The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(8)

Program? Holy hell and damnation! It had gone from a simple prayer request to a billboard and now a program? Nancy wanted to throw herself on the floor and have a tantrum like a two-year-old.

Floy held up her freshly done pale-pink fingernails. They looked out of place with her long-sleeved navy-blue dress buttoned all the way up to her scrawny, wrinkled neck and her tight little gray bun perched on top of her head.

“Heather and I visited a long time after the prayer meeting last night. We’ve come up with a plan. If we help someone like Stella find a husband, why, there will be dozens and dozens of young women flocking to our church asking for our prayers,” Floy said.

Heather took her place behind Kayla’s nail table and spread her fingers out. A short, round woman with a thick waist, thin dark hair, and squinty eyes behind tiny little round glasses, she put on her best smile as she looked over her shoulder at the other ladies.

“In a year, we might have our own website where we can enlist the prayers of women the world over for their friends, daughters, and sisters who need a husband.” She sounded absolutely ecstatic with joy. “In five years we might have our own television station where we can lay hands on the single women and God will put a man in their lives. And to think, Nancy, it will have all started with Stella. If we can just find a husband for her, why, the sky is the limit. We’ll build a bigger church and Cadillac will grow into a city the size of Dallas. I have a vision that starts with Stella. If we can get God to answer our prayers for someone like her, then the world will bow at our toes. So the answer is no, that sign doesn’t come down until Stella has a husband.”

“Someone like her?” Nancy raised her voice.

“You know your daughter. She’s strong willed, has a wild reputation in Cadillac, and lives up to the stereotype of her red hair. I was surprised that they let her play the piano for services after the stories I heard. I offered to take over the job, but she wouldn’t give it up. But still . . .” She let her voice trail off a second before she went on. “She is the perfect example to begin my new ministry with. If we can find a man willing to take her for his wife, we can do wonders with other women.”

“Take her name off the list and take down that damn sign or I will tear it down with my bare hands,” Nancy said.

Heather cocked her head to one side and pursed her thin mouth into a firm line for a second before she answered. “Not on your life. God has spoken to me. He will find your daughter a husband.”

“If I was Nancy or Stella either one, I’d be in tears,” Beulah whispered.

The whole shop went as quiet as a sinner approaching the pearly gates. Everyone held their breath and waited for Nancy to slap sense into the woman.

Finally after a full thirty seconds, Heather shrugged dramatically. “Tears are the beginning of repentance, Miz Beulah. I’m going to pray night and day for Stella. We will fulfill our destiny. We’ve got the power of the angels on our side.” She tilted her chin up a notch before she went on, “Kayla, I want bright-red polish this week so the Lord can see it when I raise my hands in prayer for Stella. And I’ve ordered a red banner that says ‘Prayerathon on Sunday’ to put across the top of the church doors. A week from next Sunday we will have a potluck after services and we will take turns going to the prayer room and praying for Stella.”

Nancy was speechless. The shit storm had hit, and there wasn’t a thing she could do but duck and cover her head.

Heather went on in her shrill voice, “The Bible says that God helps those who help themselves. So we’re going to help him. First thing we’re doing is right here in front of Ruby’s next Monday morning, we’re having a bake sale.”

The fact that Ruby motioned her over to the chair was the only thing that kept Nancy in the shop.

“A bake sale?” Nancy asked.

Heather wasn’t interested in helping Stella find a husband. She was trying to ruin her business and run her out of town. Well, Nancy might be angry at Stella, but by damn no one else had that right, especially Heather.

Ruby swung a cape around Nancy’s shoulders. “I’m closed on Monday and the porch is in the shade, so y’all won’t get too warm that way. And I’ll donate one of my Mississippi mud cakes and leave the front door open for y’all to have access to the restroom. I don’t turn on the air-conditioning until Monday night, so I can’t promise cool air.”

What would Agnes say about all this? Nancy thought before she asked, “You think God will work faster if we put more money in the church offering plate? Are you crazy, Heather? God isn’t interested in money. He has streets of gold. Why would he need money?”

“No, but I think if there’s more men for Stella to meet, then she just might see one she likes,” Heather answered. “Are men’s haircuts down at the Yellow Rose still going for ten dollars a pop?”

Nancy nodded. Now what, Agnes? What do we do to nip this shit in the bud? She’s not sending men down to the Yellow Rose to help my daughter but to embarrass the hell out of her. Does playing the piano mean that much to her?

“We plan to give a ten-dollar money order made out to the Yellow Rose to every eligible bachelor that we run across. Every dime we make on the bake sale is going into money orders for haircuts. She’ll be so busy by Wednesday that she’ll wonder if she’s a barbershop instead of a fancy beauty shop,” Heather said.