Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(13)

“I’m the owner and main stylist at the Honeybee Salon, but I also do lashes and makeup.” Winnie circled me, eyeing my hair. “Your hair is gorgeous but could use a little . . . refreshing. I’d love to get my hands on it.”

“Good luck with that. Lila’s kept her hair exactly the same since she was five. Tita Cecilia insisted on the two of them getting matching haircuts every year.” Bernadette’s smirk was replaced by a look of horror when she realized why I hadn’t changed my hairstyle in over twenty years. “Oh, sh—sorry.”

Katie, completely oblivious to what was going on, asked, “Who’s Tita Cecilia?” stumbling slightly over the pronunciation of “Tita.”

“‘Tita’ means ‘aunt’ in our language,” I explained. “She’s referring to my mom. She passed away when I was eight.”

Katie’s eyes widened. “Oh. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, Ate.” Joy put her hand on my arm, the concern in her eyes sweet but discomfiting.

I forced a smile. “It was a long time ago. Don’t worry about it.”

Bernadette said, “Tita Cecilia loved beauty pageants. I’m sure she’s so proud that Lila won and is a judge now. She always said the point of being a beauty queen is giving back to the community.”

My mom had grown up in Tondo, one of the poorest areas of Manila. Her neighbors had all chipped in to pay the fees and other expenses it took to enter a pageant because they knew she had what it took to obtain the crown. After she won and moved to the U.S., she sent money and balikbayan boxes home every year until she died. Tita Rosie still sent a yearly balikbayan box, even though we had our own money problems and they weren’t her blood relations. I hadn’t thought about that side of the family in a long time.

As annoyed as I was that Bernadette was still talking about my mom and making me think about things I’d left in the past, the fact that she was, dare I say, comforting me was new and a little bewildering. We’d spent most of our lives looking for ways to compete and weak points to exploit. Maybe we really were becoming friends.

Then again, she knew how I felt about my mother and the way she’d phrased what she said could be a jab at me, trying to hint that even though I’d won the crown, I’d never given back to the community. Just because she felt guilty about my mom didn’t mean she wasn’t still pissed about me beating her.

“Thanks, Ate Bernie. I appreciate it.” I even added a little smile to show her no hard feelings, and that I totally wasn’t wondering if she was plotting against me.

“So your mom was a beauty queen, too?” Katie asked.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said I was OK with it. Katie seemed to think that gave her carte blanche to ask all kinds of questions, and talking about my parents was something I did not do. Which Bernadette knew. I shot her a dirty look but she just shrugged.

I sighed. “Yeah, she won a local pageant and had a shot at the Miss Philippines title. She didn’t win, but she did well enough to save money for her move to the U.S.”

“So then she met your dad here, right? Because beauty queens can’t be married when they’re competing?”

“Those rules depend on the competition, actually. She and my dad had been a thing back in the Philippines, but they broke up when he moved to Shady Palms with my grandparents. After she moved here, they were able to reconnect and got married a few months later.”

Against the wishes of my grandmother, I didn’t add. Lola Flor had held her only son in high regard and thought he could do much better than a small-time beauty queen. I could tell by the sighs both Joy and Katie were letting out that they found the story romantic.

“A second chance at love! Those are my favorite kind of stories,” Katie said. “I used to dream that my dad would come back to Shady Palms to win back my mom.”

“And I told you that I didn’t come to this country for a man. You should never rely on one for anything. You’re young and pretty—use those assets to make your own way.” Winnie sighed. “Besides, you never even met your father and it’s probably better that way. Romance is for books. In the real world, it’s about your brains and your looks. So use them.”

Katie hung on to her mother’s words, eyes widening in what she probably thought was the wisdom in them. I’d gotten a similar speech when I was a kid. “Yes, ma’am. Don’t you worry, I’m going to win this thing, go to college, and become a high-powered businesswoman to manage a chain of our salons. Just like we always talked about.”

“That’s my girl.” Winnie threw her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and kissed her head. “Now go practice your networking skills.”

As Joy and Katie wandered off to talk to the other contestants, Winnie motioned toward the other moms. “Need to check out the competition,” she said with a wink.

“That woman is something,” Yuki said. She’d wandered over to join our group and held out a piece of sweet potato tempura, which I gladly accepted.

“She reminded me of Tita Cecilia,” Bernadette said.

I shot her a look. She’d brought up my mom one time too many. “Why are you here anyway? Where are Joy’s parents?”

Bernadette pursed her lips. “They’re not particularly involved in their children’s lives. To put it mildly. Pinky’s usually the one who attends the kids’ functions, but she had a late shift at the hospital today and asked me to come.”