Instead of pulling her honey-colored hair back into a ponytail, she swirled and twirled it until she had a style she knew Lola would approve of. A glance in the mirror told her she looked downright dowdy. She made a promise to herself to go shopping in the morning.

Mandy poked her head in the door a second time. She shook her head. “No, no, no! Wait right here.” She was back within minutes, holding an emerald-colored silk scarf that she tied around Cady’s waist as a belt. “The fringe is just the right touch. Now, put on these emerald earrings and fasten this emerald comb in your hair. Now you look carelessly elegant. Lola will approve.” Cady sighed with relief.

Cady walked into the music room to see Lola sitting in a throne-like chair, her rainbow-colored caftan spread out around her. To cover her thinness, Cady thought. A matching turban covered her thin hair and was so tight she knew it was a Hollywood trick to pull her skin tighter. She wondered if Lola would be able to move her jaw to talk. “You look beautiful, Lola.”

“That’s exactly what you were supposed to say, sweetie. I forgive you for the lie. My husband would have loved this room.” Lola pointed to the Steinway. “He could bring me to tears with the way he played. He could have been a concert pianist, but he liked jazz and rock and roll. He didn’t like the classics, said they were boring. I think Elvis stole his moves. Lord, how I lusted after that man. I made him a peach pie once. I had never made a pie in my life, but I had a cookbook. It was rather chewy as I recall. He thought me making that pie was the most wonderful thing in the world. The next day he bought me a jeweled tiara. It made all the newspapers because it was outrageously expensive. There aren’t too many places where you can wear a diamond tiara, so I took it to a jeweler and had him make me a choker. After he died, of course. I wore the tiara to his funeral. He would have liked that. It looks good on Atlas, don’t you think? It’s insured, sweetie, so don’t fret.”

“I like this room,” Cady said as she struggled to absorb Lola’s monologue.

Lola twinkled. “Sweetie, if these walls could only talk! Desmond could play every single instrument in those glass cases. And, he had a voice like a bird. How that man could sing. He would sing sometimes when we made love, which was almost all the time. He made a deal with the studio for these two thrones. His and her thrones, he called them. When we sat in them, we were the king and queen. I don’t know anyone else who has two thrones, do you? We often sat here far into the night and listened to his recordings. The man had such passion.”

She’s nervous, that’s why she’s babbling, Cady thought. “I wish I had known him.”