At the mention of that name from the past, work jolted to a halt.

“Yoo-hoo!” Fanny Lou yelled from the kitchen into the sudden silence. “Y’all in the sewing room?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mitzi leaned out the door and hollered.

“I’ve got homemade cookies. Y’all already had dinner?”

Jody stopped her machine and headed toward the kitchen with Mitzi and Paula right behind her. “Where did the morning go? I’m starving.”

“No wonder,” Paula said. “All you ever eat is salad and vegetables.”

“And you’d be healthier if you did the same,” Jody told her.

“But we all eat cookies, so that unites us, right?” Mitzi said.

“I bought ’em at the church bake sale, but Edna Green made them, and she makes the best in town.” Fanny Lou removed plastic wrap from a paper plate of peanut butter cookies. “Guess what I heard today. Graham Harrison moved down the street from y’all.”

The phone rang and Mitzi picked it up, grateful to have a moment to collect her thoughts about Graham living so close. “The Perfect Dress. How can I help you?”

“This is Rayford Thompson from the Dallas Bridal Fair. We’d like to notify you that you’ve moved up on the alternative list. So if someone drops out, you will be contacted to fill that place. We like to keep our top two applicants informed in case travel is an issue.”

“Thank you so much.” Mitzi felt like her feet came a foot off the floor as she hung up and spun around. “We’ve got a shot at the bridal fair this year. Only one person has to drop out for us to get to go.”

“That’s fantastic.” Fanny Lou stuck her hand in the air for a high five. “You should take Selena’s dress and the mannequin and maybe even one of the pink sofas for the display. Of course, you’ll need an archway that you can decorate with flowers to stand her under, and you should rent either some big ferns to go on each side or maybe a couple of those tall candleholders. You should be thinking about putting a bouquet in the mannequin’s hands, and oh—you definitely have to have some kind of little treats. I’ve got a tiered crystal stand for those. People will stick around your area longer if you have food.”

Mitzi threw an arm around her grandmother as Fanny Lou rambled on. “Someone has to drop out before we get to go and it might not happen.”

“You should be ready anyway. I’ll talk to the ladies at the doughnut shop and see if they’ll do a special order of tiny cakes or maybe even little bitty bite-sized doughnuts.” Fanny Lou picked up a cookie and took a bite. “Now, about Graham Harrison.”