His eyes went all soft and dreamy when he looked at Mitzi. Her cheeks probably looked like she had too much blush. Could it be possible that there really was chemistry on both sides? Had this gone beyond a one-sided crush?

“Not a thing,” Jody answered for Mitzi. “We’ve got it all covered.”

“Well, then, let’s go home, ladies. You can tell me all about your day while we have supper,” Graham said. “Thanks for the invitation and we’ll look forward to being here.”

They’d barely made it out the door when Jody elbowed Mitzi. “You still like him, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do, but a lot of good it’ll do me. If he ever does get into a relationship, it’ll be with a cute little thing like Rita,” Mitzi said.

“Never say never,” Jody warned. “Let’s lock up and go over to Gladys’s house. It might be the last time we ever see it standing, because after today, it might explode into flames.”

“You got that right.” Mitzi nodded.

When Paula turned the corner, Mitzi’s van was already parked next to the curb, and there was Selena’s little VW bug right behind it. Paula pulled in, ate a couple of antacids to calm her nervous stomach, and got out of the car. Maybe she should put this off until tomorrow or the next day, or after she’d had the baby.

Mitzi and Jody met her at the sidewalk leading up to the small-frame house with red roses climbing up the porch posts. Paula usually loved the sweet scent of the flowers, but on this day they almost gagged her.

Jody looped her arm in Paula’s. “I’m not pregnant. I took a test today and it’s negative.”

“I almost stopped and bought a test for you. Glad I didn’t.” Paula dreaded going into the house. The outside always looked like something out of a gardening magazine, and there wouldn’t be a spot of dust on the inside. But if it was true that the heart of a home was the mother, then the core of that place was rotten.

“You okay?” Mitzi asked.

“No, but I will be in a little while.” Paula sat down on the porch swing. “I need just a minute. I used to sit here for five minutes when I came home from school to get settled before I went in the house, and I still do every time I come over here. That’s Selena’s new car out there. Y’all know that she’s always driven a small car, liked tiny jewelry rather than the big clunky stuff like I wear, and now she’s all taken up with little dogs. She has a Chihuahua that she carries in her purse, so get ready for it.”

“Maybe it makes her feel smaller than she is,” Mitzi said.

“Probably,” Paula agreed.