I want to ask you out on a real date, he thought.

“That sounds good. What can I do to help?”

“First we build a base for it to sit on,” he said.

Maybe a movie or a play in Dallas after we have a romantic supper.

“It doesn’t have to be really well finished. We’ll be using a lot of flowers and greenery on it,” she said.

I wonder if maybe it would be easier if we did something like a picnic with the girls at first.

“I’ve already sawed the boards for the base,” he said. “I thought we’d make it in five pieces. The two bases, the sides, and then the arched top. That way after the bridal fair, we could take a few screws out and store it flat.”

I’m going to ask her to go out on my pontoon boat before she leaves here today.

He picked up a board and carried it to the chop saw he’d set up on the porch. “If you’ll hold that end and keep it steady, I’ll take a foot off the other end.”

In an hour they had the framework done and the plastic lattice cut to size and bent over the whole thing. She sat down on the back porch and leaned against the porch post. Sweat stuck her hair to her face and forehead, and her arms glistened with moisture.

Dammit again! He should have stopped working halfway through the job and offered her another beer or at least a bottle of water. He was failing miserably as a gentleman.

“I have a pontoon boat,” he blurted out as he sat down beside her. “The girls have been begging me to take it out. Want to go with us next Sunday after church? You can invite Harry and Fanny Lou and Paula and Jody if you want.” He held his breath, waiting for her to say something.

“That would be fun,” she said slowly.

“Want a drink of something?” Lord, nothing he said came out right. “I mean . . .”

She laid a moist hand on his sweaty knee. “Graham, I’m a little . . . what’s the word . . . discomfited is what Granny would say . . . around you, too. I had a crush on you in high school, you know.”

“Well, I’ve got one on you now.” He wiped his face on the tail of his T-shirt and hoped that she thought all the sweat was from the weather.

“For real?” Her eyes widened.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “It took all the courage I had to ask you to go on a boat ride next Sunday.”

“Bullshit!” she said and then put a hand over her mouth. “You were so popular in high school, and so self-confident.”

“That’s just the way you saw me,” he said. “I’m going to get another beer. Want one?”

“Yes, I do, and let’s have it inside. It’s damn hot out here.” She wiped her face on her shirtsleeve.

“Okay.” He stood up and offered her a hand.

See there, that wasn’t so hard to admit, was it? His dad’s voice was in his head.

She put her hand in his and let him pull her up to a standing position.

“I want you to know that I meant it when I told Kayla it’s over between me and Rita. My ex-wife came by my office yesterday, and I told her the same thing.” He kept her hand in his all the way to the kitchen, only letting go of it to get the cold beers.

She sat down on a barstool and sucked down several gulps before she came up for air. “That really tastes good, and you don’t owe me any explanations about Rita.”

“I like being with you, Mitzi, and I want to be honest with you. All I felt was relief that I wasn’t still with her.” Graham turned his head and their eyes locked. “I realized that I never really loved Rita, and that makes me feel guilty in a way.”

“Why?” Mitzi asked.

“I married her, and you’re supposed to love someone if you vow to be with them in sickness and health,” he answered.

“You’ve grown since she left. You had the girls to take care of and a business to run. Now you see things clearer than you did back then,” she said.

“Thank you for that.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, without the need for words to fill the vacuum. Then Mitzi finally asked, “Did you ever want to do something with your life other than stepping into your father’s shoes at the dealership?”

Graham shook his head. “No, ma’am. I didn’t even want to go to college, but Mama wanted me to have that experience. After Rita left, I got my business degree by taking online courses at night. Experience and what my dad taught me was far more helpful. How about you? Ever want to do something other than what you do?”

It was her turn to shake her head. “Mama wanted me to be a high school home economics teacher, only they don’t call it that anymore. I think it’s called FCCLA. Never can remember what all the letters stand for, but it’s the same as the old home economics classes. I made it through one semester of college, wondering the whole time why in the hell I needed American History 101 to teach young girls and boys how to cook and sew.”

“Or English Composition 101 to learn how to run a car dealership,” Graham chuckled again. “So what did you do after that semester?”

“I got a job doing alterations in a fancy wedding-dress shop in Amarillo,” she answered. “Paula, Jody, and I’d dreamed about putting in our own shop and catering to plus-sized women for years. Then”—she frowned, as if she wasn’t sure if she should go on—“Paula was dating the father of her baby and it became a bad breakup. She needed a change, and after we’d made her sister’s wedding dress, we really got serious about wanting to put in our own shop. Jody was more than ready for us to come home and put in a shop, so we finally said it was now or never and we did it last December. We figured we’d have to build up the business for two years before we’d start seeing enough profit to pay our salaries, but we were wrong. We’ve made dresses for women from four states already, and we never lack for something to keep us busy. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”