The girls had a notebook and a tape measure out when Jody and Paula passed through the foyer. They were deep in conversation about how to arrange things so folks could get around the furniture to go to the fitting room and the kitchen, and yet to show off the mannequin at the same time.

“Guess I misjudged them,” Jody admitted when Mitzi handed her a can of root beer in the kitchen. “I swear they could be your kids.”

“No, mine would never be that beautiful,” Mitzi said.

“So how’re you feelin’ about Graham coming to help move?” Paula swallowed two aspirin and opened the drawer where they kept the candy bars.

“It was just a high school crush,” Mitzi answered. “With all this help, we should be out of there before dark.”

Paula ripped the paper from the candy bar and took a bite. “I’ve been craving chocolate like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I never met Clinton. What does he look like? Are you hoping the baby doesn’t look like him?” Jody grabbed a candy bar and told the niggling voice in her head to shut up.

“He’s about six feet tall, blond hair, blue eyes, and just slightly overweight,” Paula answered. “If the baby has blue eyes, I’m going to say that they were inherited from Aunt Mitzi. If the baby has blonde hair, we’ll declare that it came from Aunt Jody.”

“And if it turns out to be a big person, it’s from all of us,” Mitzi told them.

Jody bit off a chunk of candy bar and chewed slowly. If by some crazy reason she was pregnant, then what would her baby look like? She was blonde and had brown eyes. Lyle had brown hair and green eyes. Would it be a girl or a boy? Suddenly, having a baby didn’t scare her like it used to do. If Paula could do this alone, then so could she.

Mitzi was busy tidying up her work space at five o’clock when Dixie and Tabby bounced into the sewing room, both smiling as if they’d just won the lottery.

“Come and see what we’ve done. If you don’t like it, then we’ll change it but . . .” Tabby paused.

“But we just know you are going to love it. The bouquet in the mannequin’s hand matches the sofas, and we did a pretty floral arrangement in shades of pink for the coffee table, and we had so much fun.” Dixie finally stopped for a breath.

Mitzi pushed the material back and stood to her feet. “Okay, ladies, it’s quittin’ time. Let’s go see what these interior decorators have done.”