Walking down the street from his house to hers, he laid it all out like a credit report. On this side were the deficits; on the other were the assets. The asset side was winning when he rang the doorbell.

Tabby’s eyes glittered when she answered the door. “Guess what, Daddy? Harry brought homemade banana-nut ice cream. Remember when Grandpa used to make that for us on our birthdays?”

“I sure do, and it’s been a long time since we had it.” Graham looked over the top of his daughter’s head to catch a glimpse of Mitzi, but she wasn’t there.

“And guess what else,” Harry said before he could answer. “I’ve got two sewing machines out in my truck that we can bring in later.”

“That’s all pretty great news,” Graham said. “Y’all lead the way.”

“Y’all come on in and we’ll get into this ice cream and cake.” Jody motioned from the fitting room doorway.

“I might embarrass you girls tonight. I haven’t had supper, and y’all know how much I like homemade ice cream,” Graham said.

Mitzi came out of the kitchen with a stack of napkins in her hands. “My dad is here and he’ll give you a run for your money when it comes to cake and ice cream. He’s got a sweet tooth.”

“Oh, honey, I can lay claim to the sweet tooth title of the whole county.” Graham winked at her.

Mitzi’s face was slightly flushed from getting the tables set up, and her hair had been piled up on top of her head. She wore a pair of flowing yellow pants and a multicolored shirt, but what appealed to him most was that she wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Who goes first?” Dixie asked.

“The one who asks that question,” Mitzi said.

“Yay!” Dixie pumped her fist in the air and picked up a plate. “I can’t wait to taste it.”

“I’ll do the dippin’ if we can get Paula to cut the cake,” Harry announced.

“As you can see,” Graham whispered in Mitzi’s ear, “none of us is bashful when it comes to food.”

“Neither are we,” Mitzi said.

Paula brought in a pitcher of sweet tea, and Jody carried in one of lemonade. They were discussing last-minute details of the bridal fair.

“We really need an arch. Just standing the mannequin up there without a backdrop seems kind of tacky,” Jody said.

“Those things are expensive. We’ll only use it once or twice a year, and that’s assuming that we get invited to do more shows,” Paula said.