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Chapters (30)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. ONE - The Naked Ladies
  5. TWO - Lizzy’s Key
  6. THREE - Verna Is Rebuffed
  7. FOUR - Saturday Night in Darling, or Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries
  8. FIVE - The Roof Falls In
  9. SIX - The Dahlias in Full Bloom
  10. SEVEN - The Skeleton in Bessie Bloodworth’s Closet
  11. EIGHT - Verna Has a Visitor
  12. NINE - Beulah’s New Customer
  13. TEN - Bessie Bloodworth Learns a Thing or Two
  14. ELEVEN - Lizzy Goes to Work
  15. TWELVE - Verna Makes a Phone Call
  16. THIRTEEN - Verna Works the Switchboard
  17. FOURTEEN - Buddy Norris Collars a Crook
  18. FIFTEEN - Lizzy Faces the Lion in His Den
  19. SIXTEEN - “The Game Is Afoot!”
  20. SEVENTEEN - THE GARDEN GATE
  21. EIGHTEEN - Bessie Bloodworth Pays a Call
  22. NINETEEN - Lizzy Lays Down the Law
  23. TWENTY - The Dahlias Score
  24. TWENTY-ONE - Mr. Moseley Clears Up a Mystery
  25. TWENTY-TWO - Bessie Solves a Mystery, Myra May’s Car Breaks Down, and Violet ...
  26. TWENTY-THREE - Showtime!
  27. The Dahlias’ “Dirty Dozen” Housecleaning Tips
  28. Glossary
  29. Recipes
  30. Reading List

She decided on the conversation, since the favor she had to ask was a little complicated and might require that Myra May bend a few rules. She would rather ask the favor face-to-face. And she certainly didn’t want to risk anybody listening in.

She pulled on a cardigan over her housedress and went out into the quiet Sunday evening twilight.

NINE - Beulah’s New Customer

NINE

Beulah’s New Customer

010 When Beulah Trivette woke up on Monday morning and began to think about the week ahead, she counted herself as the luckiest woman in Darling—and with good reason. She herself was beautiful, a fact that she recognized every time she looked into the mirror and saw her blond curls, her dimples, her generous mouth, and those cornflower blue eyes. What’s more, she had a deep-seated artistic appreciation for true beauty. And even better, she had the privilege of spending all day, every day (except Sunday, of course), making ordinary women pretty and pretty women beautiful. Which as she saw it, was one of the worthiest occupations any woman could be lucky enough to choose.

Beulah’s natural sense of beauty had been enhanced by a degree (the certificate was framed and hung on the wall at her haircutting station) from the Montgomery College of Cosmetology. She saw herself as a true artist, especially where hair was concerned. She could cut the latest bob, manage a marcel iron, work miracles with a curling iron, and color hair in all shades. In fact, Beulah sometimes worried (just a little) that her training and talents were wasted in Darling, for most of the ladies who came to her Beauty Bower merely wanted a quickie shampoo and set, or a trim and shampoo, and sometimes a permanent wave. They plucked their own eyebrows, used lemon to bleach the age spots on their hands, and even made their own dry skin lotions, rather than purchasing the products she displayed on glass shelves beside the door. Still, Beulah was for the most part happy and fulfilled in her work, even though she occasionally wished for a greater artistic challenge.

Of course, a big chunk of the reason for Beulah’s happiness was the fact that she owned her very own Beauty Bower, which was a beautiful place to work. The first thing she did when she and her husband Hank bought the house on Dauphin Street was to paint a beautiful sign for the front of the house and decorate it with a basket of lush pink roses. BEULAH’S BEAUTY BOWER BLOOMING SOON!! (In addition to her other talents, Beulah could paint beautiful pictures of flowers.)