The Perfect Dress(71)

“Y’all are crazy,” Mitzi said. “I’m going to Greenville to buy more flowers. Y’all can talk about makeup sex all night if you want to.”

“I’d go with you but I’m so angry, I’m going to spend two hours cleaning out the trailer. There’s pots and pans, and canned food we can use,” Jody said.

“If there’s going to be work, I’m out of here.” Fanny Lou stood up.

“I’ll get one of those old lawn chairs from the front porch and talk to you while you work off your anger,” Paula said.

“See y’all later.” Mitzi headed out the door with a wave.



“Hell and damnation!” Graham said when Rita caught him in the Walmart store that evening. This time she was dressed in shorts that barely covered her butt cheeks and sandals that showed off bright-red toenail polish that matched what was on her lips.

“I was in town to pick up cleaning supplies. Us runnin’ into each other is pure karma. God is tellin’ us that we need to be together.” She ran a hand from his shoulder to his wrist. “Trust me.”

“I lost the ability to trust you years ago, but I’ve given your idea some thought,” he said. “I’m having the lawyers draw up what Mitzi calls a pre-prenup. When they get them done up, you can read over them and sign them. After that I might think you’re serious.”

“And what’s this document going to say?” She glared at him.

“Simply that if our relationship doesn’t work, you take out exactly what you brought into it. No settlements. No money of any kind. And that you relinquish all rights to the girls, like you did in the divorce. That if it works, you will be a stay-at-home mother and you will never have anything to do with the dealership,” he said.

“You’re bluffing,” she said.

“No, I’m not. Right now I’m not interested in any kind of relationship with you, but if that’s what you want, then I’m telling you up front that I won’t even go out with you for coffee until you sign the papers,” he told her.

“That’s harsh. I’ve changed,” she declared.

“You’re married and yet you showed up asking me if I want to go to bed with you so you can get pregnant. Seems to me like you’ve changed, all right, but for the worse,” he said.

She pushed her cart around his. “Don’t judge me. You haven’t lived in my skin all my life.”

“I’m not judging. I’m stating facts. Now I’ve got somewhere I have to be this evening. And Rita, don’t come back until you’re ready to sign the papers. There’s nothing here for you without that, and nothing for you even with it,” he said.

Great advice, Mitzi. He paid out and had two bags of groceries in his hands when he saw Rita waiting outside the door. No sooner had he noticed her than he saw Mitzi coming straight toward them. She caught his eye and waved. He raised a hand with a bag still in it.

“So is this the new woman? Lord, Graham, she’s huge.” Rita’s expression said even more than her words.

“Kind of like our daughters, right?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. Now I know I can get you back. No man in his right mind would ever take that lump of lard over me.” She giggled as she took a few steps forward and got into an SUV with a guy who was probably her husband.

Still reeling from what his ex had said, he grimaced. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you tonight, Mitzi.”

“Had to get more flowers in case we need them for the show on Saturday. Was that Rita?”

“It was,” he said.

“She’s like a bad penny, isn’t she? Just keeps showing up,” Mitzi said.

“Seems that way, but I told her about the prenup thing. She’s not happy.” He could never tell Mitzi what Rita had said about her. Hopefully that would be the only secret he’d ever keep from her.

“I wouldn’t be happy, either,” Mitzi said. “Looking at it from her standpoint, she thought she had this all wrapped up with a pretty bow on the front.”

“Too bad.” Graham set a bag on the ground and laid a hand on Mitzi’s shoulder. “See you Sunday, if not before.”

“Lookin’ forward to it,” she said.





Chapter Nineteen


Jody was the last one in the kitchen on Thursday morning. She poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. “I’ve been thinking about something. There’s plenty of room in my trailer to put everything in it and take to the fair. It’ll save us the cost of a rental, and I’ve laid awake half the night planning how we can put things in there.” She took a sip of the coffee. “And people would think that we’d camped out in the parking lot so we could be first in the doors. They’d never know that we’re going to get the title of queen bee of the whole show.”

“I love the idea,” Mitzi said. “We can hitch it up to my van after work and have it completely loaded before we go to bed tomorrow night. You’re a genius, Jody.”

“If I’d been really smart, I’d have seen the signs that Lyle was cheating, but my ego needs a boost, so I’ll take the compliment,” Jody said.

That evening they only meant to put the mannequins in the trailer, but after Jody had the idea of putting them on the bed and tying them down with bungee cords, they got excited. They hung the wedding and the bridesmaid dresses in the tiny closet. The small cabinet space in the kitchen area became a place for the bouquets and corsages, and the drawer held their business cards.