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The shopping spree had even lifted Jolie’s spirits a little. For the duration of the trip, she’d managed to forget about Matt and what he’d said. Painful words, even more painful truths.
But what had she expected? She should have known better than to hope for something more than friendship, because she’d been down that road so many times before.
She made herself smile. “Once the baby comes, we’ll arrange a baby shower for you. People will know what color to buy then.”
Mandy laughed. “But you already know. You could tell everyone but me!”
“Like that would stay a secret inthistown.”
“But the ultrasound report told you, right?”
Mandy had been wavering for weeks, first wanting to know, then deciding she wanted it to be a surprise. “As I told you thelastsix times, the tech said she couldn’t be absolutely sure.” Jolie grinned. “But if you want me to guess...”
“No! Yes—” Mandy threw her hands in the air. “I just don’t think the day is ever going to come!”
“It will, believe me.” Jolie pulled to a stop at the four-way stop sign by the courthouse. “And then you might think this part was easier—before the night feedings and diapers.”
“Hey,” Mandy cried. “There’s Annie with that Heath boy. Isn’t he the one who got caught shoplifting? If her dad could see her now!”
Jolie eased forward into the intersection, then had to put on the brakes when someone ahead stopped to pull into a parking space. “What’s wrong?”
“I found out that she’s diabetic when I stayed with them for a while. I’ll bet she isn’t supposed to be eating that!”
“Most foods can be part of a diabetic diet, if calculated into the food plan.”
Jolie glanced over, and then did a double take.
Sitting on a bench with Clint Heath, Annie was giggling and looking up at him with sheer adoration. They were both dipping spoons into what looked like giant chocolate malts.
“Nowthatwould be a bit hard to fit into a diet,” Jolie said dryly. “I can’t begin to guess at the grams of carbohydrate in something that big. She should know better.”
The car ahead moved on, and Jolie stepped on the accelerator, lost in thought.
She hadn’t seen or talked to Matt since Thursday.
Given the abrupt end of their relationship, he might decide to take Annie to a different doctor.
But at this point, Annie was still under her care, and the child was placing herself at serious risk.
Jolie debated, then decided to text him. Calling would mean talking to him. And if Jolie left a message on his landline, Annie might intercept it.
When Jolie pulled up to the clinic, Mandy turned to her once again. “Remember when someone broke the window here? There was something on the floor, and not knowing what it was has been bothering me.” She shuddered. “I keep imagining all sorts ofreallygross things.”
Jolie had started to open her door, but stopped. “No one was ever told, honey. Rafe figured it might help if that wasn’t common knowledge. It wasn’t so awful, Mandy. Really.”
“Please? I promise I won’t ever tell. “ Mandy shuddered. “It looked like somethingdead.Was it?”
Jolie hesitated, then chose her words carefully to avoid revealing too much. “Don’t share this. But it was an old doll, one with a china head and bright red hair. Maybe because a lot of the Maxwells have red hair? The perpetrator added slashes of red paint on the body, to make it look scary, I guess.”
Mandy was silent for a long time. “W-why would anyone do that?”
“There are plenty of people around here who weren’t happy when I came to town. Some peopledeeplyresent my family. But why anyone would try to scare me is beyond comprehension. I haven’t hurt anyone here. Ever.”
“You’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me,” Mandy said slowly. “Helping me with the baby...giving me a place to stay, and a job. I can’t ever repay you for all you’ve done.”
Jolie reached over to give Mandy’s hand a quick squeeze. “Helping you has been a great joy.”
“The deputy doesn’t have any clues at all?”
