and reached her van, both Jody’s truck and Paula’s car were already gone. She was about to open the door when her father pulled in beside her and rolled down the window.
“I’m ready to help. I stopped by the store and got us some boxes,” he said.
Mitzi leaned her forearms on the open window. “The house is pretty crowded with Jody moving in with us.”
“I figured it would be,” Harry said. “There’s a lot of room upstairs in this old place. Seems like a smart idea for y’all to live up there. Be right handy in the winter if it gets icy.”
Mitzi hadn’t even thought of that, but it made good sense. Getting a baby out in bad weather would be asking for trouble. “Guess we’d better be going. The rest of the moving crew is probably already out there.”
“Rest?” Harry raised a gray eyebrow.
“Graham and his girls and his sister are all helping,” she answered.
“Right neighborly of them. See you there.” The window started up as soon as she took a step back.
Neighborly.
There was that word again. Paula would say that it was an omen to help her realize exactly where she stood with Graham, but how could she control that crazy feeling in her heart every time he was around? So much for the rose quartz stone in Mitzi’s bra.
She arrived at the house and held the door open for Graham as he and Alice carried Paula’s mattress outside. His arm brushed against Mitzi’s on the way through the door, and her pulse jacked up a few notches.
Neighbor, my ass! she thought. I feel more than that, but I’ll just have to get over it.
Harry and Fanny Lou arrived right behind her. Two hours later there wasn’t so much as a dust bunny left in the house. Mitzi had stayed behind to vacuum after everyone else had left. She finished the job and then sat down on the living room floor to catch her breath.
It had been a total whirlwind of a weekend. Last Friday everything had been pretty normal; then Saturday, Jody’s world came crashing down around her; and now here it was Monday, and they’d moved to the shop. Mitzi had never been real good with change, and so much was happening so fast. In another three months, they’d have a baby in the shop, too.
“God, grant me the serenity . . .” She couldn’t remember the rest of the prayer, so she stood up and said, “And all that other stuff.” She carried the vacuum out to the van and headed back into Celeste just as the sun sank over the far horizon and dusk settled on East Texas.
“I can’t believe we got this done in one evening.” Jody was carrying in boxes from her truck when Mitzi arrived at the shop. “We’ve only got a couple more left, and we’ve decided to go to the café for some supper. We should treat all these good folks.”
“You’re right,” Mitzi agreed. “If we’d only had one truck, we’d have been there past midnight tonight and we’d have to go back again tomorrow.”
“I’m starving,” Tabby said as she and Dixie jogged from the back porch. “We’ll be glad to help unpack tomorrow. We’re real good at setting up a kitchen. Aunt Alice taught us how when we moved into our house. Coffee mugs above the pot. Glasses to the right of the sink.”
“See y’all in the house. I’m not going to stand here and talk while I’m holding boxes,” Jody said.
“I’ll open the door for you.” Dixie ran on ahead.
“Thank you girls for offering, and yes, we’d love to have you help with unpacking.” Mitzi stacked one box on top of the other and headed toward the house.
“I’ll go tell everyone that we’re done for today. Mr. Harry and Daddy are setting up the last of the beds right now. Why doesn’t Jody have one?” Tabby followed behind her with the vacuum in her hands.
“Because we haven’t bought one for her, but we will. Tonight will be the last time she has to sleep on the sofa,” Mitzi answered. “She only moved in with us over the weekend.”
“We heard y’all talkin’ about it, but we weren’t eavesdropping, we promise. That man should be tortured.”
“Oh, he will be,” Mitzi chuckled. “Fate will bite him right on the butt.”
“I hope so. Jody is too sweet to be treated like trash.”
Jody was on the phone when they put their load down in the kitchen. “I’m calling the café and telling