The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(57)

“He was in the kitchen making pancakes like this was his house and he could just waltz in here and he said that we should be a family again and he and Rita broke up,” Piper said in one breath.

“And you told him to book the next flight to hell, right?” Stella asked.

Piper nodded. “And then he told the boys he had a new friend already. Someone named Ramona that goes to his mother’s church and she has two little boys that are three and two—or was it four and two? I don’t remember. I’m a mess. The boys can’t see me like this before they go. What if he runs away with them?”

“He’s not going to run off with those kids,” Stella said sternly. “He’s punishing you for sitting beside Rhett and not falling all over yourself to let him come back here. In a week he’ll be ready to bring them back, trust me.”

“You got those things ready? Mama is expecting us and I have to be at work in half an hour,” Gene yelled down the hall.

“Suck it up. Put a smile on your face. Don’t look at the bastard,” Stella said. “Just focus on the boys and tell them to call you every day because you’ll miss them.”

“I should have brought the shovel,” Charlotte said.

Stella shrugged. “I offered a gun or dynamite.”

“Were you going to shoot him or shove the dynamite up his ass?” Piper tried to smile but it was evident that it was forced.

“Shoot and then shove and then use Charlotte’s shovel to bury whatever was left. Right now we’ve got to get through the next five minutes and then you can fall apart,” Stella told her.

“Put these in that duffel bag and we’ll each carry out a piece of luggage.” Piper handed the stuffed animals to Charlotte. “I can do this now that you are here with me.”

They marched out of the room single file and set two suitcases and the duffel bag on the floor. Gene gave them all a smug smile and said, “You aren’t going to carry them to the truck?”

“That would be your job,” Piper said.

Stella tapped him on the shoulder. “And my job is to inform you that there will only be two times in the complete history of the world that hell will be closed. That is when Agnes Flynn dies and when I do. And that is because we are so mean that the devil doesn’t want us in hell, so my advice to you is to be very careful or you will face the wrath of one or both of us. Piper is my friend and you do not want to upset her ever again. This is the last time you pull something like this.”

“Don’t threaten me and I’m not afraid of you,” Gene said.

“It’s a promise, not a threat, and believe me, it would be a big mistake not to be afraid of me,” she whispered and then squatted down in front of the boys. “You guys have a good time and when you come back we’ll all have another fish fry or maybe a barbecue at my daddy’s. Two weeks will give him enough time to catch a whole bunch.”

“And ice cream, too?” Luke asked.

“And can Rhett come? I like him a lot,” Tanner said.

“Yes, to all of it,” Stella said. “Now let’s get you out to the truck. Your daddy can carry the bags and you can hold your mama’s hands.”

Piper kept a stiff upper lip as she walked Luke and Tanner out to Gene’s truck, strapped them into the backseat, and kissed both on the forehead. “Y’all mind your grandma and call me. She has my cell phone number and the shop number, so I’m just a phone call away. And have fun. Remember your manners and brush your teeth after you eat.”

“Grandma tells us all that.” Luke laughed.

She waved until they were out of sight.

“You going to make it?” Stella asked from the porch.

“Yes, I am. This is just an ordinary day and I’m going to pretend that was Lorene who drove off with them. I’m going to wash down my whole kitchen with bleach and then I’m going to change the locks on all my doors. Thank you both.”

“Hey, I agree, it was a brussels-sprouts day.” Charlotte looped her arm into Piper’s. “But the rest of it is going to be good. I feel it in my bones.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nancy came through the door of the shop like a whirlwind, talking as she made her way to the sofa and plopped down. “What is this I hear about Gene driving away from your house with your boys this morning? It’s Tuesday, for God’s sake, not Friday, so what right does he have to Luke and Tanner? Piper, you look like warmed-over sin on Sunday morning. Talk to me.”

Piper stretched her long legs out in front of her. “He came into my house, in my kitchen, and woke the kids up. I didn’t know he was there until I woke up.”

“How did he get inside?”

“He has a key. I’m changing the locks later today,” Piper answered and went on to tell the rest of the story, including the brussels-sprouts part.

“Know what Stella told him?” Charlotte asked.

“That she was going to cut him up into pieces for fish bait?” Nancy answered.

Stella groaned. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Takes age to perfect the meanness.” Nancy’s smile got wider. “What did you tell him?”

“She whispered in his ear that there would only be two times that hell would be shut down, the day Agnes Flynn dies and the day she dies. It will be closed for three days while the devil talks God into letting them into heaven because they are both too mean to have a place in hell,” Charlotte said.