I believe we’ve gotten everything we need in this store.” She picked up the Styrofoam head with the wig pinned to it and started for the front of the store.
“Okay, then lead the way to whatever I need to help get in the truck. I’ll get it loaded and meet y’all at the next one. Just tell me where it is.” Graham fell in right beside her. “Want me to carry that?”
“Thanks, but I’ve got it,” she said.
“This bridal fair is a really big thing for you, isn’t it? The girls are more excited over this than Christmas, but why are y’all working so hard at it?” Graham asked.
“We might be the only place in Texas that deals in custom-made plus-sized wedding dresses. This fair is a really huge deal. Folks come to it from all over the United States. Getting to go will increase our visibility even more than full-page ads in a bridal magazine,” she explained.
“Well, then, what can I do to make it the biggest and best display in the whole shindig?” Graham asked. “You want to borrow the ’59 Caddy that’s on display at the dealership? You could put a bride and groom in the back seat, but you’ll have to have a male mannequin and a tux. Why don’t you start carrying a line of rental tuxes for the guys, too?”
“If this brings in the business that I think it will, we won’t have time to make tuxes.” Mitzi set the wig on the counter and told the lady which mannequin they wanted.
The cashier rang up the total. “Take the sales slip and pull around back to the service doors. The guys will load it for you there.”
When they finished the transaction, Mitzi handed Graham the papers. “See you at the party store on Main.”
“I know where that is. You girls want to ride with me?” he asked.
Dixie only hesitated for a minute. “Sure we do. You might get lost and need us to show you the way.”
When they left the store, Graham and the girls went right. Paula, Mitzi, and Jody went left toward the front parking lot. Paula could hardly contain the giggles until they got in the van.
“Y’all were flirting,” she sing-songed.
“Mitzi and Graham sittin’ in a tree,” Jody started the grade-school chant.
“Go ahead.” Mitzi backed out and headed toward the party store. “Get it all out of your systems. And yes, I was imagining him in a custom-made tuxedo. Matter of fact, I was picturing him all sweaty with a hammer in his hand, too. I like a man who’s not afraid to work and show his muscles.”
“Good for you,” Paula said.
Mitzi caught every red light from the place they’d bought the mannequin to the party store. When they arrived, Graham was waiting, but the girls were nowhere in sight. He opened the door and stood to one side.
“Well, thank you, sir.” Paula smiled.
“My pleasure,” Graham said, but again his eyes were on Mitzi as she brought up the rear.
Dixie and Tabby rounded the end of a display. Their eyes were lit up like they’d just found the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Then suddenly Dixie’s expression changed dramatically.
“What’s the matter?” Mitzi asked.
“Gloria just came through the door,” Dixie whispered.
“Who’s Gloria?” Paula asked.
“The girl I put on the ground for her smart mouth,” Dixie said.
“Ignore her,” Mitzi said. “If you say or do anything, she’ll have power over you. Pretend like she’s an ugly old mangy dog.”
Dixie’s giggle turned into a guffaw. “That’s the funniest picture I’ve had in my head in years. Now I’m going to laugh every time I see Gloria, and ‘dog’ is right because she is a bi-atch.”
“Dixie!” Graham said.
“Well, she is,” Tabby agreed with her sister. “She better keep away from me. I didn’t get to hit her, and we’re not on the Greenville school property. I might take her down,” Tabby said, and then frowned. “A woman is waving at y’all.”
Graham glanced in that direction and held up a hand. “That’s your mother’s cousin, Kayla. She came and spent some time with us right before you girls were born. Haven’t seen her since then.”
There was no doubt the woman was pregnant and due to deliver any day from the size of her baby bump, but it was the man walking behind her who caused the room to start spinning. Paula steadied herself on a cart that had been left empty in the aisle and hoped that she didn’t faint. With her