“It’s really not so bad when you consider the alternative of having to put up with her.” Jody joined them. “The café will have our table ready when we get there.”

Mitzi draped an arm around Paula’s shoulders. “Jody is right. Just think of all the extra little things like changing light bulbs and watering plants that you’ve been doing for Gladys. She’s going to miss that, but it’ll give you more time and less stress.”

Jody nodded and headed back down the stairs. “Amen to all that, but I call first dibs on getting to rock the baby to sleep. Have you thought of names?”

“No, but we can do that later.” Paula lowered her voice. “Has the rose quartz worked any magic for you, Mitzi?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Mitzi laid a hand on her chest.

“Don’t give up. Sometimes it takes a while,” Paula said. “Right now, we need to pay our helpers by buying them supper.” Paula turned around and started down the stairs with Mitzi right behind her. “I go for another ultrasound on Thursday. If the baby is cooperative, we could have a gender-reveal party on Friday night. And I know what you’re thinkin’ without even looking at you. I’ll tell my mother right after my visit for the ultrasound, when I know whether the baby is a girl or boy. I’ve put it off long enough.”

“Want me to go with you when you do?” Mitzi felt both sorry and happy for Paula: sorry that she had an unsupportive mother and happy that she was going to bring a baby into their family circle. The three of them had been friends for so long they were family whether DNA agreed with them or not.

Paula turned at the bottom of the staircase. “Yes, and Jody, too. I’ll need all the help I can get.”

The table was ready when they arrived at the café. When everyone sat down, Mitzi found herself between Graham and Alice. Jody, right across from her, raised an eyebrow. Mitzi didn’t need a book to know what was on her mind.

The waitress hurried right over to them with her pad in hand. “What can I get y’all to drink? I hate to tell you, but we only do the grill after eight.”

“That’s fine,” Harry said. “We’ve kind of got our hearts set on your bacon cheeseburger baskets, or at least I have. And a cup of coffee.”

“Yes,” the rest of the group chimed in.

“Only sweet tea for me,” Paula said.

The others raised their hands to indicate the same.

“Daddy, when did you start drinking coffee this late?” Mitzi asked.

“When I figured out that it doesn’t keep me awake like your mama thought it did,” he answered. “How about you, Graham? You a late-night coffee drinker?”

“No, sir,” Graham said. “Anything after five keeps me up all night. Crazy thing is that sweet tea doesn’t and it’s got caffeine, too, so go figure.”

Mitzi filed that bit of information away in her head. Someday she might need to remember that he liked sweet tea but didn’t drink coffee after five.

Chapter Eight

We could sure use that bridal fair to come through,” Mitzi said as she worked on Ellie Mae’s dress. “I bet we’d be the only plus-sized display there. Word-of-mouth advertising is great, but this would really give us a boost.”

“We might have to burn a little midnight oil or hire an extra person if we get much more work,” Jody said.

“Wouldn’t that be amazing?” Paula said.

Dixie poked her head in and asked, “Where do y’all want us to take the flowers now that the kitchen is going to be used for real?”

“There’s a couple of empty rooms upstairs. We’ve got plans for the larger of the two, but you girls can move the flower business into the smaller one. I’ll get bins this weekend so you can keep them sorted by color. Daddy said he’d bring the sewing machines and a folding table on Friday. That way you’ll have a place to work with whatever project you’ve got going,” Mitzi answered.

Dixie’s hand went to her cheek. “We get our own room in your house! That’s like totally awesome.”

Tabby crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Mitzi’s neck. “Thank you. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome.” Mitzi hugged her back. “For now you can just sort the flowers in the empty boxes from unpacking.”

Jody chuckled when they’d left. “They’re worth their weight in gold. All of us should’ve gotten pregnant in high school so we’d have kids about that age.”

“And mothers in the insane asylum,” Paula laughed.

“Not a bad idea some days.” Jody laughed with her, but her expression changed when her phone rang. “Speak of the devil.” She put it on speaker and kept sewing beads on a veil. “Hello, Mama.”

“I heard that you and Paula moved into the upstairs of that house y’all bought for a shop, and that Mitzi is living with Graham Harrison. I’m glad her mama has done passed and don’t know that her daughter ain’t no better than mine,” Wanda said.

“You are on speakerphone,” Jody said.

“Good. I ain’t sayin’ nothing I wouldn’t say in church. It’s a cryin’ shame the way young people today just live together without a marriage license. Society might accept such things, but I don’t.” Wanda’s voice got higher with each word.