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I t’s been years since I’ve been to Sunday-morning services in a real church,” Lily said as she and Daisy got dressed in their white outfits that morning.

Just thinking about sitting on a hard pew for an hour—or maybe more—and listening to a preacher scold about all the sins that could take a person to hell made her wish she was back at the Paradise.

Daisy frowned and checked her reflection in the mirror above the vanity.

“Me, too, and to tell the truth, I’m not looking forward to going today.

But it’s a good way to fit into the community.

I appreciated the little services we had on Sunday afternoons at the Paradise.

I liked them a whole hell of a lot better than sitting on a pew with proper women. ”

“Preach on, sister,” Lily said with half a giggle.

“Don’t say that,” Daisy said. “We had friends, a lovely place to live, and we learned a lot. Not only about men, either. Holly taught me to play the piano, and we found out that you have a lovely singing voice.”

“Did you ever feel guilty about the men?” Lily asked.

Daisy shrugged. “Why should I? We got paid to make those men happy. When I was married, John just told me how worthless I was as a wife because I didn’t give him a son, and he said it was his God-given right to slap me around when I didn’t get his chicken fried just right.

That wasn’t abuse—it was teaching me to be a better wife, according to him.

And I didn’t get a dime for any of the hard work I did.

I was glad when he died, even if I didn’t have a place to live anymore. ”

“That’s why we want to fight to make things better for all of us women,” Lily reminded her.

“Let’s have breakfast, go to church, and get told how many hours we need to be on our knees to repent for all our sins.

Do you think that the men we made happy have asked forgiveness for their part in those same things? ”

“Oh, no!” Daisy said as she opened the hotel door. “Men are born with halos and wings. They fall under that old saying ‘Boys will be boys.’ But women have to work hard to get any respect at all.”

Lily went ahead of her and stomped down the stairs, not caring who heard as her mood began to match Daisy’s. “We will take our place in this world, even if we have to get it an inch at a time.”

“Quite literally,” Daisy agreed with a stony expression. “And I’m ready to take the first step if you are.”

“What if we get run out of town for it?”

“There’s lots more places we can go.”

“Good mornin’, ladies,” the manager said and waved from across the room. “Y’all have a seat anywhere you like.”

“Good mornin’ to you, Mr. Calvin,” Lily said and chose a corner table.

She had barely gotten settled into her chair when Beulah came through the door, waved, and marched across the room.

“I was hoping I might run into you.” She pulled a hankie from the long sleeve of her dress and dabbed the sweat from her forehead.

“It’s going to be a hot one, for sure—but then, this is July in Texas.

We’ll be lucky to get a little breeze through the church windows.

I wanted to catch you before you decided which church to attend, and to invite you to go with me.

It’s not the one where Preacher Jones rants about hellfire and brimstone.

Afterwards, will you come home with me for lunch? ”

“Thank you for the invitation, and we’d love to accept—but first let us buy you some breakfast,” Lily answered, glad that she and Daisy didn’t have to choose where they were going that morning.

“That’s great. I will appreciate the company,” Beulah said with a nod. “But I’ve already had my breakfast. I might have a cup of coffee with y’all, though.”

“Don’t you know that decent women drink tea, not coffee?” Lily asked.

“And they don’t take a little kick in their tea, either,” Beulah winked. “But then, who said we are decent, right?”

Daisy cut her eyes over at Beulah. “We also like coffee so much better than tea.”

“Then let’s give the gossipers around here something to talk about,” Beulah said. “And just so you know, Frank is the biggest one in the whole county.”

“Glad to know,” Lily said. “But we kind of figured that out the first day.”

Daisy scanned the room to be sure Frank wasn’t in hearing distance. “And sometimes a cigar is nice with that cup of coffee, especially if you put a shot of whiskey or rum in it.”

“I have a few puffs every evening after I close up,” Beulah chuckled. “I knew when y’all walked into my store that we were going to be friends.”

Frank straightened his bow tie and came over to their table. “Three regular breakfasts?”

Lily shook her head. “Nothing that heavy for me today. I would like a stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee.”

“Same here,” Daisy said.

“And just coffee for me,” Beulah added. “I had my breakfast at home.”

“But ...,” Frank sputtered. “Are you sure you don’t want a nice cup of tea?”

“No, we want coffee,” Beulah declared. “It will help us stay awake during the hour-long sermon.”

“Okay, but ...” He hurried off to the kitchen with a disgusted look on his face.

“You likely just joined my ranks as a troublemaker,” Beulah said.

“Folks are already calling y’all ‘the Ladies in White,’ but not even wearing those pretty outfits is going to make you angels if you defy tradition and have meals and drink coffee right out in public.

Without men. To add fuel to the fire, Preacher Jones is going to be so mad when you don’t come to his church that he’ll spread ugly stuff all over town about you. ”

“So, the religion in Autrie is split?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, it is. And never the twain shall meet. Joshua preaches hellfire and damnation. Most of the time, Preacher Tobias talks about loving your neighbor, but I doubt that many folks can find very much love for Preacher Jones. That’s what he likes to be called, but I call him by his first name.

That makes him so mad that he seldom comes into my store.

” Beulah threw back her head and guffawed.

According to Miz Raven, ladies did not laugh in public. Even with her training, Lily couldn’t hold back a small giggle. “Do you make him angry on purpose?”

Beulah leaned forward so far that her ample bosom touched the table.

“You bet I do. If he steers clear of the store, then I can manage to pass letters back and forth to Alma. Speaking of letters, y’all need to go let Stanley—that’s the postmaster—know you are here. That way he can hold mail for you.”

“Thank you.” Lily thought back to the time when she ran away from home, and wondered if, even one time, her parents had tried to find her.

She answered the question in her mind with a subtle shake of her head.

They would have been so disappointed that she hadn’t married Phillip, they would have washed their hands of her.

And the ground would part, fire would boil up out of the hole, and the devil would come and drag her down to hell if any of her relatives ever found out she had worked at a brothel.

If I ever have a daughter, she will make up her own mind about who she marries—or even if she decides to never take that step, she thought. And my sons will be taught to respect women and let them be independent .

About halfway through the sermon, Daisy was reminded of how hard church pews were.

Men with their sons who were over twelve sat on the right side of the sanctuary.

Of course they would. That would be a subtle sign that the women were less than them.

They all sat up straight and tried to look bigger and taller than they were, maybe to look more important to the women who were trying to make younger children behave on the other side of the center aisle.

All the guys had to do was pretend to listen, while the ladies’ jobs were to keep babies and toddlers quiet, too.

Poor little darlings were dressed in their Sunday best. They had to be miserable when the sun was straight up and heating what little air flowed through the building.

They were probably wishing they could just be left alone in their crib, wearing nothing but a diaper.

Lily nudged her and then bowed her head—very dramatically.

Daisy looked around to see what was going on and saw a man toward the front of the men’s section stand up to pray.

Evidently, the service would soon be over after a short benediction had been delivered.

Not so! The man gave thanks, from the time God created dirt all the way to appreciating the sunshine that day.

Daisy figured the previous summers had fried his brain, if he could give thanks for the broiling-hot July sun.

Her neck began to sweat and itch, but ladies did not scratch in public—especially not in church.

“Amen,” he finally said.

Daisy raised her head and faced the window to get all the good she could out of the gentle breeze that flowed through the sanctuary.

She was glad that most of the men had had their weekly bath the night before, or else the wind would have brought the smell across to her.

She had definitely had her fill of that scent in the past. After she had given her client for the night a bath, cut his hair, shaved him, and fed him a nice supper, he was a lot more presentable and in a much better mood.

“Whatever were you thinking about?” Lily whispered as she stood up.

“Anything at all to keep from wiggling around worse than a five-year-old kid,” Daisy groaned.

“We have gotten our dose of Jesus for the week,” Beulah announced. “Let’s go home, shuck out of these hot clothes, and have some lunch.”

“What was that?” Surely Daisy had misunderstood her new friend. She and Lily had brought nothing else with them to change into, and ladies—especially those who were guests—did not go to the dinner table wearing anything less than proper attire.