Read The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star Online
Authors: Susan Wittig Albert
Tags: #Mystery, #Gardening, #Adult
Aunt Hetty turned a page of her magazine. As if she had read Lizzie’s mind, she remarked, “Charlie Dickens could do with a slice of humble pie, too.”
“Why do you say that, Aunt Hetty?” Beulah asked. She dipped a fluff of cotton into the setting gel and began patting it along each curler, saturating Lizzy’s hair. She held the bowl close to Lizzy’s head to catch the drips.
“It’s because of the way Mr. Dickens behaved at the picture show with Miss Dare,” Bettina said severely. She tch-tched with her tongue. “Scandalous, if you ask me. And poor Miss Champaign sitting home all alone.”
“Does anybody know where she’s gone?” Lizzy asked. She closed her eyes as Beulah worked around her forehead with the setting lotion and the cotton. “I’m worried about her.”
“She has a sister in Miami and a cousin in Atlanta,” Bessie Bloodworth said. “She might have gone there.” She sighed. “I can’t believe that Charlie Dickens would act like such a louse. Why, he and Fannie were as good as engaged, from what I heard. Why did he do it?”
Nobody knew the answer. But that mystery was eclipsed by a much greater one, which had stunned everyone when they heard about it. It was Myra May Mosswell’s introduction of her mother, whose cooking was such a huge hit at the diner: Raylene Riggs, aka Ina Ray Mosswell.
“When I heard that,” Bettina said, combing Verna’s hair down in the back and trimming with her scissors, “you could have knocked me over with a feather. Imagine finding out that the cook you’ve just hired is
really
your long-lost mother!”
“Long
dead
mother,” Verna corrected her. “That’s what Myra May thought, anyway. That’s what her father told her—and the aunt who raised her.”
“What I don’t understand,” Lizzy said, “is why some of the older folks around town didn’t recognize her.”
“Charlie Dickens’ sister Edna Fay thought she looked familiar,” Verna said. “Myra May told me that. But she didn’t recognize her.”
Beulah set the lotion on the counter. “Of course,” she said, considering, “Ina Ray left Darling thirty-some years ago. It’s hard to remember what a person looks like if you haven’t seen her for thirty years.”
“Especially if your memory isn’t very good.” Bessie Bloodworth laughed a little. “Like mine.”
“Especially,” Bettina said, “if you think she’s been dead all that time.”
“Especially if her husband and her sister-in-law have both
insisted
that
she’s dead,” Verna said. “Not once but dozens of times.”
“But you saw through all that, didn’t you, Aunt Hetty?” Lizzy said, catching Aunt Hetty’s glance in the mirror. “You recognized Ina Ray right off.”
“Not right off,” Aunt Hetty admitted, closing the magazine on her finger. “It took a minute. But the more I looked at that lady, the more like Myra May she looked, and then I had it. But of course, I had the advantage of knowing that Ina Ray wasn’t actually dead. Belle Mosswell confessed that to me years ago and made me swear never to let on. Poor Belle. She felt guilty about that lie right up to the day she died, but of course her brother made her do it.” Aunt Hetty narrowed her eyes. “Belle Mosswell never could stand up to that man—she let him walk all over her from the time they were children. I don’t blame Ina Ray for leaving. A pity she didn’t take her baby with her, but I understand. Times were hard back then, almost as bad as they are now.”
“I hear that Myra May’s mother is a real good cook,” Bettina said, fluffing her fingers through Verna’s hair. “Is she going to stay in Darling and help out at the diner?”
“She says she’s going to settle down here,” Aunt Hetty replied. “She and Myra May are getting acquainted. She loves Violet. And she downright adores little Cupcake. Says it’s like having a grandbaby.”
Beulah put the rest of the curlers in a drawer. “But where’s she going to live? I’ve been in Myra May’s flat. It’s pretty small, especially with the baby. They couldn’t put a mouse in there.”
“You haven’t heard?” Lizzy asked. “Raylene and Pauline DuBerry have struck up a friendship, and Pauline has asked her if she’d like to live upstairs in the DuBerry house. Raylene is going to pay rent, which will give Pauline enough extra money so she can hire somebody to help her clean the cabins and do the laundry. Pauline’s getting on, you know. She doesn’t have any children and with Floyd gone, it’ll be good for her to have somebody living in the house. She’s even agreed to let Raylene use her car to drive to work.”
“Raylene,” Verna said thoughtfully. “So we’re not going to call her Ina Ray?”
“Raylene says that Ina Ray’s dead,” Aunt Hetty said flatly. “She doesn’t want to be Ina Ray anymore. Everybody’s supposed to call her Raylene—except for Myra May, who can call her Mama any time she wants. Violet, too. And Cupcake is already calling her Grandma.”
Beulah unbuttoned Liz’s pink cape and took it off. “There, Liz—you’re all done. Let’s put you under the hair dryer.” Lizzy followed her to the chair and sat down, while Beulah adjusted the big metal bonnet over her head and flicked the switch. The machine began to hum and warm air swished down around Lizzy’s ears. “And I just made something I want all you ladies to try out,” Beulah added. She disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.
“I think it’s so sweet about Myra May and her mother,” Bettina said softly. “Such a lovely reunion—especially after so many years apart. A happy ending, don’t you think?” She swiped at one eye with the back of her hand. “Makes me tear up just to think of it.”
Verna clucked her tongue. “Bettina, you are just so sentimental.”
Bettina’s forehead puckered in a puzzled frown. “Well, what’s so bad about being sentimental? I mean, if you’ve got feelings in your heart, you should show them, isn’t that right?”
“But you can’t
know
if this is an ending,” Verna said in a practical tone. “I mean, as far as Myra May and Raylene are concerned, maybe it’s a beginning. Or somewhere in the middle. And maybe it won’t be so happy. Maybe they won’t like each other as much as they think. Maybe—”
“Verna, Verna,” Aunt Hetty said, shaking her head darkly. “You are the most distrustful person the good lord ever allowed to walk on this green earth. Isn’t she, Lizzy?”
“What?” Lizzy smiled at Aunt Hetty. “I can’t hear a thing with this hair dryer going.”
Beulah came out of the kitchen with a spoon and a small crockery bowl of a fluffy white mixture. “All right, ladies,” she said. “I want you to hold out your hands. I’ll give you each a spoonful of my new magic hand cream. I want you to rub it in and tell me how it feels.” She went around to each of them with the bowl and the spoon.
It was cool, Lizzy thought as she rubbed the mixture into her skin. “It feels smooth,” she said. “And rich.”
“Good on these old hands,” Aunt Hetty agreed, rubbing.
“Not at all sticky,” Verna said in an approving tone. “So many of the hand creams I’ve tried feel sticky.”
Bessie sniffed her hands. “Smells good, too. Smells like Blue Waltz.”
“You guessed it, Bessie,” Beulah said happily. “I added just a couple of drops of Blue Waltz, from the five-and-dime, to make it smell pretty. But before you leave, you’ll want to rinse it off.”
“Rinse it off?” Verna wanted to know. “But why?”
“Because you might attract flies,” Beulah said. “It’s mostly mashed potatoes.”
“Mashed potatoes!” the Dahlias cried in unison.
Beulah nodded smiling. “Well, you know my motto, ladies. We may not have much, but we get beautiful when we use what we’ve got.”
The Garden Gate
GETTING BEAUTIFUL FOR PENNIES
BY MISS ELIZABETH LACY
DARLING DISPATCH FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1932
Every woman wants to be beautiful, but in these hard times, most women don’t have a lot of money to spend on their appearance. If nickels and dimes are scarce at your house (and the dollars even scarcer), try these tips and tricks, contributed by the friendly ladies of the Darling Dahlias, who know a thing or two about staying beautiful.
Cucumber and Mint Cleanser
Bessie Bloodworth grows cucumber and mint in her garden and aloe on her back porch. She buys the glycerin at Lima’s Drugstore.
3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh cucumber juice
2 tablespoons aloe vera gel, scraped from a fresh leaf
1 tablespoon glycerin
In a nonreactive pan over medium heat, brew the mint leaves in the water for 5 to 8 minutes, to make a strong tea. When it’s cool, strain out the leaves, add the cucumber juice, the aloe vera gel, and the glycerin and mix well. To use, wet a clean cloth with the cleanser and rub lightly over your skin. Store the leftovers in the icebox to keep from spoiling.
Honey Facial Cleanser
Alice Walker’s husband Arnold keeps bees, and Alice makes a facial cleanser with their honey.
1
⁄
2
cup honey
2 tablespoons mild shampoo (such as Rexall’s or Palmolive, from Lima’s Drugstore)
1 cup glycerin
Put everything in a bowl and mix it up together. You don’t have to keep this one in the icebox.
Rose Skin Toner
Earlynne Biddle has lots of roses. She saves the petals and hips and uses them in the old recipes handed down from her mother and grandmother. This is one of her grandmother’s recipes. Earlynne says you don’t have to keep this in the icebox but it will be nice and cool if you do.
3 tablespoons fresh rose petals
4 tablespoons fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons rosemary
1 cup white wine vinegar
Put your clean plant material in a quart jar. Heat the vinegar and pour it over the leaves. Put a lid on the jar and let it sit for about ten days, shaking every day. Strain out the leaves. Apply to your skin with your fingertips or cotton.
Bessie’s Bath Powder
Bessie Bloodworth has been making her own bath powder ever since Mr. Lima raised the price on her favorite brand. She keeps this in a jar with a lid on it and shakes it up every couple of days to keep it from getting lumpy. But if it does, she says you can just mash the lumps with a fork.
1 cup cornstarch
1
⁄
2
cup baking soda
Mix it up in a bowl. If you want a little scent, add a tablespoon of ground cloves and a tablespoon of mace. Or get some dried rose petals from Earlynne, grind them up fine, and add them. Bessie says to dust a little into your shoes, as a foot deodorant.
Beeswax and Honey Lip Balm
Lucy Murphy reports that this lip balm is better even than Tangee, because it stays on longer. She gets her beeswax and honey from Alice Ann Walker, who will be glad to save you some, too—all you have to do is ask. The baby oil is fifteen cents a bottle but it’s good for lots of other things: on squeaky hinges, as a furniture polish (mix with a little lemon), and as a cuticle softener. But if that’s too pricey, Lucy says just melt a couple spoonfuls of Vaseline with the beeswax. It won’t smell as good but it will work just fine.
4 tablespoons grated beeswax
2 tablespoons Johnson’s baby oil
1 tablespoon honey
Melt the beeswax in a double boiler. Add the baby oil and stir well. Line a little box with wax paper (like the little box of wooden matches that Mrs. Hancock sells for a nickel). Pour the mixture into it and let it cool. Then you can take it out and leave it on your dressing table.
Banana Hair Conditioner
Myra May Mosswell, at the diner, usually has a banana or two that’s past its prime. If it’s too far gone for banana pudding, she uses it to make a hair and scalp conditioner.
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg
Mix everything together until it’s nice and creamy. Before you shampoo, wet your hair and massage the conditioner into your hair and scalp. Wrap a warm towel around your head and leave it on for about 20 minutes. Rinse well and shampoo as usual. This makes enough for one treatment. Don’t try to save any leftovers.
Beulah’s Setting Lotions
Beulah Trivette has been using her own homemade setting lotions at the Beauty Bower. She has two recipes she’s willing to share with you, but she says her best Beauty Bower Secret Formula Setting Lotion is still a secret. We’re working on that.
Quince Seed Setting Lotion
Seeds from 1 fresh quince (that will usually be 20 to 25)
¼ cup water
In a bowl, cover the seeds with water. Let them soak for 2 to 3 hours. The longer they soak, the thicker the lotion. Strain out the seeds.
Flaxseed Setting Lotion
1 cup flaxseed
3 cups water
Simmer flaxseed and water together for a few minutes until it’s about as thick as you want it. Put through a strainer and throw the seeds away. If the mixture thickens too much, thin it with a little water.
Whipped Cream Body Mask
Ophelia Snow admits that she’s never tried this but it sounds like it would be just wonderful, if you happen to have an extra cup of heavy cream that you’re not putting to some other use, such as strawberry shortcake. (Ophelia says her kids would rather have the cream on their shortcake, rather than on their mama, and anyway, she never has fifteen minutes to loll around with whipped cream all over her.)
1 cup fresh heavy cream
Whip until soft peaks form. Cover your body with the cream, rubbing it into the dry, scaly spots. Leave it on for 15 minutes. Rinse off in a warm bath and pat dry.
Fig Facial Mask
Elizabeth Lacy’s mother has a fig tree in her back yard. If there are any figs left over after making fig jam, Mrs. Lacy uses them for a facial.
One ripe fig
1 tablespoon honey
Cut the fig in two and scrape out the soft fruit into a bowl. Mash with a spoon until smooth. Add the honey and mix well. Spread it on your skin and go sit on the front porch for five or ten minutes. Rinse.
Mashed Potato Hand Cream
This formula for beautiful hands also comes from Beulah Trivette, who has tested it on her clients at the Beauty Bower. They give the recipe a big thumbs-up!
2 potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 tablespoon of cream or top milk
1 tablespoon glycerin
1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
Blend everything together into a smooth, thick paste. Massage into your hands. After ten minutes, rinse. May be stored in your icebox for several days. Be sure to label the bowl so the late-night snackers in your family don’t get into it. Aloe vera is a little bit . . . well, laxative.
Clove Mouthwash
Miss Dorothy Rogers says that she has used this mouthwash for decades and recommends it highly. It will sweeten your breath. She also recommends
Syzygium aromaticum
(clove) oil for a toothache. (Ask Mr. Lima for this—he keeps it behind the counter so he can tell people they are not supposed to eat it or get it on their skin. But the whole ones are okay.)
2 tablespoons whole
Syzygium aromaticum
(cloves)
2 cups boiling water
Cover the
Syzgium aromaticum
with the boiling water. Cool. Strain into a clean jar and store in the icebox. Rinse your mouth morning and evening.
Dry Feet Remedy
Verna Tidwell says that if you suffer from dry skin on your feet, she has the perfect solution.
Before you go to bed, rub Vaseline on your toes and soles and put on a pair of socks. Tomorrow’s toes will be a whole lot softer. You can also use it to scrub the dry skin off: add a couple of spoonfuls of cornmeal or sugar to the Vaseline and rub hard with a washcloth.
Carrot-and-Egg Facial Mask
Fannie Champaign suggests a carrot facial mask to keep the skin young looking.
3 large carrots, cooked and mashed
1 egg
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
4 tablespoons honey
Mix together and apply to the skin. Fannie says that since this mixture is bright orange, you might want to stay out of sight while you’re wearing it. Rinse with cool water after 10 minutes.
Molasses Nail Soak
For gardeners, Mildred Kilgore recommends a molasses nail soak to prevent dryness, soften cuticles, and promote nail health.
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1
⁄
4
cup warm water
Mix together as a soak for fingernails. Ten minutes a day will make a big difference, Mildred says. But she adds that you really ought to wear gloves when you are working in the garden. She does.