“Well, y’all have been a godsend to my girls. I’ve never seen them this happy,” Graham said.

“Daddy!” Dixie’s voice blasted through the walls.

“In the kitchen,” he called out.

“I should be going,” Mitzi said.

“No need to rush off because the girls are home. They’ll be excited to see you.” Graham laid a hand on her arm.

“Hey, Daddy, guess what!” Dixie stopped in her tracks as she burst out onto the porch with Tabby and Alice right behind her. “Hi, Mitzi!”

Tabby pushed around Dixie and gave Mitzi a hug. “We didn’t go to the movies. We went to the fabric store instead and got stuff to make us some shirts. We bought two patterns, and we want you to tell us which one is easiest.”

“Can you come inside and look at the stuff right now?” Dixie asked. “You’ll be the first one other than Aunt Alice to get the tour of the house, too.”

“I’d love to see what you’ve bought.” Mitzi set her empty can on the table and stood up.

Graham was a little jealous of his own daughters for being able to steal Mitzi from him right when they were getting into a more comfortable place with each other.

Alice reached out and grabbed Mitzi’s wrist. “Next time you take them to the fabric store. I was bored to death.”

“Be glad to,” Mitzi agreed without hesitation. “It’s like taking a trip to heaven for me.”

“Baseball, basketball, or even football is my piece of heaven. Give me anything that bounces or can be thrown, and I’m good. Plaids, florals, patterns, and all that kind of thing—not so much,” Alice said. “I can only stay a little while. There’s a game on television I want to see.”

Dixie grabbed Mitzi’s hand and pulled her into the house, leaving Alice and Graham still on the porch with the rest of the cookies between them.

“So what’s this all about?” Alice asked as soon as they were alone.

One of Graham’s wide shoulders popped up in a shrug. “I’m not sure. Maybe friendship that could work into something more later. Right now, it’s a nice pleasant afternoon with a beautiful woman.”

“Well, good for you. It’s about damn time you moved on with your life,” Alice told him. “And I like Mitzi. She fits in with the family and she loves the girls. I’ve got to get home or I’ll miss all the pregame stuff.”

“When are you going to move on and settle down?” Graham asked. “You’ve still got time to have a couple of kids of your own.”

“Probably never.” She picked up his beer and downed what was left. “I heard Rita came to see you at the shop yesterday. Please tell me . . .” She looked genuinely worried.

He stood up and draped an arm around her shoulders. “You have nothing to worry about, sis. That ship sailed and probably sank in the middle of the ocean a long time ago.”

“The girls told me you said that, but I had to hear it from you. See you later.” She hugged him and left by way of the back door.

Graham followed the buzz of the conversation upstairs. He leaned on the doorjamb to Dixie’s room for several minutes before anyone noticed him.

Mitzi was talking about patterns and what would be the easiest one for them to start with. She even gave them some advice on how important ironing was when they were sewing. Four pieces of fabric were stretched out on the bed along with a couple of packages that must be patterns. Mitzi picked up one long piece and gathered it in her hands, then held it up to Tabby’s face.

“Beautiful color for you. Brings out the color in your eyes and the floral pattern is small, so it won’t overpower you,” she said.

Tabby took the fabric from Mitzi and draped it around her neck like a scarf. She crossed the room to look at herself in the mirror. “It does bring out my eyes. I love big flowers, but I feel like I’m a whole botanical garden when I try on a shirt with them. Why do companies make big girls things in horizontal stripes and huge roses, anyway?”

“I know, darlin’.” Mitzi patted her on the shoulder. “And heaven forbid, buying a bathing suit. The designers think if we wear anything bigger than a size ten, it should have flowers the size of dinner plates on it.”

“Or like you say, stripes that go around our bodies,” Dixie said. “That’s why we want to design and make our own things.” She turned and flashed a bright smile at her father. “Oh, hi, Daddy. We didn’t hear you coming up the stairs.”

“I avoided that squeaky step,” he said.

“Tabby and I’ll have to remember that when we’re old enough to date next year and break curfew,” she teased.

“I don’t intend to be late.” Tabby elbowed her sister.

“And I’ll be waiting in the living room with the lights on until you get home, so you don’t need to worry about that step.” Graham shifted his eyes over to Mitzi. “Did you get the house tour or were they so excited about all this that you came right up here?”

“I got the tour,” she answered. “You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you,” he said. “We would have liked one more bathroom, but the girls are learning the art of sharing.”

“Not gracefully.” Tabby shot a look toward Dixie. “She takes like for . . . ever to do her hair. Even to come to work at the shop, it takes her hours to put it up in a ponytail. Every hair has to be just right.”