Mildred frowned. “Then it’s up to the rest of you to come up with a new act or two. Any volunteers?”
Beside Lizzy, Verna leaned forward, opening her mouth. But Lizzy, who had the feeling that Verna was about to suggest Lorelei LaMotte and Lily Lake, fastened a firm hand on Verna’s knee and shook her head. Verna sighed and sat back, folding her arms.
“Well, if you don’t want to show off your talents on stage,” Mildred said, “there’s still plenty of other work to be done. We need somebody to type the program onto mimeograph stencils and be responsible for running off copies on the Academy’s mimeo machine. We also need someone to organize the refreshments we’re selling at the intermission, and another couple of people for tickets sales. Who will volunteer?”
She looked around expectantly, and when nobody raised a hand, heaved a resigned sigh. “Well, then, ladies, I’ll just have to start naming names. Mrs. Johnson, you and Lucy Murphy will be in charge of organizing the ticket sales. Myra May and Ophelia, refreshments—yes, I know Myra May isn’t here today, but she’s logical because she owns the diner and Euphoria can bake up a couple of batches of those praline cookies she makes. Ophelia, if you would please tell her, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll bring some of my Southern Comfort cookies,” Aunt Hetty Little offered.
“Southern Comfort cookies?” Miss Rogers asked, frowning. “But liquor is prohibited!”
A titter ran around the room. “Miss Rogers,” Verna said, “where have you been?”
“I’m sure Aunt Hetty knows where to get whatever ingredients she needs for her cookies,” Mildred said hurriedly. She looked down at her list. “Just two more things. Verna, you did a great job with the stage management last time. Please do it again. And to type and run off the program—”
Lizzy raised her hand. “I’ll take care of it,” she said, preferring to volunteer before her name was called. She was a good typist and she didn’t mind typing the program. But she hated wrestling with the Academy’s old mimeograph machine, which was known to eat stencils and couldn’t be counted on to produce more than forty copies in a run. But unless they got some new acts for the show, they might not need more than forty copies.
Mildred gave her a grateful smile. “I think that takes care of it for now. Thanks, ladies.”
Lizzy took over the meeting again, with a few reminders. Monday night was the usual Dahlias’ card party. Bessie’s Bible Study had been changed to Thursday nights, so she was hosting the party at the Magnolia Manor. Lizzy also reminded everyone to turn in their items for the gardening column in Friday’s Darling Dispatch.
“Tuesday’s the deadline,” she said. “That’ll just give me time to get it typed up before I have to hand it over to Mr. Dickens on Wednesday. Oh, and if you’ve got any more housecleaning tips for the other column we wanted to run, let me have them, too. I only have about six or eight, and I was hoping for a dozen.”
That wrapped up the meeting, and Liz asked for a motion to adjourn. Verna moved it and Alice Ann seconded it speedily, and the ladies descended on the refreshment table as fast as grasshoppers on a bean patch. It was a pretty table, too, spread with an orange cloth and decorated with a large wicker cornucopia spilling colorful autumn gourds and blossoms of asters, zinnias, marigolds, and sunflowers.
While the ladies were filling their plates and chatting noisily with one another, Ophelia Snow came over to Lizzy. Ophelia, a short person with a cherubic face, flyaway brown hair, and an irrepressibly optimistic outlook on life, was usually wreathed in smiles. But just now she wore a look that was halfway between impatient and cross.
“We need to find another member,” she said shortly. “I was going to bring it up at the meeting but I thought it was something the officers ought to talk about first.”
“Okay,” Lizzy replied, and beckoned to Verna to join them. “Ophelia says we need to find another member,” she said.
Verna frowned. “Why? Are we losing somebody?” The club had begun with fourteen members. Then Mrs. Ross had moved to Montgomery and Dahlia Blackstone, the founder, had died, leaving them with twelve. Lucy’s membership had brought them to thirteen.
The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies
Susan Wittig Albert's books
- The Face of a Stranger
- The Silent Cry
- The Sins of the Wolf
- The Dark Assassin
- The Whitechapel Conspiracy
- The Sheen of the Silk
- The Twisted Root
- The Lost Symbol
- After the Funeral
- The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
- After the Darkness
- The Best Laid Plans
- The Doomsday Conspiracy
- The Naked Face
- The Other Side of Me
- The Sands of Time
- The Sky Is Falling
- The Stars Shine Down
- The Lying Game #6: Seven Minutes in Heaven
- The First Lie
- All the Things We Didn't Say
- The Good Girls
- The Heiresses
- The Perfectionists
- The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly
- The Lies That Bind
- Ripped From the Pages
- The Book Stops Here
- The New Neighbor
- A Cry in the Night
- The Phoenix Encounter
- The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel
- The Perfect Victim
- Fear the Worst: A Thriller
- The Naturals, Book 2: Killer Instinct
- The Fixer
- The Good Girl
- Cut to the Bone: A Body Farm Novel
- The Devil's Bones
- The Bone Thief: A Body Farm Novel-5
- The Bone Yard
- The Breaking Point: A Body Farm Novel
- The Inquisitor's Key
- The Girl in the Woods
- The Dead Room
- The Death Dealer
- The Silenced
- The Hexed (Krewe of Hunters)
- The Night Is Alive
- The Night Is Forever
- The Night Is Watching
- In the Dark
- The Betrayed (Krewe of Hunters)
- The Cursed
- The Dead Play On
- The Forgotten (Krewe of Hunters)
- Under the Gun
- The Paris Architect: A Novel
- The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush
- Always the Vampire
- The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose
- The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree
- The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star
- The Doll's House
- The Garden of Darkness
- The Creeping
- The Killing Hour
- The Long Way Home
- Defend and Betray
- Madonna and Corpse
- Bone Island 01 - Ghost Shadow
- Bone Island 02 - Ghost Night
- Bone Island 03 - Ghost Moon
- Last Vampire Standing