“I’m still here.” I motioned for my mother to sit down at the small dinette. “Can you please send over the information? I need some time to talk to my manager about the change of plans.”
“Of course. E-mail okay?”
“That would be just fine. Thank you. I’ll give you a call in the morning.”
By the time I disconnected, Stella sat at the tiny table with her head in her hands. “They can’t just trade out a town like that.”
“What’s the big deal? Whether I go to Swynton or Ido or Timbuktu, one of my official duties is judging their contest. I can’t back out now.” Stella was the one who’d insisted I sign up for the Miss Lovin’ Texas pageant in the first place. Why the change of heart?
“I have such bad memories.”
I slid onto the bench seat across from my mom. “Whatever you ran from in Ido, Texas, is long gone. You don’t have to come with me, you can go back to?—”
“Not go with you?” Stella lifted her head, her blue eyes taking on a haunted, wounded look. “You don’t want me to travel with you anymore?”
“That’s not what I said.” I couldn’t win, not where my mother was concerned. If I wanted her to go with me, Stella would call me demanding. If I didn’t want her to come, then I’d be insensitive. I’d navigated the tricky interpersonal relationship with my mother my whole life. “I want you to do what’s best for you, even though I have to follow through on the commitment I made when I won this title.”
Stella placed a hand over her heart. “If I’d have known they’d be sending you to Ido, I never would have encouraged you to enter that pageant.”
Not wanting to argue, I nodded. “This will be good though. You can head back to Dallas and keep things moving on our new cosmetics line while I serve out the rest of my sentence.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Stella’s frown switched into a hopeful smile. “We could still make a run for the big title. With your looks and my pageant know-how, we’re a good team.”
“Wehavemade a good team, but weren’t you the one who said I should quit while I’m ahead?” Winning a national-level title was my mother’s dream, not mine. Even though we’d worked our tails off, winning local and regional competitions across the South, the big title had remained elusive.
“I know we agreed Miss Lovin’ Texas would be your last pageant, but don’t you want to try one more time?” Stella bit her lip, her forehead creased.
“You’re going to give yourself wrinkles if you keep frowning,” I pointed out, tossing my mother’s own wisdom right back in her lap.
Stella immediately relaxed her expression. “Are you sure your contract doesn’t say anything about what happens if they switch locations on you at the last minute?”
“Nope. I’m pretty much at their mercy until we get through the final ceremony when they name the winner.” Stella wouldknow that if she actually read the contracts. But she tended to be more involved on the public side of things—picking out the dresses and offering unsolicited advice on makeup and hairstyle trends. My mother might drive me crazy at times, but she never steered me wrong when it came to appearances. She also had an amazing knack for business, hence the new line of cosmetics that she and I would be launching after my reign came to an end. My mentor, Monique McDowell, the first Black woman to win multiple national titles, was also on board, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
Thankfully, Monique had stepped in early on in my pageant career and provided the guidance I’d been missing from my mother. Stella might have big dreams, but she lacked personal experience. I had lost count of how many times I’d heard the story of how my mother chose love over pageant wins. How she’d sacrificed everything to get married and become a mother. Stella never actually came right out and said it, but I had always gotten the sense that my mother thought I owed her a big win. I’d felt that way since the first time I’d stepped on a stage.
“I don’t care what they say. It’s ridiculous. They can’t make you go to Ido.” Stella pressed her lips together.
“Actually, they can, and it looks like they are.” I held out my phone. “Mr. Plum’s new itinerary has me arriving on Friday in time for their kickoff celebration. That gives me three days to get there.”
“Oh, honey, how are you going to manage all by yourself?” Stella’s brow furrowed again.
I pointed at my forehead. “Keep that up and you’ll be taping your forehead while you sleep.” Stella had often threatened to make me sleep with clear tape holding my skin taut, saying it was a tried-and-true way to prevent fine lines and wrinkles.
“So, you’ll go to Ido and I’ll go back to Dallas?” Stella asked, her face devoid of any expression.
“I guess so. You said you had a lot of work to do on that line of cosmetics. What else were you looking into?” I couldn’t keep it all straight. My mother had more projects in the works than the Texas Department of Transportation, and that was saying a lot.
Stella brightened. “Monique and I are finalizing with that cosmetics company on your signature line. Plus, we’ve got those fashion faux pas fixers in the works. Don’t you worry, Texas won’t forget Delilah Stone, even if you’re no longer competing.”
Staying in the public eye was my mother’s dream, not mine. But when Mama was happy, everyone else was happy so I was content to let my mother work on whatever projects she wanted to. As long as it kept her busy and gave her something else besides me to focus her overwhelming attention on, it was a win-win.
“I’ll tell Mr. Plum to let Ido know they can expect me on Friday then.”
Stella nodded, her attention already shifting away from the contest. “Do you think you can drop me at the airport on the way? I’ll just take a flight back to Dallas. You’ll be fine, won’t you?”
“Absolutely.” I left my mother at the tiny built-in dinette and resumed my nighttime routine. I loved my mother dearly but was eager for a break. We’d been traveling together for the past two months, and anyone who’d ever spent any time around Stella Stone would have agreed that was about two months too long.
Suddenly, having to spend the next thirty days in Ido didn’t seem so bad. I’d have a bit of respite from the breakneck schedule I’d been keeping for the past several years. Without having to entertain my mother, I’d have plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do next, beyond the launch of all the products Stella and Monique had in the works.
