The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star

Myra May picked up the coffeepot again. “Liz, you sound like you could use a cup of coffee, on the house. How about it?”


“Yes, thanks. But I want—” Liz broke off. “Where, Verna?” she asked urgently. “Where did you find her?”

But before Verna could answer her question, there was another interruption.

“Hi,” a voice said, and a woman came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. She was Myra May’s height, and her auburn hair, gray-streaked, was cut short and curled around her ears. She was wearing a white cook’s apron over a red print dress.

“Somebody’s wanting to talk to me?” she asked in her soft Southern voice. To Myra May, she added, “I just finished putting three pecan pies and two pans of meat loaf in the oven. The potatoes and eggs are cooked for potato salad, so all we have to do is chop the celery, onions, and pickles and put it together.” She hung up the towel. “I’m ready to take a little break.”

“There,” Myra May said with satisfaction, and poured Liz’s coffee. “You see? Violet and I have decided that Raylene is positively psychic. Nobody told her that you two were out here, wanting to talk to her. She just knew. Same way she knew that Donna Sue was dreaming of her mother’s grits and sausage casserole and that J.D. wanted some sweet potato meringue pie. It’s a gift she has.”

“Well, now that she’s here and ready to take a break,” Verna said, “is it okay if we talk to her?”

Myra May rolled her eyes. “Who am I to say no?” She muttered an answer to her own question. “Just the boss, that’s all.” She picked up a mug and poured coffee for Raylene. “Sure. Go ahead and take a break. And take those leftover doughnuts with you. But maybe you’d better go over to that back table, in case somebody comes in.” She turned away. “You want me, I’m in the kitchen.”

Raylene put three doughnuts on a plate and led them, coffee mugs in hand, to the back table. They took seats under the Ferguson Tractor Company calendar from the feed store. As they sat down, Verna introduced herself to Raylene.

“I came in here for breakfast this morning,” she went on. “I happened to have my car, so when Myra May said you were late for work, I volunteered to drive out to the motor court and check on you. I didn’t get an answer when I knocked on the door of your cottage, but I saw the curtain twitch so I knew someone was inside. I got Pauline DuBerry to bring the key and—”

“And you found Lily.” Raylene smiled. “You must have been surprised. Did you wake her? We stayed up and talked pretty late. She said she was going to sleep late this morning.”

“Lily? Lily Dare?” Liz exclaimed excitedly, and the questions began to spill out. “She’s at the Marigold? So that’s where she went! But why? And how did she get there? The motor court is a good mile from the Kilgores’. She’s never been to Darling, and it was dark. How come she didn’t get lost?”

“She walked,” Raylene replied. “Walking a mile isn’t any big challenge for Lily. She’s always liked to stay in shape—says she couldn’t fly if she didn’t have plenty of physical stamina. And when she’s up in the air, she often has to find her way by flying along roads and railroads in marginal conditions, so she’s always mentally storing away information. She knew where the motor court was because she noticed it when Mr. Dickens drove her into town. And I happened to mention it to her when she was here for lunch yesterday. It wasn’t hard for her to figure out how to get there.”

As Raylene talked, Verna thought that there was something familiar about the strong set of her jaw—or maybe it was her penetrating gaze, the way she held your eyes and didn’t let you look away. Had she met this woman somewhere before? But the impression was fleeting, and the question was gone almost as soon as it occurred to her.

“Oh, and the moon was out last night, you know,” Raylene added, picking up a doughnut. “Lily said it was almost as bright as day.”

“I take it that she didn’t walk that mile in her negligee, barefoot,” Verna remarked dryly. “Especially with the moon as bright as it was.” She reached into her handbag and took out a pack of cigarettes, offering one to Raylene.

Raylene shook her head. “No, thanks. No, Lily was fully dressed—pants, shirt, the clothes she wears when she’s working around the airplanes. She brought her nightie in her bag.” She turned to Liz. “You’ll remember that I saw you and Lily here yesterday, after lunch, Liz. That’s when I invited her to drop in and see me at the motor court while she was here in Darling.”