“Fair enough.” Fanny Lou held up her fingers. “Three, two, one. Yep, I hear him on the porch and the knock on the door should be coming . . . now. He was loading up stuff when I drove past his house. I figured he’d be right along.”

Mitzi opened the door and Graham stepped inside. “Hello, Fanny Lou and Paula. Y’all goin’ to join us?”

“Nope,” Fanny Lou said. “We’ve got plans. You kids just go on and have a good day with the girls. Be sure to keep this one lathered up with sunscreen. She can burn on a dark night. It’s that red hair and white skin.”

“I’ll take good care of her,” Graham promised.

“If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t let her go off with you,” Fanny Lou told him.

“Well, thank you for that,” he said.

He held Mitzi’s hand all the way to the vehicle and opened the door for her. “Maybe I’d better just buy this thing. I’m outgrowing my truck for anything but going to work.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Mitzi asked.

“Oh, darlin’, it’s a great thing,” he assured her.

“Did you bring a bathing suit this time?” Tabby asked.

“No, sweetie,” Mitzi answered. “But maybe one day next week, y’all can go with me to shop for one.”

“That would be like really great,” Dixie said.

Graham pulled the seat belt across her body and whispered, “I’d rather go skinny-dippin’ with you.”

“Shhh . . .” she shushed him and blushed at the same time.

“Drive fast, Daddy. We ain’t even goin’ to swim until we eat today. I’m hungry to death,” Tabby giggled.

“Well, that brings back memories.” Graham winked at Mitzi. “She used to say that when she was about three years old.”

“Speaking of little girls, y’all have to meet Hazel,” she said.

“Who’s that?” Dixie asked.

Mitzi told them about the little dark-haired girl with blue eyes who had completely stolen Jody’s heart. “I only got to see her for a minute this morning when Quincy came for Jody, but with her looks, she could be you girls’ younger sister.”

“We love little kids,” Dixie said. “If Quincy and Jody ever need a sitter, just call us.”

“I’ll remember that,” Mitzi said. “But I’ve got a feeling that Jody will cherish every minute she can spend with that child.”

“So she likes kids?” Graham asked.

“I’m not sure that she likes all kids, but that one has taken her fancy,” Mitzi said.

“Well, honey, you’ve taken my fancy,” Graham said for her ears only.

There was no sneaking up the stairs to her room that evening, not with Paula, Fanny Lou, and Jody all sitting around the table with the leftovers from a large pizza in the middle of them.

“We bought a baby bed and Fanny Lou and I put it together. The nursery doesn’t look so bare now,” Paula said.

“And Quincy asked me out to dinner on Wednesday, and I said yes,” Jody said.

Mitzi took the last chair and reached for a slice of pizza. “Graham and I are officially dating now.”

“That’s not enough detail,” Jody said.

“Hey, all I get from you two is that there’s a baby bed upstairs and you’ve been invited on a dinner date. I’ll talk when y’all do,” Mitzi said.

“We bought a white crib and the bumper pad is pink-and-white checks,” Paula said. “That’s all I’ve got except that Fanny Lou and I needed to go to church to pray for forgiveness for all the dirty words we said.”

Jody raised her hand. “Fanny Lou, you were right to tell me to go out with him. I had a great time.”

“And I like Graham a lot,” Mitzi said.

“That’s all?” Both of Fanny Lou’s eyebrows shot up. “Just that you like him. We want a hell of a lot more from the both of you.”

Paula focused on Jody. “We need to hear a little more about Jody’s new feller first. How does he make you feel?”

“Free is the best way I can describe it,” Jody admitted. “I’m at peace with everything when I’m with him. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

“Okay, now you.” Paula turned back to Mitzi.

“Don’t leave out a single thing,” Fanny Lou said. “And you can start with yesterday and build up through today when you decided that y’all are dating.”

Mitzi went to the refrigerator, got out a root beer, and sat back down. “Well, as us southern girls say when we start to tell a fairy tale, ‘You ain’t goin’ to believe this shit.’”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The poor old air-conditioning system at the church could keep up with only so many bodies crammed into the pews like sardines. And now folks were being ushered into the fellowship hall, where a big-screen television had been set up for those who couldn’t be in the sanctuary.

In the original plan, the wedding was supposed to be in a barn, but at the last minute Ellie Mae had changed her mind. Luckily, Ellie Mae had Paula, Jody, and Mitzi on the list for reserved seats, right along with Graham and his daughters. They were all shoulder to shoulder on the third pew, listening to a mixed CD of country music love songs.