“That’s Darrin’s ringtone,” Ellie Mae whispered. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Then turn off your phone,” Jody suggested.

“No, I might change my mind. I want to think about it.” Ellie Mae blew her nose on another fistful of tissues and tossed them into the trash can. “We were in bed. He said he was glad that he was my first, because that was important to a man.”

Mitzi shut her eyes to keep from rolling them toward the ceiling. “And?”

“We’re getting married so I thought it was best that I was honest. So I told him that he wasn’t the first, but he’d be the last.” Her chin quivered and the sniffles started again.

“How about you? Had he had other women before you?” Jody asked.

“Of course. He had the whole college experience. Frat parties. Women whose names he didn’t even know, all that kind of thing,” Ellie Mae answered.

“And he wanted a virgin? That’s not fair,” Paula said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

“How did he not know that you’ve been in other relationships? Celeste is a small town,” Mitzi said.

“He’s from up in Oklahoma. He moved to Greenville last fall. I met him at a church social down there, and we hit it off from the first day.” Her face turned crimson. “I kind of knew he was the one, so I played hard to get. We didn’t have sex until Thanksgiving.”

Ellie Mae jumped like she’d been shot when another hard knock turned everyone’s attention toward the door again. “I don’t want to see him, not yet. Tell him to go away.”

Mitzi cracked the door to find a tall, muscular guy on the other side holding his hat in one hand and a lawn chair in the other. The hat looked new. The lawn chair’s webbing was frayed and sagging.

“I’m Quincy Roberts. Is Jody Andrews here? She said she worked at a wedding dress shop, and I believe this is the only one in town,” he said.

Mitzi stuck her head back inside and said, “Jody, there’s someone here to see you.”

“If it’s Lyle, tell him to go to hell,” Jody said.

Mitzi raised both eyebrows. “It’s not Lyle.”

With a puzzled expression, Jody left Ellie Mae’s side, but when she saw who was at the door, she grabbed Mitzi by the arm and said, “Don’t you dare leave me alone.”

“Hello again, Jody. You forgot your chairs when you left. I’m returning them.” When Quincy smiled, his blue eyes twinkled.

“Throw them in the trash. I don’t want ’em,” she said.

“They’re still pretty good chairs, and could be rewebbed. How ’bout I just set them here on the porch? Would you be free to go for a cup of coffee with me?” Quincy asked her.