by Pat Ballard
“Tommy!” Amy playfully scolded him, but he continued, “Nella, you try to talk some sense into her, okay?”
Nella smiled at the woman she’d not even been officially introduced to yet.
“Hi, Nella. Don’t listen to him. He’s always running off at the mouth about something.” Amy welcomed Nella with a big hug and a welcoming smile.
Just then, the front door burst open and three children dashed in. They ranged in age from a girl who looked to be about eight to a boy approximately five and another little girl around Jake’s age.
“Kids! Slow down. Uncle Sam is here with his wife and son, Jake. Susie,” Tommy addressed the oldest girl, “you remember Sam, don’t you?”
A young, slim version of Amy answered shyly, “Yes, and his other wife. I didn’t like her,” she said with a child’s honesty.
“Susie!” Amy scolded.
Nella glanced quickly at Jake to see if he realized the girl was talking about his mother, but apparently he hadn’t noticed. He was too absorbed in watching the children to actually pay attention to what was being said.
“Sam, why don’t you and me take the kids down to the barn and let Jake see the new baby kittens? The girls can get acquainted better without us around. The rest of the gang will be here in a couple of hours and I still have a few things I need to do to get that hay wagon ready.”
Sam winked at Nella as if trying to reassure her. He took Jake’s hand and followed Tommy through the door.
“Come on,” Amy said, turning to leave the living room. “I’ve got a few more things to do in the kitchen before I change clothes.”
Nella offered to help. but Amy insisted that she just sit at the table and drink some tea while Amy “finished up.” She informed Nella that they were having a wiener roast before going on the hayride.
“You ever been on a hay ride, Nella?” Amy asked as she washed the last dish and put it in the drain rack.
“No, I haven’t, but I’ve always thought it would be fun,” Nella said.
“Oh, you’ll love Tommy’s hay ride. He’ll make sure you have a good time, since this is your first.” The green eyes flashed with a mysterious promise of things to come that made Nella slightly nervous.
“What?” she asked.
“Oh, I don’t know, myself,” Amy hedged, “but I’m sure Tommy will come up with something.” She smiled knowingly.
“Well, if you and I are the only ones who know that I’ve never been on a hay ride, and neither of us tell anyone, then Tommy can’t possibly know, can he,” Nella reasoned.
“Do you really think he’s going to let Sam’s new wife get away without being the brunt of his evening’s fun? You might as well accept the fact, because it will happen,” Amy assured her, giggling at the prospect.
Nella felt an immediate liking for Amy, and before long the two women were chatting like they’d known each other for years.
“Well, I guess I need to go change into something different,” Amy said after they’d chatted for a while. “I don’t know why I even bother, though. One thing I wear looks about as bad as the other.” Discouragement sounded in her voice.
“Why do you put yourself down like that?” Nella asked, puzzled.
“I just stay so discouraged all the time about how I look.” Amy’s answer was genuine.
“Then do something about it,” Nella said.
“I’ve tried! Honestly I have, but the weight just won’t come off. And I do try to eat correctly. I cook good, healthy meals for my family, and I don’t think I overeat, but in order for me to lose weight I have to cut my calories back so far that I don’t have the energy to do my chores and keep up with the children. Then I get bitchy, and that makes everyone unhappy.”
“I didn’t mean lose weight,” Nella interrupted. “You said you were discouraged with how you look. When I said do something about it, I meant fix yourself up, and you’ll feel better. Put on some makeup, do your hair differently, wear things that make you feel pretty, and enjoy yourself just the way you are.”
“You mean stop trying to lose weight?” The idea seemed foreign to Amy.
“Yes,” Nella said. “Tommy said you took after your mother and grandmother. Were they always trying to lose weight?”
“No. In fact, I don’t think I ever heard them mention the subject.” Amy seemed surprised at the realization.
“Were you embarrassed about their size when you were a child?”
“Heavens, no! That thought never crossed my mind. I always thought my mother was a beautiful lady. She dressed with the best, and always carried herself with pride. I’ve seen her turn many a head.” As Amy talked she realized what she was saying, and the full truth dawned on her. Suddenly her face lit up with hope.
“Nella, I can’t believe this. It’s taken you, a total stranger, all of one hour to make me realize what Tommy’s been saying to me for years. Will you come with me upstairs and help me with my makeover?” Her eyes flashed with excitement.
Amy led Nella upstairs to a large bedroom. The curtains were open, and the room was filled with sunlight. There was a chair by the window, with an open book on the windowsill. Everything in the room looked lived in and comfortable.
Amy sat down at an antique dresser and took the rubber band from her hair. Her hair fell around her face in a full, swinging motion. Nella saw that the natural blond hair that had been restrained by the rubber band was really full and beautiful. Amy started brushing her hair, and it responded with a healthy shine.
“Why would anyone hide hair like that?” Nella asked.
“What?” Amy paused from her brushing and looked at Nella.
“Your hair is beautiful! Why do you pull it back with that rubber band?”
“It’s just the easiest way to get it out of my face, I guess,” Amy shrugged. She started digging around in the dresser drawers, pulling out miscellaneous containers of makeup. When she had an array placed on top of the dresser she turned to Nella and said, “Okay, tell me which one to use. Your makeup is beautifully done, so you tell me what to do.”
Nella looked at the makeup, which was obviously several years old and pretty much outdated, colorwise. “Well, the first thing I would suggest is to go buy some new makeup,” she teased. “But in the meantime, I think we can find enough here to use. Did you wear makeup in high school?”
“Sure,” Amy confirmed.
“Well, just do what you did then, except we’ll change a few things. Don’t you have a magazine that you could get some ideas from?”
“Oh, yes! Hold on a minute.” Amy dashed from the room, soon returning with a magazine. She pointed at a picture of a pretty blonde with short hair.
“I think she’s so pretty. Make me look like her,” she exclaimed. She was acting like an excited teenager.
“She has short hair,” Nella stated the obvious,” but we can try to match the makeup.”
“Cut my hair!” Amy suggested.
“What? I can’t cut hair,” Nella laughed.
“Yes, you can. All you have to do is trim the bottom. See, start here, just below my ear lobe, and cut it all the way around, one length. You’ll do fine. That’s all they do at the beauty shop when I go.”
Nella looked at Amy’s hair skeptically. It wouldn’t be that hard to cut, and she’d trimmed her friends’ hair on a few occasions.
Again Amy jumped up and left the room, returning with a pair of scissors and a towel in her hand. She handed the scissors to Nella and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. “Cut,” she instructed.
“What if I mess it up?” Nella asked, a doubtful look on her face.
“Then I’ll wear a hat tonight and go have it fixed tomorrow. Just cut.”
Amy’s mind was made up, so Nella took the scissors and started trimming her hair. Her hand shook a little at first, but she relaxed and did a beautiful job of shortening Amy’s existing style. Amy’s hair was all the same length and parted on the side. The shorter cut gave her hair even more body, and it bounced eac
h time Amy moved her head.
Nella couldn’t believe she was in the bedroom of a woman she had known less than two hours, actually cutting the woman’s hair. She was also surprised at how close she felt to Amy. She regretted that she’d probably never see her again after this visit, with her future as unstable as it was. She and Sam could dissolve this farce of a marriage at any time, and Nella would probably never come back to Kentucky. She mentally shook herself back to the present as she finished cutting Amy’s hair.
Nella was amazed at the difference the shorter hair made in Amy’s appearance. She looked ten years younger. She had a natural, fresh, youthful look, and the shorter hair enhanced it. That gave Nella an idea.
“Amy, I think all you need on your eyes is mascara and a little liner, maybe on the bottom lids, and just a touch of this light green shadow in the corners to enhance the color of your eyes. Then put your foundation on, and use this pink blush, and this light pink lipstick. Put a little loose powder on your eyes before you put the shadow on.”
Amy followed Nella’s instructions. When she finished, the transformation was breathtaking. She was truly pretty, but she looked more like a teenager than a married woman with three children.
“Oh, Nella,” she exclaimed, staring at herself in the mirror, “I haven’t looked like this in years, and it feels so good! I can’t believe I’ve wasted all this time, just waiting until I lost weight to be pretty, when this was all I had to do. How did I allow myself to get so bogged down with my wrong thinking?”
“Amy, nobody’s perfect. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking about. Even the movie stars and beauty queens have flaws they have to work on. They either have them cosmetically fixed or cover them up. We have to work around our bad points, enhance our good points, and be happy with the results. That’s a lesson women of all sizes should learn. Now, no more preaching on my part.” Nella pretended to be zipping up her mouth.
Amy stood up from the dresser and turned to Nella with tears in her eyes. “Can I hug you?” she asked, with her arms open.
“Sure,” Nella said, hugging her tightly.
“Now.” Amy broke the embrace and headed for the closet. “What to wear?” She thumbed through the hangers for a few moments before exclaiming, “Yes! Tommy’s going to just pass out!” She pulled out a baby blue blouse with long sleeves. There were ruffles on the sleeves and down the front of the blouse. “He bought this for me for my birthday, and I’ve never worn it. He thinks I don’t like it, but I thought it was too pretty to waste on me. But I’ll wear it tonight! But with what?” She started back through the closet.
“Jeans,” suggested Nella.
“Jeans? A frilly blouse with jeans?”
“Yes, it’ll be very sexy,” Nella insisted.
“Are you sure?” Doubt was still in Amy’s voice.
“Trust me,” Nella coaxed. “If you want to knock Tommy’s socks off, wear the blouse with jeans.”
“Okay, if you say so. But turn around and don’t look until I’m dressed. I want you to get the full effect after I’m totally dressed.”
Nella turned and looked out the window. She could see the barn at a distance. Sam and Tommy were leaning against the wagon full of hay, and the children were running around laughing and playing. Jake looked like he was having the time of his life. She was glad she was here. She really was enjoying herself.
“Okay, you can look.”
Nella turned and gazed in astonishment at the woman in front of her. If she hadn’t seen the transition with her own eyes she wouldn’t have believed it was the same woman she’d met such a short time ago.
The change wasn’t just the outward makeover. There had been a change inside Amy. She knew she could be pretty again, and the knowledge was shining through her very being. Her eyes sparkled and her skin glowed with excitement.
“Amy, you look beautiful!” Nella exclaimed.
“I do, don’t I? Oh, Nella, how can I ever thank you? But will I wake up tomorrow morning and feel the same way, or will I wake up all discouraged and go back to my old way of feeling?”
“That’s your decision. You see what you can be if you want to, but it’s your decision whether you spend your days looking your best, or looking your worst. That’s a decision we all have to make each day. You’re no different than anyone else.”
“That’s right!” Amy agreed, the previous glimpse of doubt and fear gone.
Nella heard something outside and glanced out the window.
“The men are coming back to the house. You’ll get to see their reaction now.”
“Oh, Nella, I’m so nervous! What if Tommy doesn’t like me like this?”
“Do you like you like this?” Nella asked.
“Of course I do!” Conviction sounded in every word.
“Then that’s what matters. But I’m sure Tommy will love this new you. Why don’t we go find out? I have an idea! Why don’t you stay up here until they get settled in, and then you make a grand entrance. I’ll go on down and tell them you’re still getting dressed. Give us a few minutes, then come into the room.”
“Nella, my teeth are chattering, I’m so nervous.” Amy was dancing around like a child.
“I’m gone,” Nella said, leaving the room.
She managed to be sitting on the couch with a magazine in her lap when Sam and Tommy entered the living room.
“Well, did my little woman desert you and leave you here all alone to entertain yourself?” Tommy boomed.
“Just for a little while.” Nella managed to look natural and hide the excitement she felt.
Sam sat on the couch close beside her and put his arm on the back of the couch behind her shoulders. Having Sam so close gave her a sudden, warm sense of actually belonging to this setting.
“Jake is having a wonderful time,” he told her. She could smell the fresh air on him as he leaned close to talk to her.
“He loved the new baby kittens,” Tommy added. “I told Sam y’all need to take one home with you for the boy.”
“Do you mind?” Sam asked, almost looking like a kid himself.
“Of course, I don’t mind, but what will we do when we travel?” Reality struck home on Sam’s face, and he looked disappointed.
“Yeah, I forgot about that,” he murmured.
He forgot? Sam du Cannon forgot that he traveled? This fresh air must have really gotten to his brain.
Just then Nella heard Amy’s footsteps coming down the hallway, and she prepared herself for what was about to happen. But nothing could have prepared her for Tommy’s reaction when Amy entered the room.
Amy’s uncertainty was in evidence, causing her to look shy and bashful, which only added to and enhanced her youthful look.
“What the hell?” Tommy was on his feet, now looking at his wife as if a stranger had entered the room. Nella heard a surprised, in-drawn breath from Sam.
“Do you like me like this? Please say you do,” Amy pleaded quietly.
“Like you?” Tommy’s voice was hushed, as if he could barely get it out. He was like an awestruck teenager. “Baby, welcome back. I’ve missed this you so much!” And he went to her and gathered her close in his arms. Soon he let her go, just enough to hold her at arms length and look at her again. His eyes were blurred with tears and he rubbed at them to clear his vision. “You look beautiful! Look at her, Sam. She looks just like she did the night she was Homecoming Queen.”
Amy was relaxing, now, knowing her new look had been accepted.
“You do look beautiful, Amy,” Sam agreed. “I’m very impressed.” And he was. It had been a long time since he’d seen Amy look like she cared about herself at all. In fact, there had been times when he’d wondered if she were happy with her marriage and life.
“What brought all this on? And who cut your hair?” Tommy asked.
Amy pointed at Nella.
“Ah, yes, I should have known,” Sam said quietly, for Nella’s ears only.
“Nella convinced me that I didn’t need to
keep putting my life off until I lost weight. In fact, Tommy, she told me the same thing you’ve always said about me taking after Mama and Grandmere, but it just finally sunk in when another person said it. I’m sorry I’ve wasted all this time looking my worst and making you look at me. I promise from now on, I’m going to take more pride in myself. In fact,” her excitement was bubbling over, now that she knew her husband liked her new look, “tomorrow, I’m going shopping! I have a great idea. Sam, Nella, why don’t you spend the night so Nella can go shopping with me and help me look for some things? It’ll be late tonight when the hay ride is over anyway, and you don’t need to drive home late at night.”
Nella was about to say why that plan wouldn’t work when Sam answered, “That sounds like a great idea to me. Sure, we’ll stay.”
Nella looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses, but he just grinned at her and winked.
Suddenly the children stormed through the front door. Jake came directly to Sam and Nella, but the other three children stopped abruptly and stared open-mouthed at their mother.
“Mom?” Susie asked.
“Mama, you look beautiful,” their son, Daniel, exclaimed, as if this were something he didn’t think was possible.
“Mom!” Susie repeated. “You look like a movie star!”
They all laughed at her declaration.
A car horn blaring in the driveway announced someone’s arrival. It was the first of many more vehicles.
Nella was amazed at the scene taking place around her. People were arriving with food and extra chairs. Before long the large front porch was covered with people. A huge bonfire was burning in the yard and children ran and played everywhere. Nella worried about Jake briefly, but Sam assured her Susie would keep an eye out for him. She checked on him occasionally, and sure enough, Susie was always close to him.
Nella listened to the flow of conversation around her. These people were proud of their heritage. They were proud of their state of Kentucky and of the part it played in the early settling of the country. She heard conversations about Daniel Boone and how he blazed the trail through the Cumberland Gap and tried to establish Kentucky as the fourteenth American colony. In fact, several people wore coonskin caps.