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on the dress and riding on the float will help you get over what happened twelve years ago,” Momma said.
    “I doubt it.” Caroline crossed her arms.
    “You know,” Millie said into the silence that descended between mother and daughter, “my husband says we should be nice to this Englishman. We need his investment on account of the economy being so bad around here. Just last night he said that we needed a factory more than a putt-putt dedicated to the Lord.”
    Everyone looked at Millie like she’d lost her mind. Loyalty ran deep among the members of the Committee to Resurrect Golfing for God.
    “Thanks, Mrs. Polk,” Caroline said, “but to be clear with y’all, I’m not here to convince Daddy to sell his land. I’m here to convince the baron to take his factory someplace else.”
    “Oh, I’m not sure my husband is going to like hearing that,” Mrs. Polk said.
    Momma stepped in before a political discussion broke out. Momma might have political views, but she disapproved of them in her beauty shop.
    “Rocky, you really don’t have much of a choice. I certainly wish he hadn’t come to town. But it seems to me that it will be worse for your career if he’s denied the chance to sit up there with the VIPs because you refuse to put on a pretty pink and green dress.”
    Momma had, of course, put her finger right on the crux of the problem. “I’m stuck, aren’t I?” Caroline said on a long sigh.
    “I’m afraid so. So let’s get your hair trimmed. And Jane can give you a manicure, too. It looks like you’ve been biting your nails again.”
    “Momma, I am not going to pouf out my hair and wear a tiara. I’ll ride on the float, but do I have to wear my dress?”
    “Yes. It’s at the cleaners, and I’m sure it still fits you.”
    “It hardly fit me when I was eighteen.”
    “Oh, piffle, Rocky. It fit you just fine. I know you are a little sensitive about your bustline, but honey, you looked gorgeous in that dress twelve years ago.”
    “Cheer up, Rocky, it’s not so bad,” Jane said from her place at the manicure station.
    Caroline braced for one of Jane’s Pollyanna observations. “How do you figure that? I don’t think my boss will ever take me seriously again if he ever sees me exposed in that dress with my hair poufed out and a tiara on my head.”
    “Oh, it can’t be that bad. I mean, riding on the float has to be way more fun than standing around with a lot of self-important dignitaries. And besides, I’ve seen those dresses. They are way cool. And you don’t have to pouf out your hair or wear a tiara.”
    Caroline turned her gaze on Momma, who was in the process of taking the permanent rollers out of Lessie’s hair. “Did you hear that, Momma?”
    “I did. No one said you had to have poufy hair,” Momma said.
    “You know,” Jane said, “if you didn’t try to fight the curl in your hair, it would look pretty just left down and kind of natural. And I have some pink and green ribbons left over from a dress I made for Haley. You could wearthem like a garland instead of a tiara. If you like, I’ll do your hair. We could make it simple. It could be done on Saturday morning. No fuss, no muss.”
    Caroline felt just a tiny wave of jealousy. She knew it was wrong to feel jealous of Jane. After all, Jane had made Caroline’s older brother, Clay, a happy man. But sometimes Caroline envied the relationship Jane and Ruby had developed. Jane had taken up knitting and sewing and cooking and was turning herself into a real domestic goddess. Momma seemed to approve of that. But then Momma could cook and sew and knit—in addition to running a business.
    Caroline could just about manage to heat up a Lean Cuisine. And she had never had any interest in sewing or knitting. Maybe God had given Jane to Momma as compensation.
    “Thanks, Jane, you’re on,” Caroline said, then settled back in the chair and studied the members of the Ladies Auxiliary for a moment. “So, what’s new in Last