“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.