The Perfect Dress(90)

“You’re married, aren’t you?” Mitzi asked.

“For now,” Rita answered. “Seeing Graham again brought back all those old feelings, and I will have him again, right along with my daughters.”

“I think seeing that Graham now owns the dealership put dollar signs in your eyes, not love in your heart. And, honey, everyone in high school knew that Graham wasn’t your first love. I don’t know which one of the football players was, but you made your way through several,” Mitzi told her.

Rita’s hands knotted into fists. “Are you calling me a slut?”

“If the shoe fits,” Mitzi said. “Frankly, I don’t care if you’re a slut or a saint. What I don’t like is the way you’ve treated your daughters. They think you’re embarrassed of them because of their size, and that’s why you left them and never even came back to see them for so many years. That scars a kid. You should be ashamed.”

Rita’s lip curled in a sneer. “You should know all about that fat business. Trust me, Graham likes small women, not b-big old . . .” She stammered when Mitzi pushed away from the wall and stepped closer.

“‘Big old’ what?” Mitzi asked.

“Tubs of lard,” Rita shot out the answer.

Mitzi wanted to snatch the woman baldheaded, but that would make Rita the victim, and create more drama. “There’s two sides to every person. The one that the world sees, and then that inward one. You might be little and cute on the outside, but the inside of you is black with rotting evil. If that’s all you’ve got to say, then I’m walking out of here. But before I go, just remember that one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. I intend to cherish every precious moment I can spend with your beautiful daughters and with Graham. Y’all have a good day.”

Mitzi left her standing at the vanity looking like she could kill someone with her bare hands. She slung open the bathroom door with such force that if Graham hadn’t been there to catch it, the bang it made against the wall would have startled everyone in the room.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she bit out. “There’s no blood and she still has all her hair, which is a miracle.”

“Graham.” Rita brushed past them both and went straight for the champagne table.

“Rita.” He barely acknowledged her as he wrapped an arm around Mitzi’s shoulders. “I guess we should be leaving, right?”

“I hate to leave the girls with that woman, even if she is their mother,” Mitzi said through clenched teeth.

Graham hugged her closer to his side. “They’ll be fine. Don’t worry about them. They have my cell phone number and yours as well. I just hope they don’t deck anyone, especially Rita, for making a wisecrack about their size.”

Just thinking about that made Mitzi tense up. “If anyone does that, they can call me, and I’ll come back here and do more than that. And I’ll enjoy it, darlin’.”

“Kind of protective there, are you?” Graham teased as they left the building. “Want to tell me what went on in the bathroom?”

“Ain’t no ‘kind of’ to it. I fall in the whole serious business-of-protection category,” Mitzi said. “I’ll just say that Rita and I came to an understanding and leave it at that.”

He stopped at the Escalade he’d brought home from the shop to use over the weekend. With a hand on each side of her body, he caged her against the door and kissed her—long and passionately.

Her knees wobbled when he stepped back, but her eyesight remained very good. There was no mistaking Rita with a cigarette in her hand, coming outside for a smoke. She propped a hip on the arm of a bench situated beside the door and glared at Mitzi.

“So where to first?” Graham asked.

“Do they have room service at that hotel?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” He opened the door for her and then leaned in to fasten her seat belt. On the way back out, he kissed her again.

“I’ve dreamed of spending a whole day with you since I was fifteen years old. A day when I don’t have to share you with anyone, so let’s make my dreams come true,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.” His grin got wider. “Your wish and all that.”

He was telling the truth when he said the hotel was nearby. Two blocks away, as a matter of fact. He tossed the keys to a valet and shoved the ticket into his shirt pocket. Then, with his hand on the small of her back, he guided her to the registration desk through the fanciest lobby she’d ever been in. Once he had a room card in his hand, he laced his fingers in hers and led her straight to the elevator.

“You’ve been here before,” she said.

The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside. “This is where we hold the Cadillac conference every year. I’ve never brought a woman here. Just want you to know that.” He slipped his arms around her waist and drew her close to his chest. “You should always wear pale blue. That shirt brings out your eyes.”

“Thank you.” She barely got the words out before his lips were on hers again. If she’d had any doubts about what she was about to do, they disappeared in that moment.

They were still kissing when the elevator doors opened. Feeling a little bit of a blush, she glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see people waiting to get on, but instead she was looking into an enormous living area. A glass wall at the end of the room showed off a spectacular view of the city of Dallas.