The Perfect Dress

by Brown, Carolyn

  At seven in the morning sunrays were usually streaming through the window, but not that day. A loud clap of thunder followed a flash of lightning, and then hard rain sounded like bullets hitting the metal roof. The light above the table flickered and then went out.

  “Well, there goes the electricity,” Mitzi groaned. “I guess I’ll pick up pastries for breakfast. Paula was the smart one, leaving before all this hit.”

  She made her way to her bedroom in the semidarkness, got dressed, and picked up an umbrella on the way outside. She’d barely made it off the porch when a solid gust of wind blew it out of her hands. She watched it flip a couple of times before it hung up in the lower limbs of the huge pecan tree at the corner of her house. There was no way to run between the raindrops as she dashed to the van, so she was soaked when she slid into the seat.

  “Thank God I’ve got extra clothes at the shop,” she muttered as she started the engine and headed to town.

  She used the drive-through window to order a dozen assorted doughnuts, but even with the small awning over the window, the sack was water-splotched by the time she pulled it into the vehicle. She hadn’t expected to see Paula’s car in the parking lot when she parked behind the house, but Jody’s old truck wasn’t there, either. Grabbing up her purse in one hand and the brown bag in the other, she hurried through the rain to the porch.

  “I shouldn’t have dropped my keys in here somewhere,” she scolded herself as she fished around in her purse. When she finally located them and got inside, she held her breath and flipped on the lights.

  “Hallelujah!” she shouted. “We’ve got power. The whole town isn’t without electricity like usual when it storms.”

  It didn’t take her long to change clothing, dry her hair, and apply makeup. Then she made a pot of coffee and removed the doughnuts from the soggy bag.

  “Hey, where’s everyone at?” Fanny Lou rushed in the door and set a dripping umbrella in the basket. “From heat to pouring-down rain. It’s true if you don’t like the weather in Texas, you can stick around for twenty minutes and watch it change.”

  “Good morning to you, Granny.” Mitzi poured two cups of coffee and set them on the table.

  “I see you bought doughnuts again. Bless your heart. I swear, if the pastry shop ever closes its doors, I’m selling the Taylor estate and moving to Greenville,” Fanny Lou declared. “So what did you think of Graham’s daughters? I heard that you ran into him in Walmart last night, too. Did you flirt?”

  “Good Lord, Granny!”

  “I’m sure Jesus is very good, but answer my questions.” Fanny Lou laid all the pastries out on a plate.

  “It was love at first sight with his girls, and no, I didn’t flirt. How did you find out that I’d seen him at Walmart?”

  Fanny Lou shrugged. “Honey, how often does someone as powerful as Graham Harrison move back to town? He’s divorced. He owns a Cadillac dealership. And he’s good-lookin’. So where’s Paula and Jody?” She sipped at the coffee.

  “They haven’t made it in yet, which is unusual.”

  “Good,” Fanny Lou said. “I’ve got news about Lyle, but it might just be gossip, so I don’t want to tell it in front of Jody.”

  Every hair on Mitzi’s arms prickled. “Is it bad news? Is he sick and dying?”

  “Nope, but he was seen with a young woman in a jewelry shop down in Greenville last week. I heard they were looking at rings,” Fanny Lou said.

  “Maybe he was getting her take on a ring so that he could propose to Jody. I bet he wanted to keep it a surprise. That would be so romantic. He’s been in love with Jody since they were teenagers.” Mitzi hoped she was right and that Lyle wasn’t doing something stupid.

  “It would be nice if that’s what it was,” Fanny Lou said. “But the person who saw them said he had his arm around the woman’s shoulders. Are you going to tell Jody?”

  Mitzi shook her head. “Nope. It’s gossip for sure. She and Lyle are the same as married and have been for years.”

  “‘Same as’ isn’t really married,” Fanny Lou said. “Maybe you should call those girls and see about them. If the rumors about Lyle are true, Jody might be killing him right now. Paula could be helping her dispose of the body.” She picked up a doughnut with maple icing.

  Mitzi dug around in her purse for her phone and called Jody, but it went right to voice mail. Then she called Paula.

  “Hello.” Paula sounded as if she’d been crying.

  “Are you okay? I’m worried about you and Jody,” Mitzi said.

  “I’ve got a stomach bug. I’ve taken some medicine. I’ll be in by noon,” Paula told her.

  “I’m sorry. Rest all you need to. Are you home?” Mitzi asked.

  “I am now. I got up feelin’ bad and went to get something to make me better. We must’ve missed each other. See you later,” Paula said.

  “Let me know if you need anything. I hear Jody coming in now. If you need to stay home all day, that’s okay. Just get some rest, and maybe you’ll feel better by Monday.” Mitzi sure hoped that whatever Paula had caught wasn’t contagious.

  Jody arrived looking like she could chew up tenpenny nails and spit out thumbtacks. She stood a huge umbrella beside the door on the rug and stomped across the floor to pour a cup of coffee.

  “What’s got you in a mood?” Mitzi pointed toward the plate of doughnuts.

  “Lyle, and I don’t want to talk about it,” Jody answered as she picked up an apple and plopped down in a chair. “Y’all ever heard of Quincy Roberts?”

  “Who hasn’t? He’s buying up land out there by y’all’s trailer, but rumor has it he won’t buy without the mineral rights. He’s this big oil tycoon,” Fanny Lou said.

  “He wanted to buy our property, and I said no. Ever since, Lyle’s been actin’ weird,” Jody said. “If he sells without my okay, I may leave his sorry ass or poison him for real.”

  “Can he do that? Sell without you signing?” Mitzi asked.

  “Oh, yeah, he can. His aunt sold us the trailer and property. She’d only do it if we put it in his name only because she said someday he’d leave me. I didn’t care at the time because she was a mean old b—witch,” Jody said.

  Fanny Lou shot a knowing look at Mitzi.

  Mitzi didn’t want to admit it, but her grandmother might be right. “Maybe he’s going to surprise you with something and he’s afraid to say anything. Or maybe he wants to sell the trailer and land and use the money for a down payment on a house.”

  “I don’t like surprises,” Jody said. “And I don’t want a house in town. I like where I live. Maybe I’ll get over this horrid mood if I start sewing. It’s past time to open up for business.” Jody took a sip of the coffee and set it back down.

  “No one is going to come out in this weather and we don’t have anything until Ellie Mae at eleven thirty. We can talk as long as you want,” Mitzi said.

  “That’s right, darlin’ girl.” Fanny Lou laid a hand on Jody’s arm. “Men are hard critters to understand. They seldom ever open up about their feelings because they think it’ll make them look like a sissy. Maybe Lyle is just going through a tough time at work, or perhaps he’s worried about whether the tomatoes are going to produce. They think about heavy stuff and things that don’t amount to a hill of beans all in the same second.”

  “Was Oscar like that?” Jody asked.

  “Of course he was. He was a man,” Fanny Lou answered.

  Mitzi decided to change the subject. “Well, I hope it stops raining by this afternoon so the Harrison girls can come in for a couple of hours. Having them around might help all our moods.”

  Jody looked around the room. “Where’s Paula?”

  “She’s got a stomach bug. I told her to rest as long as she needs to,” Mitzi said.

  “Lord, I hope I don’t get it. Men are worthless when the woman of the house is sick,” Jody said. “They turn into old, grouchy bears, and Lyle’s been hard enough to live with. Okay, enough bitchin’. I need to get back to wo
rk.” But she tarried awhile longer to have another half a cup of coffee.

  “Now that business about menfolk is sure the truth,” Fanny Lou giggled. “We might need rain, but I sure wish it would stop. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment at nine thirty, and I really don’t like drivin’ in it. Well, would you look at that?”

  As if on cue, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun shone brightly through the kitchen window. “If I’d known my wish was going to be granted, I would’ve wished that Paula would get well or maybe that my hair didn’t kink up when it rains.” Fanny Lou started for the door.

  Folks say that the wife knows when something isn’t right, and Jody was proving it. But Mitzi sure hoped that the rumors were wrong. If they were true, Jody would be crushed.

  “I’m probably worried for nothing anyway.”

  “Yep,” Mitzi agreed.

  Jody rinsed her cup and then headed out of the kitchen. Mitzi followed behind her, arguing with herself about whether to say anything at all to her friend.

  Sleep on it. The voice in Mitzi’s head sounded just like her mother. Don’t rush into anything before you have all the facts and evidence.

  Jody went right to the sewing machine and started working on a dress. Mitzi got out her sketch pad, erased a couple of lines, and then held it out at arm’s length to study it.

  “Is this about the right size for Ellie Mae? If I make her too small, she’ll be disappointed with the finished product, but I don’t want to make her any bigger than she is.” Mitzi turned it around so Jody could see.

  “Looks about right to me, but you’re the one who can look at someone and guess their measurements within two inches. I betcha we get a run on black dresses after this wedding,” she answered. “You goin’ to get married in black?”

  “Nope, not me.” Mitzi shook her head. “What about you? If you and Lyle ever go to the courthouse, what color are you going to wear?”

  Jody shrugged. “Don’t know, but it won’t be black lace.”

  Mitzi laid the drawing down and removed a pattern from an envelope. Cutting the pieces out, she let her thoughts wander back to Graham. He hadn’t changed so much since high school. There was a little gray in his temples, and he wore his dark hair styled shorter than he had in high school. But that made him even sexier. The new glasses only added to his good looks.

  At the sound of a long sigh from Jody, all Mitzi’s thoughts of Graham were replaced with worry.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Jody shook her head. “What are those bad years in a marriage?”

  “I’ve read that it’s the seventh, thirteenth, and twenty-fifth,” Mitzi answered.

  “Makes sense. Daddy left Mama for a younger woman just before their twenty-fifth anniversary. Of course, it wasn’t her fault. Nothing has ever been or will ever be.” Jody’s tone held a lot of sarcasm. “It was all my doing. They didn’t even want kids, so I was a big surprise. She should drop down on her knees and give thanks that she had me. That way she had someone to blame for everything that went wrong.”

  Mitzi wasn’t sure how to answer that.

  “Me and Lyle had a rough patch about our seventh year. We’re into the fourteenth. Maybe he’s just slow and this is really like our thirteenth.”

  Mitzi laid her scissors down and asked, “What exactly makes you think something is wrong?”

  “Sex only twice in the last six months. Once at Christmas and then a couple of weeks ago but the second time was when I insisted,” she said.

  “He’s pretty young to need Viagra,” Mitzi said.

  “Oh, he didn’t need that. Before Thanksgiving it was two, three, or more times a week, then boom.” She snapped her fingers. “He was too tired, or he fell asleep on the sofa.”

  “Maybe he was working overtime and really was too tired,” Mitzi suggested.

  “Oh, he was doing that a lot.” Jody nodded. “So maybe you’re right. I’m probably worried for nothing.”

  “Yoo-hoo, where is everyone?” Ellie Mae’s shrill voice floated down the hall.

  Mitzi glanced up at the clock. “Good grief, where did the morning go?”

  “I slept away part of it.” Paula appeared in the doorway. “Sounds like Ellie Mae is here.”

  “Are you feelin’ better?” Jody asked.

  Paula sat down at her machine. “Little bit. I figured I can feel sick here or at home. Here I can at least take my mind off it with work. I don’t have a fever, so I’m not contagious. Probably just something I ate.”

  “Jody, get her opinion on what’s happening while I go take care of this,” Mitzi said as she headed out of the room.

  “Sorry I wasn’t right here. The time got away from me,” Mitzi apologized as she showed Ellie Mae the sketch pad with front, back, and side drawings of her in the dress.

  Ellie Mae clapped her hands and squealed, “It’s perfect. I don’t want to change a single thing. It’s just what I dreamed it would be. I’m so glad that you’re making it for me in such a short time. You know we really planned on a fall wedding, but then we got this great deal on a honeymoon cruise for July, so we pushed it up. When do I start fittings?”

  “A week from today,” Mitzi said. “We’ll do one a week until the dress is finished and then one final one with the hat and shoes. That way we can be absolutely sure that you don’t want to add a bead or change your mind about shoes.”

  Ellie Mae sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. “I’ll feel like a princess. Oh, and would you please make Darcy’s dress? I’m only having one maid of honor, and I want her to wear red satin. I’m not real picky about what style, though. I’ll leave that up to y’all.”

  Mitzi bit back a giggle. “Have you told your sister your colors?”

  “Nope, but red is her favorite color. But at least talk her into leaving off long sleeves and a collar if you can. She’s conservative,” Ellie Mae laughed.

  “So we’ll slit up the sides to her hip, then?” Mitzi teased.

  “I’d love that, but she’d just faint dead away if we even mentioned it. Now let’s go get me measured.” Ellie Mae headed toward the fitting room.

  Mitzi wrote down all her measurements in a notebook as she worked. “So is eleven thirty good for you each Friday? We can stay late if you need to come after work instead, and I’ll need Darcy to come in the first of the week to get things going for her.”

  “No, this time is great. I’ll tell Darcy to call you and set up an appointment for Monday morning. I wish you did flowers. I want a special kind of bouquet,” Ellie Mae said.

  “Bring me a picture, and we’ll see what we can come up with,” Mitzi said.

  “I don’t know that I can find a picture, but I can kind of describe it. I want one of those draping bouquets like was popular twenty years ago. In my opinion big girls shouldn’t carry a little tiny nosegay that gets lost in the pictures. No, ma’am. We need something bold that says, ‘Look at me,’ and it should be red roses.”

  “I’ve got a couple of girls who are going to play around with making a bouquet for the mannequin. If you like what you see next week, we’ll see what they can do for you.” Mitzi hoped that she wasn’t putting the cart before the horse. Maybe Graham wouldn’t want the girls to spend time at the shop, or maybe their work would look like crap.

  Ellie Mae touched the sketch with more reverence than she probably did her Bible. “This is going to be the wedding of the year here in Celeste. Thank you so much. And tell those girls to do up one in red roses with some of the black lace from my dress for accents. See you next Friday.” She hurried out the door.

  Mitzi went by the kitchen and picked up three bottles of cold water. She carried them into the sewing room, setting one at each of the stations. “So did Jody tell you about Lyle?”

  Paula opened her bottle and took a long drink. “Yes, she did. It’s too early for him to be having a midlife crisis, so I figure he’s just tired or else maybe he’s got a big surprise up his sleeve for her.”

>   “And he’s been working overtime, too.” Mitzi nodded. “It’s close to noon. Let’s make a sandwich.”

  “Not for me,” Jody said. “I’ll just cut up some of those cucumbers and onions that Fanny Lou brought us into a salad. I had green beans and new potatoes in the fridge at home, but I forgot them.”

  “No wonder you’re as skinny as a rail,” Paula said.

  “I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool vegan. I’m just a vegetarian. That’s not so bad,” Jody said. “There’s all kinds of fake meat at the market.”

  “It would be horrible for me. I love steak, fried eggs, and oh, my gosh, fried catfish.” Mitzi led the way to the kitchen.

  “Haven’t had any of that in more than a decade,” Jody reminded them.

  “Miss it?” Paula asked.

  “Sometimes, but Lyle and I agreed to live like this, so . . .” She shrugged.

  The rest of the day went by like a snail headed for his own funeral. Jody was still in a snit because of Lyle. Paula worked on finding existing patterns that could be adapted to sew what Ellie Mae and the twins wanted. Mitzi watched the clock and could have shouted when the girls arrived fifteen minutes early.

  “Hey, we’re here!” Tabby called out.

  “In the sewing room,” Jody yelled.

  In seconds they were at the door, each of them holding up a tote bag. “Did you get flowers? Where can we work? We brought our scissors and tape and all that stuff we had for class so you don’t have to buy any of that.” Tabby bubbled with excitement.

  “The flowers are still in the van because it was raining this morning, but I didn’t realize you needed more than that, so I’m glad you brought supplies.” She wasn’t about to admit that she was so rattled after she talked to Graham that she’d filled up the cart and barely had room to fit them into the back of her van with all the other flowers.

  “We’ll bring them in,” Tabby said. “Just tell us where to put them.”

  “How about for now you work out of the kitchen? But we really should discuss what I’m going to pay you to do this,” Mitzi said.