The Perfect Dress(35)

“You didn’t have to live with an ultrareligious mama who made you pray twice a day on your knees for thirty minutes,” Jody said.

“Or parents who argued constantly over Mama’s hypochondria and Daddy’s superstitions,” Paula added.

“Like I said, there’s no such thing as a perfect family. But don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t take a million bucks for my family.” Mitzi started out of the room. “It’s break time, and since I didn’t take time for breakfast, I’m warming up a sausage biscuit. Y’all want one?”

Jody was on her feet in a second. “Yes, and thank you. I’d forgotten how good meat tasted. I may have two. Do we have grape jelly? And we are going to have to lay aside that vow we made about closing shop at five o’clock. Some folks take a whole year to get ready for a bridal fair, and we’ve only got a little while. We need to make a really good impression, and get our name on the list for next year.”

“Grape jelly is in the fridge.” Paula pushed back her chair. “Living in the house does have benefits. Like sleeping a little longer and real food in the office fridge. And you are right about burning a little late-night oil. This bridal fair is huge, and for us to get to show off our plus-sized idea? Well, darlin’s, that’s out of this world.”

“On another note, thinking of cooking in here, we should put one of those wax-burning candle things in the foyer. Maybe one that smells like roses or vanilla. Some food smells just don’t say that you’re in a bridal shop,” Jody suggested.

“Great idea,” Mitzi said. “Ellie Mae sells those. When she comes in for her next fitting, I’ll order a couple. Maybe one for the fitting room, too. Wonder if they have a cute one that looks like a wedding cake?”

Jody took five sausage biscuits from the freezer and popped them into the microwave. “Wedding cakes make me think of the bridal fair. I wonder if Graham is going to let Tabby model for us, and are we buying, renting, or talking Harry into building an arch for us?” Her thoughts went back to the idea of a wedding and children. When she found closure, would she ever trust a man again?

“I hope so. That dress should fit her perfectly. She’s even the same height as Selena, so we won’t have to shorten it.” The oven dinged and Mitzi removed the food. “Now that we’re moved in and settling down, how are you, Jody? We’ve been so busy that it seems like months instead of days since Lyle left.”

“I got up real early this morning and drove out to the place. That sumbitch dragged the trailer out right over my garden, so there’ll be no fresh vegetables. All that’s left out there is a couple of beat-up old lawn chairs. I sat down in one and cried like a baby.” Jody choked up but refused to shed another tear. “Lyle was my life. I gave him my heart, my soul, and my virginity when I was fifteen. Not even steaks and sausage can heal the pain.”

Paula hugged her tightly. “You should’ve woken us. We would have gone with you.”

“I needed to do it all alone,” Jody said and then jumped back a few inches at a sharp nudge from Paula’s stomach. “The baby just kicked me.”

Paula laid a hand on the spot. “It’s been really active lately. I just hope it’s willing to let me know today if it’s a boy or girl so our little party can be a gender reveal. In some ways I envy those girls who have a baby bump. I just feel fatter than usual.”

“How much weight have you gained?” Mitzi asked.

“Fifteen pounds. The doctor says that twenty should be my limit,” Paula answered.

“Getting to feel the baby kick like that made it real,” Jody said. “Are you sure you’re not going to tell the father? He’s missing so much.”

How quick would you tell Lyle if you find out you’re pregnant? the pesky voice in her head asked.

Jody shook her head to push the voice away. I might even tell him that it didn’t belong to him.

Paula picked up one of the biscuits. “I’m positive. He’s experiencing it with his wife, and I don’t want to share other than with y’all. It might be selfish, but he lied to me about his marriage. Mama’s right about at least one thing that she preaches all the time. Every choice has consequences. Mine is this baby for having sex with a guy without checking out his story. His is that he’ll never know he has this child because he lied to me.”

“I’d feel the same way—my mama said that same thing so often that I felt like it was branded on my brain.” Mitzi opened her biscuit, added grape jelly to it, and then passed the spoon and jar over to Jody.

“Mine, too, only she had it cross-stitched on a pillow she insisted on keeping in my bedroom,” Jody said. “Maybe I should’ve paid more attention to that pillow, but I never thought Lyle could do something like this.”

“We were both pretty gullible,” Paula said. “It just took you years to figure it out. I didn’t get but a few months.”

“Count it as a blessing.” Jody finished off her first biscuit and unwrapped the second one. “I didn’t know how much I missed having meat in my diet. I wonder if the new wife is vegetarian.”

“I hope that she eats meat six times a day and she makes him cook it,” Mitzi said. “Whatever made y’all decide to go vegetarian anyway?”

“Lyle wanted us to live off the land,” Jody explained. “We didn’t abuse our bodies with liquor or with tobacco, and we didn’t eat anything that had a face. I loved him enough that I went along with it. Truth is, I was so tickled to have a boyfriend in high school and to move in with him that I would have stood on my head in hot ashes to please him.”