World-class barbecue. The thought of it made Vera’s mouth water. “Not this time. I’ll meet you at your house at seven on Saturday.”

“I’ll pick you up and—”

“No!” she almost shouted, then looked at Kelly’s door. The light didn’t come on. “If you come here, Mom and Forey will drill you with questions about where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.”

“Anything but that!”

She frowned. “Where have you been spending the weekends?”

There was a moment of silence. Then Adam said, “If I have to divulge my secrets, then so do you. I hear there was a big anti-war rally in Omaha.”

“You don’t have to tell me. See you on Saturday and wear that black suit and the blue tie.”

“Why do I feel like you’re up to something?”

“I have no idea. See ya.” She hung up before he could ask anything else. Vera didn’t want to reveal her secrets, but she was left with questions. What is Adam doing on the weekends? And is it with someone?

On Saturday, Miguel called and said he’d pick Kelly up at seven. He said her mother and his aunt had made a reservation at Stanton’s. “But if you’d rather go somewhere else, we can. We could get ribs.”

“Not a chance,” she said. “The dress Mrs. Carl had me buy is silk. Real silk.”

He chuckled. “Then we’d better not risk getting barbecue sauce on it.”

Kelly was smiling. “I don’t know... The dress is red.” She’d never done much flirting in her life. She’d tried it on Pauly, but when he didn’t react, she’d stopped. Hearing Miguel’s intake of breath made her think she should do it more often.

When she hung up, her mother and Forey were standing there smiling at her. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s just a date.”

Smiling even broader, the women went back to the kitchen.

It took Kelly an hour to get ready for her date. Mrs. Carl had insisted she spend the whole morning in a beauty parlor. She’d protested until Mrs. Carl said, “Kelly, dear, they may have to take a threshing machine to those eyebrows of yours.”

After that comment, Kelly sat in the sticky plastic chair and let them do to her whatever Mrs. Carl told them to do.

Looking at herself, she had to admit that maybe there was better shampoo than whatever was on sale. Her hair was soft and shiny. Or it was soft under what had to be a whole can of Aqua Net? Her hair had been set in rollers and she’d had to endure a long time under a dryer so hot she was sure her scalp was blistered. When she complained, Mrs. Carl said, “Beauty takes pain, but your result is worth it.”