The Perfect Dress(16)

“Hey, we’re here!” Tabby called out.

“In the sewing room,” Jody yelled.

In seconds they were at the door, each of them holding up a tote bag. “Did you get flowers? Where can we work? We brought our scissors and tape and all that stuff we had for class so you don’t have to buy any of that.” Tabby bubbled with excitement.

“The flowers are still in the van because it was raining this morning, but I didn’t realize you needed more than that, so I’m glad you brought supplies.” She wasn’t about to admit that she was so rattled after she talked to Graham that she’d filled up the cart and barely had room to fit them into the back of her van with all the other flowers.

“We’ll bring them in,” Tabby said. “Just tell us where to put them.”

“How about for now you work out of the kitchen? But we really should discuss what I’m going to pay you to do this,” Mitzi said.

“Pay?” Tabby gasped. “We don’t need money. This is for fun.”

“But what if later, someone sees the mannequin display and wants the store to do their flowers? You can’t do that for free. Follow me, and I’ll unlock the van.” Mitzi led the way across the foyer to the kitchen, opened the back door, and pressed a button on her key fob to open the hatch on the van.

The girls put their heads together and whispered, then Dixie said, “If that happens, we’ll talk about it then. Right now we’re just glad to get out of the house and get to play around in this place.”

“This is like amazing,” Tabby said when she brought in the first armload of flowers. “We weren’t expecting to have so much to work with.”

“I guess I got carried away.” Mitzi smiled at their enthusiasm.

“Heaven must be just like this.” Dixie hugged herself when the countertops were filled with flowers.

“I’ll leave you girls to it. Could you make the first bouquet in red roses and use some of the black lace on the table in the fabric room for an accent? Then maybe come back the first of the week and do up one in fall colors that we’ll use in October?”

“We’d come back every day and sweep up the scraps from the floors to get to spend time here,” Dixie said.

“Could we use some black ribbon, too?” Tabby asked. “We’ll be careful and not be wasteful.”

Mitzi nodded. “Use whatever you want out of the fabric room. Just keep track of what you use, yardage and price, just in case someone comes in and wants to buy it right off the mannequin. Notebooks are kept in the cabinet to the right of the sink.”

“Wow!” Dixie’s blue eyes popped. “You really think that could happen?”

“You never know. Better to be prepared with a price than to stammer and stutter around. Y’all have fun. If you have any questions, I’ll be over in the sewing room.”

She was proud of the girls for their excitement and willingness to work. If only her last boyfriend had loved Mitzi just the way she was, she could have had a couple of kids by now. She hadn’t realized just how much she did want babies until the girls came into her life. More than just want. Right then it was an aching need.

The giggling and arguing could be heard across the foyer the rest of the afternoon, and more than once, Jody or Paula stopped sewing and talked about how nice it was to have the girls in the shop. She’d been right—the twins did bring sunshine and happiness into the place. But it also brought home the fact that Mitzi might never have a family if all men were like her last boyfriend.

Just before closing time, the bell on the front door sounded, and Mitzi pushed back from her sewing machine. She was surprised to see Graham standing in the foyer when she peeked out around the corner of the room. Her heart skipped a beat and then took off with a full head of steam. Her pulse raced and her hands got sweaty. Dammit! Granny should have never teased her about flirting with him.

“I got off work a little early and thought I’d pick the girls up. Thank you for letting them hang out here. That’s kind of you,” he said.

“They’re not hanging out. They’re working,” Mitzi said. “I’d be glad to pay them.”

“For real?” He cocked his head to one side.

“Sure. They can help out a couple of hours a day and make a little extra money, if you don’t mind.” Just looking at him brought back all those feelings she had when she was fifteen. Even though she wasn’t a teenager anymore, she couldn’t control that giddy feeling.

“I don’t mind at all,” he agreed. “Who’d have ever thought I’d have feminine girls who don’t give a hoot about sports? But instead of money, why don’t you offer to make them a few items of clothing? Finding things that they like is a real problem sometimes.”

“That sounds like a great idea. I’ll talk to them about it. I’ve asked them to come back on Monday. And I want them to make another bouquet, if that’s all right with you.” She moved a little closer.

Dixie stuck her head out of the kitchen. “I thought I heard your voice, Daddy. How’d you get away from work so early?”

“Had a nice slow day, so I left before five. Thought maybe we’d have supper in the café downtown,” he said.

“Ta-da!” Tabby came out into the foyer with a huge red-rose bouquet in her hands. “We made it pretty big since the mannequin is a big girl like us. When we get married we don’t want to walk down the aisle with a little old single calla lily in our hands.”