The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (Cadillac, Texas #3)(92)

“You cried?” Nancy asked.

“I was mad and I vowed I’d get even with Heather over that sign. With Agnes’s help I just might get the job done, and yes, Mama, I cried,” Stella said.

“She thought her new boyfriend would see that church sign and be offended by it,” Piper said softly.

Nancy hugged her again. “I’m so sorry I started all that by asking for prayers. I had no idea I was turning loose a monster.”

“Oh, she’s not turned loose yet, Mama,” Stella said. “Heather doesn’t have what it takes to step into Violet’s shoes. She’s started off too big and too quick. And Agnes has given her just enough chain to hang herself.”

Stella hoped that the wind carried that right back to Heather’s ears.



Trixie carried a tray of pecan tarts in one hand and a disposable pan of fried chicken in the other as she backed her way into the Yellow Rose. It was almost noon and the smell of still-hot chicken quickly filled the room.

“To what do we owe this wonderful visit?” Stella asked.

“I don’t care what you want, you can have it. I didn’t eat breakfast and I want a piece of that chicken,” Piper said.

Trixie took it to the table in the back room with the three hairdressers following behind her like beagle pups on the trail of a rabbit. “I need a favor, so this is a bribe.”

Charlotte reached for a pecan tart. “Up to a fourth of my kingdom is yours.”

Trixie sat down at the table and spread her hands out. “We have a problem. Agnes is doing very well in rehab, so well that they are going to let her out at the end of the week. The trouble is that she cannot do steps, so we wanted to put her in the assisted living place in Sherman.”

The other three pulled up chairs around the table and Trixie went on. “I know lots of folks come through here, so I was wondering if you’d ask around to see if there would be a small house we could rent for a couple of months. She swears she won’t go anywhere but home when she gets out of the rehab center. We’d take her in at any of our places, but they all have as many steps and stairs as her place, so that’s not a possibility. We need a house here in Cadillac that’s been built on a slab instead of pier and beam.”

“Sure we will,” Charlotte said. “I’d let her come to my place, but it’s got steps up to the porch.”

“My trailer is full and it’s sure not conducive to handicapped folks,” Piper said.

Trixie laughed. “Don’t say that word in front of her or she’ll scratch your eyes out.”

“She can come to my house,” Stella said. “Remember the McKays built it on a concrete foundation because Miz McKay’s knees had gotten so bad she couldn’t climb steps anymore, and they had the whole place fixed for her wheelchair. What day is Agnes blowing that joint?”

“Saturday morning,” Trixie said. “She swears that she’s coming to the ball that evening. Are you sure about this, Stella?”

“Couple of questions first. Can she live alone?”

“Sure. It won’t be a problem for you to leave her for work. We’ll check in on her through the day.”

“I mean as in all the time. As in if I’m not living there?” Stella asked.

Three sets of eyes immediately fixated on her. She straightened her back and stiffened her resolve to keep quiet a few more days, but it wasn’t easy.

“Where are you going to be?” Charlotte asked.

“I plead the Fifth, but Agnes can live in my house for a couple of months until she can climb steps again and go back to her place. It’s furnished and I’ll help y’all run in and out and check on her. I love that old fart,” Stella said.

Piper cupped Stella’s cheeks in her hands. “You aren’t leaving the shop for two months, are you? Promise me that you aren’t running away from us.”

“No, I am not. I’ll be here Tuesday morning to open up, but it is your week to clean the shop on Monday,” Stella said.

“I knew this was the place to come. I just knew it,” Trixie said. “I’m on my way up to take her some chocolate cake, so I’ll tell her the plan.”

“Tell her that I’ll have clean sheets on the bed, but she’s on her own for food unless she wants to cook,” Stella said. “I’ll get everything ready for her homecoming. We’ll be too busy at the shop to have a real party, but we’ll have the ball that night so it can be her homecoming party.”

“I’m telling her that you are moving out and I don’t know where or with whom. You might want to steer clear of the rehab center or she’ll pester the hell out of you until you tell her what she wants to know just to get her to shut up,” Trixie said.

Nancy came through the back door talking as she crossed the floor. “The countdown continues. Four days until all this shit is over. Oh, hello, Trixie. Is that fried chicken? It’s too early to order our lunch, so what’s going on in here?”

Piper spoke up with the newest story. “And Stella is pleading the Fifth and won’t tell us any more than that.”

Nancy laid a hand on Stella’s shoulder. “I expect that you are moving in with someone. I knew that giving a man a drawer in your bedroom was a step in that direction. And you’ve promised to bring him to your birthday party. Trixie, you and all the girls at Clawdy’s plus the Bless My Bloomers girls are invited to the party. So with that in mind, I think it is wonderful of you to let Agnes borrow your house. I’ll stop in and take her with me when I have to run up to Sherman so she doesn’t go stir-crazy.”