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Norma Rose was utterly speechless. She couldn’t put any of her thoughts into words.
Twisting her head, Twyla said, “Pull the damn thing out. I won’t feel a thing. My ear’s been numb for an hour.”
“Then why were you crying when I walked in?”
“Because I’m so frustrated with my life,” Twyla said.
“Because you weren’t allowed to go to the amusement park and sell kisses with Mitsy?”
“Exactly! I’m twenty-three years old and my only friend, the only girl I’m allowed to visit, is an eighteen-year-old brat. Even though I live at the largest speakeasy in the country, the only excitement I get is going to the amusement park to sell kisses out the back side of the cotton candy booth for a dime.” She leaned closer. “Now pull the damn needle out.”
Knowing she couldn’t grasp it with her gloves on, Norma Rose took them off and pinched the needle with one hand and held Twyla’s ear with the other. “Hold still.”
“I am.”
At first it was slow going, but then the needle began to move. With gentle but steady force, Norma Rose pulled it all the way out and, not knowing what to do with it, handed it to Twyla.
“Thanks.” After taking the needle, Twyla asked, “Why are your hands blue?”
“An ink pen broke.”
“There’s bleach in the laundry room.” Twyla walked across the room and dropped the needle on her vanity table.
Norma Rose pulled her gloves back on, and was reminded of all that had already happened today. “Why today?” She hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but when Twyla spun around, she repeated it. “Why today? Why are you telling me all this today?”
“I don’t know,” Twyla said, walking back to the bed. “Maybe because of Brock.”
“Brock?”
“Yes. He knows what he wants and he even went against our father to make it happen. Josie and Ginger and I talked about that. How brave Brock had to be to do that, to go to Chicago.”
Norma Rose had thought the same thing. Originally she’d thought that her father would be able to convince Brock to stay and play at the resort for the rest of the summer, considering the debt Brock’s family owed. That’s why she’d only suggested to Wayne Sears that he might be needed to perform at the resort tonight.
“I don’t like acting like this, Norma Rose,” Twyla said. “Like a spoiled child, but every time I’ve gone to you or Father with an idea of how I could help out, you’ve shooed me away like I was thirteen. I’m not, and I’ve got to tell you, if it wasn’t for the watchmen guarding this place twenty-four hours a day, I’d have run away a long time ago.”
Norma Rose’s heart did a complete somersault. She’d assumed as much, and had told Twyla more than once that if she didn’t work at the resort, there would be no money for clothes, or cosmetics, or even food. “You would have?”
Twyla nodded. “Yes, I would have. And if something doesn’t change soon, I still might. Money or no money.”
Norma Rose swallowed the lump in her throat. “That’s why you couldn’t find Ginger this morning. She ran away last night.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
Chapter Nine
Norma Rose was in the front lobby, showing Twyla how to write out receipts, explaining why it was so important that every person entering the ballroom purchased a meal, whether they ate it or not, when they noticed the sheriff’s car pull in.
“What’s going to happen?” Twyla asked.
“I don’t know. Father just had me call him to tell him he wanted to talk about something. No one has said anything about Ginger being missing.”
“He’s not going to find her,” Twyla said.
Norma Rose didn’t answer and turned to meet Sheriff Ned Withers, a tall man without a single strand of hair on his head, at the front door.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Sheriff,” she said. “My father is in his office. This way.”
“Norma Rose,” he said, and then nodded toward her sister. “Twyla.”
“Hello, Sheriff,” Twyla answered, before bowing her head, grinning.
Norma Rose grinned, too. The sheriff was a man of few words until he got a few glasses of something under his belt, then you couldn’t shut him up. The entire county stayed clear of him after he’d been drinking, but no one made mention of it during the day. Knocking before pulling open her father’s office door, Norma Rose said, “The sheriff is here.”
“Ned, come in,” her father said. “I want you to meet Ty Bradshaw.”
Ty rose from the chair. “Hello,” he said, extending a hand.
Once he’d shaken the sheriff’s hand, Ty’s gaze shot to Norma Rose. She knew he was curious about Twyla and why she’d been told about Ginger’s disappearance, but Norma Rose hadn’t had a chance to explain it yet. She wasn’t exactly sure why she wanted to, or what had really happened upstairs between her and her sister. It was a nice change, though, and she planned on talking to Josie as soon as she arrived home from her ladies aid meeting. It was time they all started working together instead of against one another.
“Rosie?”
She turned to her father.
“The door,” he said.
With a nod, she closed the door, with the men inside and her outside. That didn’t bother her quite as much as it would have this morning. The phone on the front desk jingled and she quickly crossed the room to pick it up. She’d called Wayne Sears and he said he’d be there by eight. If he was canceling, she didn’t have a backup plan.
“Nightingale’s,” she said into the receiver.
“Is Roger Nightingale there?”
Thankful it wasn’t Wayne, she replied, “Yes, he is, but he can’t talk right now.”
“Norma Rose, this is Brock Ness.”
“Oh, Brock,” she said, now recognizing his voice. “I’m sorry, but Daddy is talking with the sheriff.” Wondering if he might have seen something, she revealed, “Ginger ran away last night and we can’t find her anywhere.”
“I know,” he answered. “She stowed away in the back of my truck.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. “What?” That was unbelievable in too many ways to count. “She’s with you? In Chicago? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine,” he answered. “I’ll—”
“Where are you? I’ll have Daddy call you right away.”
He told her and she instantly recognized the name of the radio station that had offered Brock the contract and hung up without even saying goodbye. Hopefully her father hadn’t said anything to the sheriff yet. No one wanted Ginger’s name rolling through the police stations.
“She’s with Brock?” Twyla asked.
“Yes,” Norma Rose answered, as she turned and hurried to their father’s office. Without knocking, she rushed straight to her father’s side. Kneeling down, she whispered in his ear. “Ginger’s with Brock in Chicago.”
He jerked his head back. “What?”
She nodded.
“Excuse me, Sheriff, something has come up that I need to deal with immediately,” her father said, standing up. “I just wanted you to meet Ty here. He’s one of my newest men. One I know you’ll treat as well as the others.”
Sheriff Withers didn’t look at all surprised and replaced his hat on his head as he stood. “You know I will, Roger.” He shook Ty’s hand. “Nice meeting you, Mr. Bradshaw.”
“Call me Ty, Sheriff, and it was nice meeting you, too,” Ty said.
“Twyla will see you out,” Norma Rose said, nodding to Twyla, who was now standing in the doorway. Both her father and Ty looked at her quizzically, but she simply smiled.
Twyla closed the door behind the sheriff and her father instantly asked, “Ginger’s with Brock?”
“Yes, he said she’d stowed away in the back of his truck.”
Her father cursed, several times, before he grabbed the phone. “What’s the name of that station?”
She told him and walked around the desk to where Ty stood. She’d sworn Ginger wouldn’t be with Brock and now would have to accept being told she’d been wrong.
“Well, that explains how she got away from the resort,” he whispered, while her father shouted to be connected to the station in Chicago. “Bronco said he’d checked under the tarp after Scooter had tied it down, but then he’d helped a guest to their cabin. She must have used that time to climb under the tarp because moments later your father talked to Brock, at his truck, and confirmed Brock was alone in the front seat.”
“How do you know all that?”
“Your father and I talked to both of them after you and I got back this afternoon. He wasn’t impressed to learn about the ladder Reyes had left at her window.”
“Why didn’t Scooter or Bronco put the ladder away?”
“Because Ginger told them the same thing she’d told Reyes. That she wanted to wash her window. They both claimed no one planning to run away would have drawn attention to the ladder.”
“She really thought this through, didn’t she?” Norma Rose said.
“Yes, she did,” Ty answered.
