The Perfect Dress(83)

Every day for the past two weeks, he’d picked up the phone to call her but never could make himself go through with it. And when Rita came by, supposedly to talk about the wedding and the time she’d spend with the girls, all he did was compare her to Mitzi. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who came out first or who he wished would never come back into his life again. He’d been careful both times to step out of his office into the main lobby of the business to talk to her—and made sure that Vivien was right there at her desk. Rita had ruined his life once. She was devious and manipulative enough to do it again if he wasn’t careful.

He watched the fireworks light up the sky and wondered what it would be like to live with Mitzi. Would they have fireworks of their own every night when they shut the bedroom door?

The show lasted the better part of an hour, and then the grand finale went up in a glittering American flag and it was over. Folks began to gather up their folding seats, blankets, and soft-drink cans and leave, but Graham sat still until Mitzi rose to her feet.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” she said.

“Then we’ll see you at the shop in a few minutes.” What he wanted to say was that he’d missed her, but he held his tongue.

The girls were whispering in the back seat of the truck when he crawled in and fastened his seat belt. They stopped when he started the engine. He tapped the steering wheel while he waited for a chance to back out of the parking space.

“The ice cream is going to melt,” Dixie moaned.

“I thought Celeste was a little bitty town. Where’d all these cars and trucks come from?” Tabby asked.

“Everyone for miles around comes to see the fireworks.” He looked up into the rearview mirror.

“We don’t care if the whole state of Texas came to Celeste tonight, though it kind of looks like that,” Tabby said. “What we want to talk about is Mitzi and when you’re really going to ask her out. You’ve been an old bear since that day we went to the lake. And she’s not been herself, either.”

“I had a lot of summer work at the dealership,” he said.

“That’s your excuse. I imagine hers is that we’ve been real busy at the shop,” Dixie said. “Y’all like each other. We figure the problem is me and Tabby. After that last woman who was mean to us, you don’t want to take a chance on another one. And she don’t want to make it like all weird between us and her if y’all had a lousy date.”

“We ain’t kids no more, Dad,” Tabby said.

“Evidently not.” Graham wondered how they’d grown up so fast over the course of a month. “So since you’ve figured out so much, what’s your advice on the matter?”

“Ask her out to dinner and a movie, or a play in Dallas, or something fun for just the two of you,” Tabby said.

“And if she says no?” Graham was finally able to get out of the parking lot and take his place behind a long line of vehicles going the same way.

“Then send her flowers tomorrow, and ask again. If at first you don’t succeed . . .” Dixie said. “I can’t remember the rest of it.”

“Try, try again,” Tabby finished the old adage for her.

“How many times do I try, try again?” He turned onto Main Street and found himself right behind Mitzi’s van.

“The preacher at church last Sunday said something about seven times seventy. I wasn’t listenin’ good enough to know what that worked on, but it’s a good start,” Dixie said. “We’re goin’ to try not to fuss at you about this anymore. But we would like to see you happy again.”

“That’s my sister’s decision. I’m going to nag you all I want,” Tabby said.

Who would have ever thought that Tabby, the quiet twin, would have been the one to take a stand, and that Dixie, the mouthy one, would concede to let him make his own decisions? It was a complete role reversal, and it surprised him.

He parked behind the van and beside Harry’s truck. The girls were out of the back seat and jogging toward the house before he even got his door open. The last one inside, Graham could see Tabby taking bowls down from the cabinet and Mitzi over at the table putting out strawberries and chocolate syrup. Harry came from the sewing room with a few folding chairs tucked under his arm. It was the perfect picture of a family all working together, and he loved it.

Everyone circled around the table. Mitzi scooped out bowls full for each one, and the room was filled with laughter and conversation about the fireworks show. Graham hung back until everyone else was served and then took a few steps forward.

“I guess what’s left can be divided among the two of us,” he said. “Unless you want to put it all in one big bowl and we’ll share. Fewer dirty dishes that way.”

“We need to talk,” she said softly.

“About ice cream?” he asked.

“Something a little more serious. But not here.” She scooped out a big portion for him and then pointed to the strawberries and chocolate. “Topping?”

“I like my ice cream plain.” A chill ran down his back that was colder than the ice cream in the bowl. “When do we need to have this talk?”

“Soon, but in private. I’ll text you,” she whispered.