The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (23 page)

Stella held up a cute little white eyelet lace sundress with a defined waistline and a full skirt. “I like this for the shower on Sunday. What do y’all think?”

“It’s cute, but it’s a wedding shower. You think you should wear white?” Nancy asked.

Piper pulled another one from the rack. “Here is the same dress in green. It matches your eyes and you could wear your cowboy boots with it. The ones that have that green Celtic cross in relief on the front.”

“That’s a great idea. Y’all buyin’ something for the shower?” Stella asked.

“I’ve got a new capri set I’m wearing,” Nancy answered.

“I’m buying. You know how I love clothes, and a shower is a wonderful excuse to get something brand-new,” Piper said.

Stella saw a grass-green dress on the rack and pulled it out. “Mama, what about this one?”

“Oh, honey, I’m too old and my arms are too flabby to wear something sleeveless, much less a spaghetti strap like that.” Nancy smiled.

“How about with this?” Piper held up a short-sleeved off-white jacket trimmed in satin ribbon the same shade of green.

“It goes with it,” Stella said. “See, right here, it says that it’s a two-piece outfit. Someone must’ve knocked the jacket off and then it got hung on a separate hanger. And for the record, Mama, you work too hard on the farm to ever get baggy arms.”

Nancy beamed. “Thank you, honey. Let’s go try on all this finery and then go across the highway and have us some catfish. I’m treating tonight because y’all are helping me buy something I don’t want to go somewhere I don’t want to go.”

Stella had been planning on finding a way to buy a pregnancy test that evening, but with both her friends and her mama in her company that wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t mentioned a word about it to Jed and she hadn’t thrown up again, so maybe, just maybe, it was nothing more than nerves that kept her from having a period. And hopefully it was eating leftovers that had made her sick.

Charlotte pulled the cart back and quickly added two more dresses. “Thank you, Nancy. But don’t forget we have to buy shoes to go with these dresses or we’ll have to come back again.”

“Well, crap! I forgot about shoes. Good thing you remembered, Charlotte, because I’m not wasting another night on the most boring thing we’ve ever had in Cadillac.” Nancy sighed.

“It could turn out to be a riot.” Stella laughed.

“Maybe we should have an ambulance there just in case?” Nancy followed the three women and the cart to the fitting rooms at the back of the store.

“Heather has the television station from Sherman coming down to cover it,” Piper said.

“Was that girl born stupid?” Nancy frowned.

“It’s the big-city ideas coming out of her. She has visions of grandeur because she moved from Tulsa to little bitty Cadillac,” Piper said.

“Honey, that girl lived in Ripley, Oklahoma, population less than five hundred. She went to college in Tulsa but she wasn’t raised there,” Nancy said.

“So Ripley.” Stella giggled.

“Believe it.” Charlotte laughed with her.

“Or not!” Piper finished the sentence.

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

A
lma Grace wore a chin-length wedding veil attached to a glittering tiara with a cute little floral sundress. Rick was decked out with a bow tie, a garter around his arm, and a top hat. They had the place of honor under a decorated arch in the huge living room.

Tansy swept across the room and hugged Nancy. “I’m so glad you and Stella came today. Come over here and sit beside me.”

Tansy was a self-proclaimed psychic and her predictions were right about 50 percent of the time. The other half she blamed on her crazy cockatiel not doing his part in being her muse. As usual, she looked like a gypsy in a flowing multicolored skirt, dozens of gold bangle bracelets up her arm, and fancy sandals that laced around her ankles.

Charlotte and Piper arrived and Tansy ushered them to seats right behind Nancy and Stella. “This way we can all be in a group. I’ve got dozens of questions about the ball.”

Stella took one look at three eight-foot tables stacked full of presents and whispered to Nancy, “Mama, swear to me that you won’t let anyone give me a wedding shower. I’ll allow a bridal shower with lots of pretty things from Bless My Bloomers, but I don’t need ten toasters.”

“No, ma’am. We like our parties in Cadillac too well for that, but I will promise you that I’ll help write thank-you notes. And so will Piper and Charlotte. That’s what bridesmaids are for. Do you have a fellow or maybe a date in mind?” Nancy asked.

“Maybe,” she answered.

Carlene passed presents to Alma Grace and Rick. Sugar, Alma Grace’s mama, wrote down each gift in a pretty white book. Jenny strung the bows on a velvet coat hanger and stuffed trash into a white plastic bag imprinted with wedding bells.

Just watching them gave Stella an acute case of imaginary hives. She held her hands in her lap to keep from scratching at bumps that weren’t there. She was so glad that she and Jed had simply gone to the courthouse in Durant, Oklahoma, one Monday afternoon, bought a license, and got married by the judge. It had taken thirty minutes from the time they walked into the court clerk’s office until they were back in Jed’s truck. They’d spent the rest of the day and the night in a hotel room and she hadn’t been late to work the next morning.

Tansy leaned back and said in a low voice, “Isn’t it all lovely? Now, about this ball. I hear it’s like a renaissance fair and a pre–Civil War ball all mixed up together. The poster at Bless My Bloomers looks like a movie advertisement. Are the men really supposed to wear knee britches? If they are, we’ll have very few guys to dance with. This is Texas.”

“It’s renaissance and redneck with lots of crazy thrown into the mix,” Nancy said. “All profits will go to Heather’s marriage ministry but if she doesn’t stop spending so big, she’s liable to be in the red for a long time with her new-founded ministry.”

“She’s got a lot to learn, doesn’t she?” Tansy whispered.

“Hello, everyone.” Heather waved from the doorway. “I’m a little late so I let myself in. I did my fifteen minutes of prayer at the prayerathon first so I could attend.” She slid a sidelong glance toward Stella. “Now the rest of the prayer folks are doing their duty.”

“Well, ain’t that nice,” Tansy said.

Heather had barely parked her fanny in a chair when the doorbell rang. Tansy popped up and headed in that direction and brought Annabel and Floy back with her.

“We prayed together. There is strength in numbers.” Annabel smiled at Stella. “You will be in line for all this real soon, Stella. We were talkin’ about your wedding shower on the way over here.”

Tansy returned the next time the doorbell rang with Rosalee right behind her. Her overalls were amazing, with sparkly stones creating a floral design up the outsides of both legs as well as across the bib. She wore a shiny red satin shirt underneath them and red rubber flip-flops with bright-colored stones glued to the straps.

She sat down beside Charlotte right behind Tansy, leaned up, and whispered, “What do y’all think? Agnes says for someone to send pictures to her phone.”

“You look amazing,” Stella said. “Can I borrow those sometime?”

“Anytime until I die, but then I’ll be buried in them. Me and Agnes decided when I went to see her this morning that we’d be buried in our new overalls or else our ball gowns. Damn, this is more fun than I’ve had in years.” Rosalee grinned.

“They are opening Heather’s present,” Charlotte said softly.

“Oh, Heather, how thoughtful of you,” Alma Grace said. “And it’s got a wide slot in the top for bagels. Rick and I are addicted to bagels with cream cheese. Thank you so much and please thank Violet for us, also, for sharing in buying the gift. We are so sorry that she couldn’t come and we hope that she’s feeling better real soon.”

Said like a true southern girl, although there were six more boxes the exact same size on the gift table. Stella wasn’t sure she’d have that much grace, not even as a preacher’s wife.

Gigi handed Alma Grace an envelope and said, “This is from Agnes and Rosalee.”

Alma Grace opened it and squealed, jumped up, and ran across the room. Tears welled up in her eyes as she threw her arms around Rosalee and hugged her fiercely. “You and Agnes are such sweethearts. Bless her heart, I know she wants to be here. You shouldn’t have done this, but I’m so happy that you did. Oh, and I adore your outfit. You may have just started a brand-new fad.”

“Your dad is delivering it to your new house right now, so it’s there,” Rosalee said. “It was mostly Agnes’s idea but I wanted to help, so we shared the gift.”

Alma Grace hugged her again. “I can’t believe that she remembered. Thank you, thank you! Everyone, I want to tell you a story. Last month, I was in an antique store in Sherman and Agnes came in to browse. I’d been admiring a gorgeous old burled-oak washstand. It was in perfect condition with the original hardware still on it and I said that there was a place in my house that it would fit right into. She has bought that lovely piece of furniture for us. Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?”

Rosalee shooed her away. “It’s not a big deal. Not many girls your age appreciate good solid furniture, and we wanted you to have it. There’s something tucked inside the drawer that is a little extra surprise. Now go on and unwrap the rest of those presents before you have me cryin’ with you.”

Piper poked her on the arm. “What’s in the drawer?”

“Just a little hand-crocheted runner that she admired. My mama used to crochet that pineapple pattern and I thought she should have it to go with the washstand,” Rosalee whispered. “But don’t tell anyone. Heather can wonder if I put a check in there to pay for her honeymoon.”

“Lord, you are almost as ornery as Agnes.” Piper giggled softly.

“Well, thank you, honey.” Rosalee beamed.

The window was unlatched. The door was locked. Music played. But Stella was in bed alone and she couldn’t sleep. She rolled to one side and checked the clock.

It was early and she hadn’t heard from Jed, so he might still show up. He had called the night before and said he had to sit with an elderly member of the church in the hospital. Two nights in a row wasn’t fair, not when they’d found the perfect place.

In plain sight couldn’t be beat. So far folks didn’t seem to be interested in what Preacher Jed was doing out jogging around town in the early morning and late night hours. They were too busy spying on Stella.

She slapped his pillow down over her face and inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with air and the remnants of his cologne. It just made her miss him all the more. She held the pillow up and imagined that it was his face with the angles, his definite jawline, firm but sexy lips, and those lines in his cheeks when he smiled.

“I’m so much in love,” she muttered.

The rising window made a slight noise but she’d imagined hearing that all evening, so she didn’t believe that he was there until he sat down on the edge of the bed. She squealed and threw herself into his arms.

“It’s true,” he said.

“What, that I love you?”

He kissed her on the tip of the nose. “No, that absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“I hate sleeping alone,” she said.

She took his hand and wiggled out of his embrace. “I have a surprise.”

“Is it edible? I’m starving.”

“No, but I’ll go to the kitchen and get you something,” she said.

“I’ll need energy to do what I’ve got planned for tonight,” he whispered. “Are you going to wrap yourself in something from Bless My Bloomers?”

She led him to the chest of drawers and opened the middle drawer. “Something far simpler than that. You are now the proud owner of your very own drawer, darlin’.”

He picked her up and carried her back to the bed. “I’ve changed my mind about food.”

“I don’t mind making you a sandwich,” she said. “Are you disappointed?”

“No, I’m amazed. That is the best present you’ve ever given me. If I have a drawer, it means we are a step closer to being a real married couple. I want to make love to you until the sun comes up, Stella.”

The laughter that bubbled up from her soul was soft and sweet. “I love you and yes, we are a step closer and I’m getting used to the idea of being a preacher’s wife, but I still want to wait until after this blasted ball is over, if you don’t mind.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed with her in his lap. “We can wait that long as long as I have a drawer and can hold you in my arms. Have I told you today that you are beautiful?”

“I haven’t seen you today,” she reminded him.

He slipped her gray tank top up over her head and kissed the hollow spot in her neck. “You didn’t get my telepathic messages? I sent one every ten minutes while you were at the shower and since you’ve been home.”

“So that’s what my heart was hopping around about all day,” she mumbled just before her lips met his.

“Stella, we need to talk,” he said.

“About?” Her blood ran cold. Surely Annabel hadn’t thought she was pregnant and was spreading more tales.

“About this dark cloud hovering over your head. I want us to get it out in the open and”—he paused—“I need to get my past out, dust it off, and be honest about it, too. We should have done it before we married, but I was afraid I’d lose you.”

“You first,” she said.

“Okay. Baring souls and confession time, and then we’ll put it all in the past and not visit it again. But when you meet the folks where I grew up, I don’t want anything they say to ruin our marriage.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“What could you have possibly done that was worse than my past?” she asked.

He toyed with a strand of her hair. “I was as wild as a tornado when I was young.”

“So was I, especially after the preacher’s son ruined my name.” She touched his face.

“I was that preacher’s son,” Jed said.

“No, you weren’t,” she argued.

“My father was not a preacher, but I was just like that boy. The first time I had a girl, I went to school and bragged about it. Her reputation was ruined and we were both only fifteen. I didn’t even learn my lesson then, either. I smoked. I drank. I didn’t do drugs because I was afraid my daddy would kill me for that, but he lived by the old rule—boys will be boys and they have a different set of rules than girls. I made it my business to sweet-talk lots of pretty girls into the backseat of my old car.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

“Because when we go home to visit, folks are going to say things and I want you to know now,” he told her. “Your past isn’t nearly as bad as mine, so you need to let it go and forget about the gossip that this town hangs on to.”

“You’re not fixin’ to tell me that you have AIDS or children hiding in your past, are you?” she asked.

He slowly shook his head. “Neither one, but only by the grace of God. I was tested for everything before I met you and I’m clean, and there are no children. I should have told you before, but I was afraid I’d lose you and I’m not sure my heart could keep beating if I didn’t have you in my life. But that barbecue thing is getting close and I want to give you the opportunity to—”

She laid a finger across his lips. “I don’t want to end our marriage. I love you, Jed. And you didn’t get a saint, either. I’m glad you fessed up, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Can we please bury the past and go on with our lives?”