“I guess not. Maybe she figured they’d compete too much with the real thing.”

Andrea looked puzzled for a moment. “She moved to Florida?”

“That’s right. Here comes Michelle.”

Michelle, the last to arrive for their designated rendezvous, rushed into the back room. She pulled out a white vinyl-covered chair with a pink flamingo painted on the back. The chair was old and there were cracks in the flamingo, with yellow foam stuffing peeking through them. “I’ve never been back here before,” she said, sitting down at the pink Formica-topped table.

“That’s a blessing,” Andrea quipped, pulling out her dark glasses and putting them on.

“Why did you do that?” Hannah asked her.

“To tone down the pink. The only thing that’s not a flamingo in here is that.”

Hannah and Michelle looked where Andrea was pointing. It was a wicked-looking machine standing in the corner, with wires hanging down from a metal hood.

“What is it?” Michelle asked.

“I think it’s an old-fashioned permanent wave machine,” Hannah told her. “They used it to do marcelled hair.”

“What’s marcelled hair?”

“A marcel was a hairstyle back in the nineteen-thirties. They also called it a finger wave. You know what a wave is, don’t you?”

Michelle nodded. “Dad’s hair was wavy when he put hair oil on it. Mother liked it that way.”

“But Dad didn’t,” Andrea broke in. “He said it felt greasy.”

“So did a marcel. The waves were all perfectly lined up and they were sharp and even all over the head. Think about the early pictures you’ve seen of Joan Crawford and Mae West. They wore marcelled hair.”

“How did the machine work?” Andrea wanted to know.

“See those metal rods hanging down on cords from that hood?” Both of her sisters nodded and Hannah continued her explanation. “I’m not a hundred percent positive, but I think the operator wound hair around those metal rods. The wires led to the power source and when the operator turned on the machine, electricity heated the hair and curled it.”

Andrea looked shocked. “But that would be dangerous! I wonder if anybody was ever electrocuted.”

“I don’t know. That was way before my time.”

“I can ask Mother about it,” Michelle offered.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Andrea warned.

Hannah nodded her agreement. “That was way before her time, too. And you know Mother doesn’t like to be reminded of her age.”

“I know that. I just thought I could ask her if she ever came in here when she was a little girl and if she ever saw anyone actually using

” Michelle stopped and sighed. “You’re right. Better not.”

“Let’s get down to business,” Andrea suggested. “I have to take Tracey over to wardrobe when Honey’s done with her makeup.”

Michelle turned to Hannah. “I found out about Jared.”