Jade Lazaro’s Reviews > Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble > Status Update

Who was the big one?” He gave me a tight grin. “One of our commissioners. We knew he’d been visiting and, tonight, I saw him come in again. Caught him red-handed, you might say. Told us he was doing a survey on nonprofits in the county—in his underdrawers.”

I could hardly believe it, either. Mildred Allen would have the shock of her life to learn that she’d sponsored Abbotsville’s very own prostitution ring—and had decorated the bedroom for it, too.

Hazel Marie and Mr. Pickens came through the front door, she with a glow of happiness on her face and he with a self-satisfied smile on his. So, I thought, he’s charmed another member of his harem, which would probably free him up for the next one in line.

Those babies will be a year old in a couple of months, and today was the first time Hazel Marie has had to herself. She’s been nowhere and done nothing but take care of babies and everybody else. It’s high time you paid some attention to what’s going on in your own house. But no, you’re out shilly-shallying around while your wife works herself to the bone.”

“If that’s so,” I said, glaring into those black eyes of his, “then get in there and tell your wife that you’re taking her out to dinner. I don’t care how you do it—you can sweet-talk her into it or you can lay down the law, but one way or another, you’re taking her out.

So I determined to keep on keeping on, and while I was at it I’d add up all I was doing for Mr. Pickens’s sake and, when the time came, I would put it to his account in no uncertain terms

I had never pegged him as a man who was so shallow as to look elsewhere just because his wife was burdened with children and couldn’t cook worth a flip and was too busy to have her roots colored.

I did know this, though: The more criticism you take, the more beaten down you get. After a while, you begin to believe you’re worthless. I didn’t want that to happen to Hazel Marie because her worth to me was far above rubies

She needed an old hand, a professional who knew how long to let color set up so that she didn’t walk out looking like something from a Hollywood freak show.

I knew what that meant. A new stylist was someone just out of beauty school, which meant she wouldn’t know what she was doing. I would never turn a new stylist loose on Hazel Marie