The Perfect Dress(53)

“I think you are a beautiful woman, Mitzi. See you tomorrow.” He tipped an imaginary hat and walked outside.

Jody came out of the sewing room with two beers. “I hid until y’all got done in case you wanted to talk.” She handed one bottle to Mitzi and tipped the other one up. “It’s been a helluva day, hasn’t it?” She rolled her eyes toward the stairs. “Do we leave her alone until she comes out or barge in and make her talk?”

“If she don’t spit it out, she’s goin’ to explode,” Mitzi said.

“I’ll get the ice cream and meet you there in a couple of minutes,” Jody said.

Mitzi nodded and took the stairs two at a time. By the time she reached the top, Jody had joined her with a quart of rocky road ice cream and three spoons.

“Do you think this will do the trick?” Jody asked. “Or do I need to run back down there and bring up a package of chocolate cookies?”

“I think that’s enough,” Mitzi whispered.

Jody knocked gently on Paula’s door.

“Go away. I’m not through crying,” Paula sobbed.

Mitzi turned the knob to find it locked. “Either let us in or I’ll kick the damn door in.”

They heard the click when Paula unlocked the door, but the door remained closed. Mitzi threw it open and marched right into the room. Paula was curled up in a fetal position in the middle of the bed, her hands over her eyes, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m pregnant and hormonal and in shock and I’m stupid,” she said between sobs.

“I can agree with three, but that last one is up for debate.” Mitzi crawled up into the center of the bed and laid a hand on Paula’s shoulder. “Sit up, honey. Talk to us so we can help. And if you don’t stop crying, then I’m going to start, and you know what that does to my face.”

Jody followed Mitzi’s lead, settled cross-legged to her left, opened the container of ice cream, and stuck three spoons in it. “And with all the drama in my life right now, I sure can’t let you two cry without me sobbing, so let’s eat ice cream and scream, bitch, yell, kick holes in the wall—whatever it takes to get over this. I can’t believe that sumbitch acted like he didn’t even know you.” Jody dug deep into the ice cream and shoved the spoon toward Paula’s mouth. “Open up or it’s going to drip all over your shirt.”

Paula sat up and took the spoon from Jody. She laid a hand on her stomach as if she was protecting her child. “She just kicked. I think she’s tellin’ me everything’s gonna be all right.”

“Of course she is. Just like that Kenny Chesney song—somewhere in the lyrics it says that the monkey on his back jumped off. If you’d have knocked the shit out of Clinton today, that monkey would sure be off.”

“Tastes pretty good,” Paula said. “I saw your face when Kayla said that about Rita, and I’m so sorry, Mitzi.”

The lyrics to the Chesney song ran through Mitzi’s mind. The chorus talked about a sign hanging on the wall that said everything’s gonna be all right, and she wanted so badly to believe that.

Jody shoveled a spoonful into her own mouth and groaned. “This tastes so good.”

“I’m so gullible. I believed all his lies. I bet he thinks a fat woman is so desperate for attention she’ll believe anything,” Paula said.

With so many tangled-up relationships going on around her, Mitzi began to think that maybe she was the lucky one of the three. Sure, she was attracted to Graham, but she’d have to think long and hard before she gave that bit of chemistry a chance. Not when Rita was evidently so determined to worm her way back into his life.

Paula went on. “Remember what I told you at the time about his wife just finding out that the in-vitro procedure had finally worked with their first child? And now I find out he’s got a three-year-old son with her, too.” Paula grabbed her head. “Brain freeze.”

“Good!” Jody said. “It might help freeze the stupid feeling that you’ve got about yourself.”

“You’re not stupid. You are not fat,” Mitzi said. “You trusted him. He lied. Now he has to pay for it.”

“Do you realize his wife was already pregnant when he was sleeping with me? And he had a toddler at home? What a jerk!” Paula dug into the ice cream again. “The son of a bitch didn’t even act like he knew me, but if he had, then his sweet little wife, who’s probably a size six when she’s not pregnant, would have had questions.”

“Makes me wonder how many more kids he’s got out there.” Mitzi stuck her spoon in the ice cream and shifted her position to lean against the headboard.

“You might want to get our little girl tested so you can compare DNA with all her boyfriends when she starts to date,” Jody suggested. “Wouldn’t want her going out with her half brother.”

“I may just move to Australia. I don’t think he’s ever been there, but then who knows, the way he lies.” Paula stuck her spoon in the ice cream and rested her hand on her stomach. “I know for absolute sure now that I’m never telling him about this baby. And this is one time I’m glad I’m a large person and don’t look all that pregnant.”

“What are you going to tell the baby when she asks?” Jody asked.