The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star

Roger went even redder. He grabbed Jed Snow’s sleeve and pulled him forward. “Come ’ere, Jed,” he urged. “You have to be in the photo, too.” He raised his voice. “Mr. Tombull, over here, sir. Charlie Dickens is gettin’ some pictures for the paper and we want you in it.” As Amos Tombull joined them, Roger stepped aside, so that Jed Snow and the Boss were on either side of Miss Dare and he was on the outside of the group. To Charlie, he said, “Hurry up, Dickens. It’s fixin’ to rain.”


The rain held off long enough to take the photos and push the airplane into the shed and close the doors. As the first few drops began to spatter down, Jed Snow took Miss Dare’s arm in a solicitous gesture. “The kids and I will drive you into town, Miss Dare.”

“Oh, but I’m planning to ride with Roger,” Miss Dare objected, pulling away. “After all, he’s the one who arranged for the Dare Devils to come to Darling.”

Lizzy thought that Roger looked as if he were torn in two. “Sorry,” he said numbly. “I have to get back to the dealership. Mildred—my . . . my wife—is expecting you, at our house.”

“Your wife.” Miss Dare laughed lightly. “Of course. But do let’s plan to get together. We have a great deal to catch up on, you know.” With that equivocal remark (or at least it seemed so to Lizzy), she turned back to Jed Snow. “I have a bag in the back of the plane. Could you get it, Mr. Snow?”

But when Jed returned with the bag, there was another change of plans. Charlie had taken charge, introducing Lizzy and suggesting that Miss Dare ride back to town with the two of them. They would go to the newspaper office where Charlie would conduct the prearranged interview and take a few more photos. And then he would take her to get some lunch and show her around Darling before he drove her to the Kilgores’.

Miss Dare agreed to that, then leaned close and said to Charlie, in a low voice, “You said you’d get somebody to hang out here and keep an eye on the plane until Rex and the rest of the team show up. Have you—”

“All taken care of,” Charlie said, and Lizzy saw him signal to Zipper Haydon, who was standing at the back of the crowd. Zipper was in his seventies and had a crippled foot, but he was known to be a reliable watchman. He stepped forward, clutching his brown felt hat in one hand. “Zipper will be on watch for the rest of today.”

Miss Dare nodded and turned back to Roger. “I’m looking forward to meeting your wife. I want to thank her for inviting me to stay at your house.” She smiled broadly. “And for the party, of course.”

To Lizzy, the words seemed to have a significant emphasis—perhaps even a sinister one. Roger seemed to think so, too, for he seemed to flinch. Was he afraid that Miss Dare might tell Mildred about their relationship—and about the money he had given her? Lizzy looked quickly around to see if anybody else had noticed his reaction. But if they had, it wasn’t apparent.

Amos Tombull put on his most ingratiating smile. “We are all lookin’ forward to havin’ the chance to get to know you, Miss Dare,” he said cordially. “We are so honored to have you in our little town.”

“Why, thank you, sir,” Miss Dare said with a flirtatious smile. “I am just so delighted to be here in Darling. We’re going to have a great show on Saturday.”

And at that moment, there was a flash of lightning, a clap of thunder so loud that it seemed to rattle Lizzy’s bones, and the skies opened. The rain began to pour down in a deluge and all discussion was halted as everyone scrambled for the cars.





ELEVEN




Who Is Lily Dare?



As Lizzy listened from the backseat to the conversation between Charlie and Miss Dare as they drove into town, it was clear that the two had once been friends—although she couldn’t quite tell whether Charlie continued to harbor a romantic yearning for the woman. It almost seemed from his tone that he was angry at her. As for Miss Dare, she was so flirtatious with everybody that it was impossible to tell what her true feelings were toward Charlie.

When they got to the Dispatch office, Miss Dare slipped into the back room to change into street clothes. When she came out, she was wearing a lipstick-red silk crepe blouse that clung to her shapely curves and a pair of light-colored linen slacks, with red high heels. The words Lily Dare’s Dare Devils was embroidered in white on the breast pocket of the blouse. She had combed her dark hair, renewed her lipstick and rouge, and added a dramatic blue eye shadow and mascara.

The woman was elegant and undeniably sexy, and Lizzy felt a sudden rush of sympathy for Mildred Kilgore, who—despite her expensive clothes—was plump and plain. Roger would probably mind his p’s and q’s this weekend, not wanting to be found out. But poor Mildred would forever afterward be plagued by the memory of Miss Dare’s physical attraction, which was likely enhanced in most men’s eyes by the dangerous work she did as a stunt pilot.