another doughnut and pushed through the swinging doors into the sewing room with Mitzi right behind her. Beyond the kitchen was a huge dining room that now had three sewing machines and a long cutting table taking up the space. The foyer was a sitting room with two plush, pink sofas and lots of pattern and wedding books on the coffee table between them. To the left was the curved staircase. A plus-size mannequin wearing a wedding dress, with the train stretched out to the top step, showed off the partners’ first attempt at designing and making a wedding dress for Paula’s sister, Selena, a couple of years earlier. Before it was over, they’d also made a bridesmaid dress for Paula and an outfit for their mother, Gladys, to wear for the wedding.
What used to be the living room was now lined with shelves holding bolts of lace, satin, silks, and even cotton eyelet. That’s where Mitzi took clients after they’d given her an idea of what kind of dress they wanted for their special day, to do measurements and put together a schedule of fittings. The master bedroom served as their fitting room, with extra air-conditioning power added. Jody and Paula had agreed with Mitzi when she suggested that the dressing room was a top priority. There was nothing worse than a tiny room with no air-conditioning vents for a curvy woman trying to get into and out of clothing.
Mitzi unlocked the front door, straightened the bridal books on the coffee table, and opened a pattern book to the first page of the wedding dresses. At nine fifteen the door swung open, and Ellie Mae Weston hurried inside. “I’m so sorry I’m late. My mother insisted on coming with me, and I had to talk her out of it. I can’t even imagine what kind of dress she’d try to get me into.”
“Have a seat and let’s talk about what you want.” Mitzi pointed to the sofa on the other side of the coffee table. “You said you’d bring pictures.”
Ellie Mae pulled out a folder and laid it on her lap. “I’ve narrowed it down to ten, but I’m tellin’ you up front, I do not want a white dress. I’m a size twenty-two, and I don’t want to look like one of those oversized marshmallows.”
“It’s your day,” Mitzi said in agreement.
“That’s what I told Mama, but she’s afraid of the gossip,” Ellie Mae laughed. “She thinks I’m still a virgin at twenty-five and should wear white and a veil over my face. Good Lord! It’s going to be hot in July. What if a mosquito flew up under there? I’d be battin’ at it instead of sayin’ my vows.”
“How big is the wedding list?” Mitzi asked.
“We invited everyone in church and all the relatives. We’re having the whole thing out at Darrin’s folks’ place in their big barn. Mama’s not happy about that, either, but good Lord, there’s a thousand people in Celeste. If even a third of them came, the church wouldn’t work.” Ellie Mae opened her folder and started going through the pages.
Mitzi’s mind wandered as she waited. Ellie Mae was right about the population of Celeste, Texas, but Fanny Lou had said that to get that many folks, the census takers counted the dogs and cats. Folks had thought Mitzi and her friends were crazy to put a specialized bridal shop in a town that small, but it wasn’t far from the bigger town of Greenville, Texas.
Besides, there wasn’t another shop like it for miles and miles around. So from the time they’d opened the shop a year ago, they’d been swamped with business. And maybe next year they’d even get invited to attend the Dallas Bridal Fair. They hadn’t opened the shop in time to nab a place this year, but they were on the waiting list.
Mitzi had thought about renting one of the empty downtown places in those two small city blocks when she first got the idea of a custom specialty shop, but none of them had the ambience that the old house did. It seemed like one of Paula’s omens that it occupied the corner of the last block zoned for commercial business.
After a couple of minutes, Ellie Mae laid a picture out on the table. “I like the neckline and sleeves on this one, but I don’t want that empire waistline. Everyone would think I was pregnant for sure.”
Like all small Texas towns, Celeste was a place where everyone knew