“No!” he said. “Never.”

“Never say never,” he thought he heard Vivien’s voice say in his head.

“This time I can say it because I’d rather be dead than go back to Rita,” he swore out loud.

“Good for you. I’m leaving now. You’re on your own for the rest of the day,” Vivien said.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I’d left the line open. Did you hear that whole thing?”

“I did, and Rita doesn’t seem to have changed a bit. She’s always been a bulldog when she wants something, so be careful, and if there’s anything I can do, let me know,” Vivien said.

“Just keep her out of my office,” Graham told her.

“With extreme prejudice,” Vivien laughed.

“If necessary,” Graham chuckled.

Mitzi glanced at herself in the foyer mirror as she passed by on Saturday morning—red hair wild enough to scare little children, no makeup, and eyes swollen with sleep.

“Is it too early for a shot of bourbon?” she muttered as she headed across the kitchen floor.

“Yes, it is, and you look like the last rose of summer a hound dog hiked his leg on,” Jody said.

“I feel like she looks,” Paula said. “If we weren’t pressed for time, I’d suggest we all go back to bed and forget that we need to go Greenville today to get everything we’ll need for the bridal fair next Saturday. We have to get napkins imprinted with our logo, a couple of cases of champagne, and those little plastic flutes. If we’re not too late to get it done, let’s get the flutes stamped with the logo, too.”

“And maybe we should buy one of those tall banners that you pull up from the bottom and hook at the top. We could put pictures of several of the dresses we’ve designed on it, and set it up at the end of our table,” Jody said.

“All good ideas. Give me an hour to wake up and throw on some clothes.” Mitzi slumped down in a chair at the table. “What are y’all’s plans for tomorrow afternoon?”

“Well, I’m going to church in the morning with y’all,” Jody said. “I thought about what you said about showing my mama and everyone in Celeste that I’m a strong woman. Besides, we both need to be there to support Paula, since it’s all over town by now that she’s pregnant. But after we get some lunch, I don’t have any plans. What’d you have in mind?”

Paula brought the leftover cake and a stack of paper plates to the table. “I’ll have to set an example for the twins later, but today I want cake for breakfast. After church, I’m going to measure the nursery and probably spend a million hours on Pinterest.”

“Graham and I are going to build the arch for the bridal fair. He offered to buy the materials for it, and I started to protest, but then he said to let him do it as a thank-you for what we’ve done for his girls.” Mitzi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cut herself a big chunk of blue cake. “I couldn’t say no.”

“Then it’s not a date?” Jody squealed.

Mitzi groaned. “I don’t think so. Do y’all remember Rita?”

“Skinny, short, and blonde hair.” Jody nodded.

“A gold digger,” Paula answered.

“Exactly.” Mitzi picked up a fork and started on her breakfast cake.

“So?” Jody asked.

“Short and small is what he’s attracted to, and he probably has trust issues, so it can’t be a date,” Mitzi answered.

“If he kisses you before you leave, it’s a date,” Paula said.

“I agree.” Jody headed to the refrigerator and removed a takeout box. “Y’all can have dessert for breakfast. I’m heating up a bowlful of leftover spaghetti and meatballs.”

Mitzi polished off the last of her cake and carried the plate to the trash can. “I’m going upstairs to make myself decent. Maybe I shouldn’t even bother. God knows I won’t be able to shrink myself down to a size six by any means. I’ll be down in half an hour.”

“The girls will probably show up in a few minutes,” Jody reminded her.

“I’ll hurry, then.” Mitzi zipped into the bathroom, took a quick shower, and returned to find another message, this time from Dixie, saying that her dad would meet them at the party store with a truck to help carry heavy stuff.

“Well, that changes whether or not to use a curling iron on my hair,” Mitzi said as she rushed through applying makeup, threw outfits on her bed as she discarded one after another, and finally changed twice—all in half an hour.

Chapter Fourteen

Paula stood back a few feet and looked at the four plus-size mannequins lined up before them. Did she really look like the size-eighteen one when she was naked? She avoided mirrors when she wasn’t dressed, so maybe she did. She cocked her head to one side and decided that her breasts were smaller than the mannequin’s and her butt a good deal bigger.

Mitzi put in her two cents. “I vote that we get a bald one so we can change her hair color with wigs. The one with the preformed hair looks a little weird.”

Paula stepped back and studied them. “I like the idea of changing out her hair color, too.”

“Agreed. That way it looks more real,” Jody added. “What do you think, girls?”