The Perfect Dress(6)

“They will in the fall. We only moved here a week ago. My sister is a teacher at the school here. Alice Harrison. Maybe you know her?” he said.

“Yes, I do,” Mitzi said. “You probably don’t remember me. I was a freshman when you graduated right here in Celeste.”

“I thought you looked familiar.” He nodded. “But I couldn’t place you.”

“I’ll take a peek at my calendar. You wait right here.” For a tall, big woman, she moved gracefully to the next room and returned in only a few seconds. “I’m free at three thirty. Will you be bringing them?”

“Thank you!” He let out a whoosh of air he hadn’t even known he was holding inside and stood. “We only live a couple of houses down, so they’ll walk here on their own. Do I give you a down payment today?”

“No, we’ll see how things go, and then I’ll work up a total price for the materials and labor. If you agree and sign a contract, then we’ll get busy sewing up the dresses,” she answered.

“Sounds fantastic to me.” He handed her a business card. “You can reach me there or leave a message, and I’ll get right back to you. You wouldn’t believe how many places we’ve been trying to find what they need, and all the time you were right here.”

“That’s the way it goes.” She put the business card in her hip pocket.

Graham couldn’t wait to get home.

When he did, the girls were already sitting at the table, eating leftover lasagna from supper the night before. Dixie looked up with a quizzical expression as he walked in.

“You have a three-thirty appointment at The Perfect Dress. Turns out I went to school with the owner. She’ll be nice to you. Got any of that lasagna left?”

Tabby beamed. “That’s great, Daddy. There’s one more helping. And I made brownies this morning, so we have dessert.”

Graham’s mind wasn’t really on food—it was on Mitzi’s blue eyes and that gorgeous red hair. Why hadn’t he ever noticed her when they were in school?





Chapter Two


Mitzi rushed back to the sewing room, where the hum of two sewing machines filled the air. “Graham Harrison just came in the shop to set up an appointment for his two daughters. He said they only live a few houses up the street from us. He looked like a bull in a china shop sitting on that pink sofa. And of course he didn’t even recognize me, but I sure knew him the minute I laid eyes on him.”

At the mention of that name from the past, work jolted to a halt.

“Yoo-hoo!” Fanny Lou yelled from the kitchen into the sudden silence. “Y’all in the sewing room?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mitzi leaned out the door and hollered.

“I’ve got homemade cookies. Y’all already had dinner?”

Jody stopped her machine and headed toward the kitchen with Mitzi and Paula right behind her. “Where did the morning go? I’m starving.”

“No wonder,” Paula said. “All you ever eat is salad and vegetables.”

“And you’d be healthier if you did the same,” Jody told her.

“But we all eat cookies, so that unites us, right?” Mitzi said.

“I bought ’em at the church bake sale, but Edna Green made them, and she makes the best in town.” Fanny Lou removed plastic wrap from a paper plate of peanut butter cookies. “Guess what I heard today. Graham Harrison moved down the street from y’all.”

The phone rang and Mitzi picked it up, grateful to have a moment to collect her thoughts about Graham living so close. “The Perfect Dress. How can I help you?”

“This is Rayford Thompson from the Dallas Bridal Fair. We’d like to notify you that you’ve moved up on the alternative list. So if someone drops out, you will be contacted to fill that place. We like to keep our top two applicants informed in case travel is an issue.”

“Thank you so much.” Mitzi felt like her feet came a foot off the floor as she hung up and spun around. “We’ve got a shot at the bridal fair this year. Only one person has to drop out for us to get to go.”

“That’s fantastic.” Fanny Lou stuck her hand in the air for a high five. “You should take Selena’s dress and the mannequin and maybe even one of the pink sofas for the display. Of course, you’ll need an archway that you can decorate with flowers to stand her under, and you should rent either some big ferns to go on each side or maybe a couple of those tall candleholders. You should be thinking about putting a bouquet in the mannequin’s hands, and oh—you definitely have to have some kind of little treats. I’ve got a tiered crystal stand for those. People will stick around your area longer if you have food.”

Mitzi threw an arm around her grandmother as Fanny Lou rambled on. “Someone has to drop out before we get to go and it might not happen.”

“You should be ready anyway. I’ll talk to the ladies at the doughnut shop and see if they’ll do a special order of tiny cakes or maybe even little bitty bite-sized doughnuts.” Fanny Lou picked up a cookie and took a bite. “Now, about Graham Harrison.”

“All the girls in high school swooned over him, including Mitzi, but she hasn’t told us if he’s still as sexy as he was back then.” Jody took a bowl of salad from the fridge along with a plate of vegetables that she stuck into the microwave to heat.