The Perfect Dress(52)

“Not going to happen. Have a nice day.” Graham turned his back on them.

Clinton escorted Kayla away with his hand on the small of her back, and Paula turned to watch them. “She looks like she could go into labor any minute.”

“Yes, she does,” Mitzi said. “Do you feel okay? You are really pale.”

Paula sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. “It’s a small world. I never thought I’d see Clinton again.”

“You did good,” Jody whispered.

“That was . . . oh, my, God,” Mitzi said.

Dixie had already pulled Graham a few feet away. Her hands were on her hips and Tabby shook a finger under his nose. Evidently they didn’t want Kayla’s prayers to reach God’s ears.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” Paula said. “I don’t want to say anything in front of Graham. He’s got his hands full. So let’s go finish up our shopping.”

“That’s not so easy right now,” Mitzi said.

“If you let Kayla or Rita get under your skin, then they’ll have power over you, and God might even hear those prayers.” Paula pushed the cart forward. “Girls, are y’all ready to help us design some cute napkins for the bridal fair?”

“This ain’t over,” Dixie told her dad.

“We’ll finish talkin’ when we get home,” Tabby said.



Graham reached out and laid a hand on Mitzi’s shoulder. “We should talk about this tomorrow.”

“I agree.” His touch sent all kinds of tingling vibes throughout her body, but if there was even the remotest chance that he still had a thing for Rita, then she should be fighting the attraction. “But for now we’ve got work to do, and I don’t want to ruin the day for the girls.”

“You’re amazing,” he whispered.

“Why would you say that?”

“You’re putting my girls first.” He dropped his hand and followed the others.

An hour later everything had been designed and ordered and they’d bought a new folding table. Graham carried it out to his truck and they parted ways—again the girls riding with him so there would be more space in the van.

“I wonder if there’ll be anything left of the inside of that truck when they get to Celeste.” Jody pulled the seat belt across her body.

Mitzi backed out of the parking space and headed out of town. “Why would you say that?”

“They put their anger on a back burner in all the excitement of picking out things, but it’ll come forward pretty quick when we’re not around,” Paula answered for her. “I got the impression that they damn sure don’t want Rita back in their lives.”

“Not even if Graham still loves her?” Mitzi asked.

“Not even if she sprouts wings and dons a halo,” Paula answered.

“She’s bad,” Jody piped up from the back seat. “But what about that sumbitch, Clinton?”

“We’ll talk about that later. I need some time alone.” Paula laid her head back and closed her eyes.



Graham’s truck was parked in the driveway, but the girls weren’t there. Mitzi pulled in behind him and got out of the van. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “You still in trouble?”

“Not anymore. I reassured them that their mother and I weren’t getting back together. Then Alice called and invited them to go swimming with her at the lake. They said for me to tell y’all that they had the best time today, and that they’d see you in church tomorrow,” Graham said.

Paula stomped past them and onto the porch. She unlocked the door and disappeared inside. Jody nodded toward them as she carried the wig into the house.

“I’ll hold the door for you to bring in the mannequin and the table,” Mitzi said.

“Thanks,” Graham said. “Lookin’ forward to seein’ you tomorrow.”

“Me, too. I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to go in and . . . it’s a long story, but we need to support Paula right now,” she said.

“Something happened with Kayla back there, didn’t it?” Graham lowered the tailgate and picked up the mannequin.

Mitzi nodded as she grabbed the handle on the edge of the folding table. “It did, but I’m not free to talk about it right now.”

“Didn’t mean to pry,” he said.

“You aren’t. We were all right there in the awkward situation,” Mitzi assured him.

“I’ll be ready to put together that arch tomorrow. You need to tell me how wide and tall you want it and then we’ll go to work,” he said as they made their way to her porch.

“I’ll be there by two o’clock,” she told him. “And thank you again for helping us today.”

He set the mannequin in the middle of the kitchen floor. She leaned the table against the wall and walked him to the door. She felt like she was in a vacuum with no sound or emotions. Everything had been sucked right out of her when Kayla made those comments, and yet at the same time, there was still chemistry between her and Graham when he turned and gave her a sly wink.

“That really is your gorgeous hair color.” He nodded toward the Styrofoam head sitting on the coffee table.

“You really think I have pretty hair?”