shoulder. “There’s enough fish in my freezer for a big fryin’. Why don’t you invite your friends and come on over Sunday evening for supper? I’ll make banana nut bread for one of the desserts.”

“And your famous cream-puff cake?” Charlotte asked.

“That would be good here in this hot weather,” Nancy said.

“Boone is bringing his catch of the week and Jed is helping me fry up the fish, so we’ll have a big crowd,” Everett said.

“How much banana bread are you making?” Stella asked.

“Enough that you can take a couple of loaves home with you.” Nancy smiled.

“Can’t beat a deal like that. I’ll get Piper to bring a pot of baked beans and I’ll make that ranch potato salad that Daddy likes,” Stella said.

That should give the gossipmongers enough to talk about for the whole weekend. She felt right smug until Rhett Monroe sat down on the other side of her and the whispers started humming like busy bees all around her.

Rhett was dressed in faded jeans, cowboy boots, and a red T-shirt and he smelled like soap and shaving lotion with just a faint bit of beer tossed in the mix. On the other side, Jed wore faded jeans, cowboy boots, and a bright blue T-shirt and he smelled like soap and Stetson with just a faint hint of nachos. The whole scenario was more than a little heady, especially when she overheard someone a couple of seats up from her wondering which one was the answer to the Thursday night prayers.

“Where’s Piper? I thought you’d all three be together,” Rhett said.

“She’s on her way,” Stella answered. “Scoot down a little way and we’ll save three seats for her and the boys.”

“There she is.” Jed’s hand brushed across Stella’s arm when he pointed. “She and the guys are over there beside the hot-dog stand.”

“There’s lots of room over on this side,” Rhett said. “You’re asking her to your dad’s fish fry on Sunday, Stella?”

Stella leaned forward and answered, “Of course we are. We’d be in the doghouse if we didn’t let her make baked beans.”

“And those two boys love to come to our place. We’ll make a freezer of home-churned ice cream and I’ll rig up the donkey wagon so they can have a ride,” Everett said.

“So it’s a date then, set in stone for Sunday night. The Yellow Rose ladies will be at the fish fry along with Boone, Rhett, and Luke and Tanner?” Jed said.

“And you and me and Nancy,” Everett said loudly.

It was her father’s grin that melted Stella’s heart. She might not be ready to forgive her mother for putting her on that damn prayer list, but she couldn’t stay mad at her forever. And her friends were right when they said that Everett missed her.

It was shaping up to be a grand night for the gossip vine. The poor phone company might need to be contacted in advance to be aware that there was a possibility the lines would burn plumb up. Stella had agreed to go to her mother’s house for Sunday supper. She was between Rhett and Jed, but Piper would have to sit on the other side of Rhett and that would really throw a wrench into the guessing game. Now they’d all wonder which woman Rhett was really interested in. By morning, the news might be that they’d had a threesome, or maybe an orgy, underneath the bleachers after the fireworks show was over.

Rhett patted the place right beside him when Piper arrived. “Saved you the best seat in the house.”

“Look, there’s Daddy,” Luke said and waved.

Stella reached around Rhett’s back, tapped Piper on the shoulder, and leaned back to tell her about the fish fry on Sunday.

“Look, Luke, he’s coming up here. Maybe he’ll sit beside us. Y’all scoot down. Daddy is waving at us. I wonder where Rita and Grandma and Grandpa are,” Tanner said.

The plot thickened further. Much more and Stella wouldn’t be a character in the story line. When Gene plopped down beside Luke and ruffled both boys’ hair, the static behind Stella buzzed with excitement.

“Hey, y’all make some room for me.” Agnes squirmed in between Nancy and Charlotte. “I didn’t miss anything, did I?”

That shoved Stella and Jed right up next to each other, shoulders, hips, and legs all touching. Heat came near to setting her on fire right there in the football stands.