The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(91)

“She was relieved. Said that since she’d offered to keep them, she didn’t feel like she could tell me to put them back in day care but that things were kind of tough since Gene came back to the ranch,” Piper answered.

Stella downed the rest of the tea in her glass and reached for the pitcher. “Mama, you are awfully quiet.”

“I’m just thinking that it’s less than a week until you reveal the name of that man who has a drawer in your bedroom,” Nancy said. “You could just tell me now. I’ve already quit the Angels.”

“And ruin all the fun,” Piper said. “Stella is enough like Agnes that she’ll be dramatic about the introduction.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be my friend.” Stella wanted so bad to tell them but the faintest mention of his name and the wind would carry it right back to everyone in Cadillac.

“I am, and friends are honest with friends. You won’t tell us and we have been best friends forever and the way I see it is that after the way things have gone in the past, Stella deserves a big moment.”

Charlotte turned around and put her legs under the picnic table. Piper did the same so that they were all facing each other. “You could tell us his initials,” she whispered.

Stella flashed a brilliant smile. “Okay, darlin’ friends, his initials are SF and they stand for ‘Stella’s feller.’?”

With a long arm, Piper reached across the table and smacked Stella on the forearm. “You are downright mean.”

“Nancy, you might have to put them in opposite corners of the room if they’re going to fight,” Charlotte teased.

“Or make them sit on the porch and hold hands.” Nancy giggled. “I’m glad y’all stayed so close. I miss Janie so much. She was my best friend and when her mind started going, I thought I’d go crazy. I can’t imagine how Trixie must feel. I didn’t realize how much we’d depended on each other. Y’all don’t take any of that for granted, not ever.”

Stella bit her tongue to keep from whispering Jed’s name in her mama’s ear at that very moment. She’d been so busy living her own life and worrying with the drama in her friends’ lives that she’d never realized how much her mama had missed Janie since she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Now Janie might not even know it when Trixie did have children. Thinking of that brought her full circle back to Nancy’s grandchildren.

Well, shit! Stella looked around to be sure that she hadn’t said it out loud.

The Internet, Agnes’s voice said loudly in her head. You can order dog food and all kinds of kinky things from the Internet, so order those damn test things and they’ll bring them right to your door.

While her mama and her two best friends went from one conversation to another, Stella dragged out her phone, ordered three pregnancy tests, paid the extra for shipping to get them there the next day, and then laid the phone down in her lap.

“Who were you texting that time?” Charlotte asked.

“We don’t need to ask. It was SF.” Piper laughed.

“You’ll know at the ball. If I had to endure Heather all month, you can endure a few more days until I make the announcement.” Stella reached over and laid a hand on her mother’s knee. “Instead of a party here, let’s all go out and eat somewhere for my birthday, Mama. You don’t need to cook all day and wait on everyone all evening. After all, you were the one who gave birth to me that day and who has spoiled me most of my life afterward.”

Nancy reached across the distance and hugged Stella. “I can’t say I enjoyed that labor room when you were coming into the world or the first months of your junior year in high school, but the rest of it has been as much fun for me as it was for you. I like cooking. I like having all this noise around, and we’ll have your birthday right here. But only if you promise me you’ll bring your new fellow. I can’t decide if you are ashamed of him or us.”

“Neither, Mama. It’s complicated,” Stella said.

“That word sure comes up a lot in today’s world.”

“But I do promise that he will be here for my birthday.”

Nancy reached up and grabbed a Frisbee floating toward them. Luke ran over to retrieve it, bringing the smell of sweaty kid with him. Nancy waited until he was ten feet away and tossed it back to him.

“I would like a dozen grandkids. Boys. Girls. A combination of all. But if these two are the only ones I ever get, I’ll live with it, Stella. I just want you to be happy,” Nancy said.

“Thank you, Mama. I’ll let you in on a secret. At my birthday, I’ll bring my fellow and we’ll make an important announcement,” she said.

Nancy scooted away from Stella and stared at her face so long that Stella blushed. “That’s good enough for me, but I can’t wait until you tell me it’s time to look at wedding cakes and flowers.”

“What if I just elope and there are no wedding cake and flowers?” Stella laughed.

“I’d even be happy with that if you were married and there were grandkids on the horizon,” Nancy said.

“Ahhh, Stella is in love,” Charlotte said.

“We’ve known that for a long time. She cried, remember? And Stella gets mad. Stella gets even. But she doesn’t cry,” Piper said.