The Perfect Dress(14)

“I don’t like surprises,” Jody said. “And I don’t want a house in town. I like where I live. Maybe I’ll get over this horrid mood if I start sewing. It’s past time to open up for business.” Jody took a sip of the coffee and set it back down.

“No one is going to come out in this weather and we don’t have anything until Ellie Mae at eleven thirty. We can talk as long as you want,” Mitzi said.

“That’s right, darlin’ girl.” Fanny Lou laid a hand on Jody’s arm. “Men are hard critters to understand. They seldom ever open up about their feelings because they think it’ll make them look like a sissy. Maybe Lyle is just going through a tough time at work, or perhaps he’s worried about whether the tomatoes are going to produce. They think about heavy stuff and things that don’t amount to a hill of beans all in the same second.”

“Was Oscar like that?” Jody asked.

“Of course he was. He was a man,” Fanny Lou answered.

Mitzi decided to change the subject. “Well, I hope it stops raining by this afternoon so the Harrison girls can come in for a couple of hours. Having them around might help all our moods.”

Jody looked around the room. “Where’s Paula?”

“She’s got a stomach bug. I told her to rest as long as she needs to,” Mitzi said.

“Lord, I hope I don’t get it. Men are worthless when the woman of the house is sick,” Jody said. “They turn into old, grouchy bears, and Lyle’s been hard enough to live with. Okay, enough bitchin’. I need to get back to work.” But she tarried awhile longer to have another half a cup of coffee.

“Now that business about menfolk is sure the truth,” Fanny Lou giggled. “We might need rain, but I sure wish it would stop. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment at nine thirty, and I really don’t like drivin’ in it. Well, would you look at that?”

As if on cue, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun shone brightly through the kitchen window. “If I’d known my wish was going to be granted, I would’ve wished that Paula would get well or maybe that my hair didn’t kink up when it rains.” Fanny Lou started for the door.

Folks say that the wife knows when something isn’t right, and Jody was proving it. But Mitzi sure hoped that the rumors were wrong. If they were true, Jody would be crushed.

“I’m probably worried for nothing anyway.”

“Yep,” Mitzi agreed.

Jody rinsed her cup and then headed out of the kitchen. Mitzi followed behind her, arguing with herself about whether to say anything at all to her friend.

Sleep on it. The voice in Mitzi’s head sounded just like her mother. Don’t rush into anything before you have all the facts and evidence.

Jody went right to the sewing machine and started working on a dress. Mitzi got out her sketch pad, erased a couple of lines, and then held it out at arm’s length to study it.

“Is this about the right size for Ellie Mae? If I make her too small, she’ll be disappointed with the finished product, but I don’t want to make her any bigger than she is.” Mitzi turned it around so Jody could see.

“Looks about right to me, but you’re the one who can look at someone and guess their measurements within two inches. I betcha we get a run on black dresses after this wedding,” she answered. “You goin’ to get married in black?”

“Nope, not me.” Mitzi shook her head. “What about you? If you and Lyle ever go to the courthouse, what color are you going to wear?”

Jody shrugged. “Don’t know, but it won’t be black lace.”

Mitzi laid the drawing down and removed a pattern from an envelope. Cutting the pieces out, she let her thoughts wander back to Graham. He hadn’t changed so much since high school. There was a little gray in his temples, and he wore his dark hair styled shorter than he had in high school. But that made him even sexier. The new glasses only added to his good looks.

At the sound of a long sigh from Jody, all Mitzi’s thoughts of Graham were replaced with worry.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

Jody shook her head. “What are those bad years in a marriage?”

“I’ve read that it’s the seventh, thirteenth, and twenty-fifth,” Mitzi answered.

“Makes sense. Daddy left Mama for a younger woman just before their twenty-fifth anniversary. Of course, it wasn’t her fault. Nothing has ever been or will ever be.” Jody’s tone held a lot of sarcasm. “It was all my doing. They didn’t even want kids, so I was a big surprise. She should drop down on her knees and give thanks that she had me. That way she had someone to blame for everything that went wrong.”

Mitzi wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“Me and Lyle had a rough patch about our seventh year. We’re into the fourteenth. Maybe he’s just slow and this is really like our thirteenth.”

Mitzi laid her scissors down and asked, “What exactly makes you think something is wrong?”

“Sex only twice in the last six months. Once at Christmas and then a couple of weeks ago but the second time was when I insisted,” she said.

“He’s pretty young to need Viagra,” Mitzi said.

“Oh, he didn’t need that. Before Thanksgiving it was two, three, or more times a week, then boom.” She snapped her fingers. “He was too tired, or he fell asleep on the sofa.”