The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop (33 page)

But Annabel sent her a picture via cell phone of the new church sign. It said: “Jed Tucker and Stella Baxter Married May 21.” And right below that it said, “First Baby Due March 21.”

She’d teach them all a lesson. They would not have a Yellow Rose Barbecue Ball ever again. They’d ruined their chance at rising up out of their backcountry ways. They’d miss her desperately when she moved her membership to a larger church in Sherman. Some people simply could not appreciate the finer things in life.

Stella was glad that she had a seat at the piano that Sunday morning. The church was packed so tightly that elbows, knees, and shoulders were crammed together on the pews. She’d never realized his family was so big. There must be close to a hundred new faces out there and the only ones he’d had time to introduce her to before services were his mother and father. Jed might be an only child, but good grief, he had cousins and aunts and uncles by the score and there were babies everywhere.

She hoped that in days to come, listening to the sermon would be easier, but that Sunday morning, she was either fretting about his family or letting her mind drift to the glorious night they’d just had together in the old parsonage.

Then suddenly the benediction was over and it was time for the potluck in the fellowship hall. She and Jed stood in an informal greeting line and he introduced her to his family as they came through. Evidently, his mother was no stranger to church potluck dinners. She and Nancy were over there in the kitchen supervising and organizing.

Charlotte tapped Stella on the shoulder. “Are you serious about not giving me and Piper a key to your new house?”

“Very much so. You have to knock on the door.”

Piper touched her other shoulder. “Heather wasn’t in church. You reckon she has her first-ever hangover?”

“I’d like to know if she’s planning another ball for next year,” Stella said. “Save me a place at whatever table you’ve got saved.”

Finally, the last hand had been shaken and Everett clapped his hands loudly. The noise died down and he raised a red plastic cup of sweet tea. “Before Jed graces this dinner, I’d like to propose a toast to my daughter and new son. I’d also like to welcome his family to Cadillac. Y’all make yourselves at home and come back often. You are always welcome. And I’d like to toast to our first grandbaby, who will be born next spring. I hope it’s a red-haired girl just like my Stella Joy. Now, Jed, bless this damn food so we can get to it.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Stella said.

“Yes, sir.” Jed nodded.

Agnes pushed a walker up beside Stella and whispered, “And I’d like to report there will be no more barbecue balls of any name or description in Cadillac, and that next week Heather will be moving her membership to a church in Sherman. Here’s to Cadillac. May it never change and may you never dye your hair black.”

A
BOUT THE
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Photo © 2014 Charles Brown

Carolyn Brown is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author and a RITA finalist. Her books include historical, contemporary, cowboy, and country music mass-market paperbacks. She and her husband live in Davis, Oklahoma. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. When she’s not writing, she likes to sit in her gorgeous backyard with her two tomcats, Chester Fat Boy and Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, and watch them protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders.