Barb’s cousins Frank, Eddie, and Waylon were brothers from the Houston side of her family, and they, too, were wearing black western-style suits and boots. The family as a whole was striking. They were Barb’s payback to the friends who’d broken her heart. Shame them into silence. Dare them to say one denigrating word about Niles. And if they did, Wy and Belle were waiting to step in with a razor-sharp comment and a smile.

But it was Barb the people knew, and it would be her they would remember best long after this ordeal was over. The updo Ruby had suggested had changed her entire appearance. From the smooth cap of dark hair pulled away from her face to the soft fall of curls topping her head like a crown, she was elegance personified.

Her black dress had a mandarin collar and three-quarter-length sleeves, with a hem that ended just at her knees. Her heels were Louboutins, and the dashing red soles for which they were known were obvious only when she walked.

She was wearing her mother’s diamonds, as well as the ones Niles had given her over the years. With her hair up, her earrings, which were two-carat studs, caught the light every time she turned her head. She had six diamond tennis bracelets on her right wrist, along with the emerald-cut diamond in her wedding ring on her left hand and her mother’s diamond rings on her right. Without shoes, Barb was just shy of six feet tall, but in her red Louboutins, she stood eye to eye with both her daddy and her brother.

“Mrs. Holland, visitors will be arriving in a few minutes,” the director said. “Is there anything else you need, or anything I can do for you or your family?”

“No, but thank you for asking,” Barb said.

“Of course,” he said, pausing to straighten the floral casket piece and then slipping out of the room only moments before the first guests arrived.

“Sugar, when one of your so-called friends comes in, just point them out. Wy and I will handle anything that isn’t proper,” Belle said.

“Yes, I will,” Barb said, and gave her aunt’s hand a quick squeeze. “I don’t know what I’d be doing right now without all of you with me.”

She was dreading the first arrivals, and as fate would have it, the first couple to arrive was Don and Retta Durrett.

“Well, shit,” Barb muttered. “Both of them bad-mouthed Niles, and Retta made me cry.”

Belle’s head went up. She caught Wy’s eye and then patted her hair, just to make sure every strand was still in place.

The Durretts did a double take when they saw Barb and her family.

“Well, lordy,” Retta whispered. “Barb said she came from money, but I didn’t expect this.”

“Just flashy Texans,” Don muttered, but he was secretly envious. He didn’t know anything about Retta’s little visit to Barb the day Niles died, nor did he know his own wife had outed him for bad-mouthing Niles. He was just expecting to be received as the old friends they were. “Barb, we are so sorry. This is such a tragedy,” Don said.