“You know, I haven’t given it one thought,” said Josey, “but that casserole was a pretty big hit last year. There wasn’t one crumb left in my dish when I picked it up. I guess I’ll make it again. Funny you should mention it though, because I never heard a word from anyone about it, and not the first person asked for the recipe. Who would have ever thought collards and cornbread all mushed up together could taste so good? Course it was probably my secret ingredient that put it over the top. Promise you won’t tell anyone. It’s nutmeg. Yep, nutmeg. I heard on a cooking show that nutmeg tastes good in everything, and darned if they weren’t right.”
Karen knew exactly why there wasn’t one crumb left. She, along with Glenda Jackson, had covertly dumped the whole mess behind the 4-H stall, assured that the stench from the hogs would overpower the rank collards.
Josey was secretly wondering how she was going to handle this new situation. She had Karen sitting in the seat, looking like a drowned red setter and the new pastor’s wife coming in any minute. She furiously began blow-drying Karen’s hair.
Karen pushed her head forward and winced. “What are you doing? Remember, that’s attached to my head.”
“Well honey,” said Josey, “like you said, idle hands are the work of the devil, so I was just practicing what you preached.”
The door opened, and silhouetted by the sun was Van, looking like he had stepped off the cover of her latest romance novel. Josey savored these moments each day. Forgetting about Karen, she clicked the dryer off and fairly bounced over to the counter.
“Now what have you been up to big boy?” she questioned, as she suggestively smoothed her clinging pants over her rump.
“How are you ladies doing today?” he asked, as he handed Josey her mail. Giving a quick wink he turned to go. “Always a pleasure seeing you all getting fixed up. Tootsie, looking pretty as ever,” he said with a nod.
Tootsie blushed, wiggled her toes in the warm water and said, “How are you doing Van? You bringing Josey some more of those contests she enters?”
“One of these days I’m going to be bringing her a winner,” he said.
Josey looked at him adoringly. “You really think so?” she asked.
“Josey, anyone that works as hard as you do at them, can’t help but be a winner,” he said, pulling the door open. Giving a tilt of his head at Karen he said, “And how are you doing Mrs. Foster?” With that, he was gone.
Josey loved to enter contests. She just knew that one day someone from Publishers Clearing House was going to be standing outside her shop with a four-foot check made out to her. She slowly exhaled. “Do you believe that guy? He has a nice word for everyone. Now that’s a real man,” she said as she watched mesmerized, as he made his way down the street.
She hastily finished Karen’s hair, knowing that Mandy Brennan would be coming through the door any second, and there was no way she wanted both women to meet head on. At least not until she had given Mandy a head’s up on Karen. If not, it would be like putting a goldfish in a bowl with a piranha.
“That ought to do you,” she said, as she filled the air with hair spray. Karen shook her head. Like a football helmet, every which way she turned her head, the molded hair went with it. She could not wait to get home to wash the aerosol cap off her head. Giving a nod to Tootsie, she put some bills in Josey’s hand and scrambled for the door. She kept telling herself this was going to be her last visit to the salon, but the drive to Strafford made her tired just thinking about it. Anyhow, who in this old town knew anything about fashion, she thought. “See you ladies in church,” she said.
“Bye bye hon,” said Josey, as she lit a cigarette. “Tootsie, you can quit faking like you were asleep now. I’ve got a few minutes before Mandy comes in. I can’t wait to meet her. Was she really in the Peace Corps like you said, or were you just making that up to get Karen mad?” she questioned.
“What do you think?” asked Tootsie, with a nasty grin. “And no, I did not make it up. Carly Sutton told me all about her.”
“When were you talking to Carly?”
“Last week. I ran into her at Cornbread Corner.”
“Well, I’m going to take a break before she comes in,” said Josey, as she picked up the latest tabloid and began to thumb through it.
Stay tuned for the next episode!
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