Page 56 of Derecho

“Oh my God! Do you think⁠—”

“Why else would a stranger be taking a picture of you?” she asked.

Her question made my stomach ache. Clearly a theme for today as I huffed my way inside the shop, my belly feeling tighter than it ever had before.

“Hi! Welcome in, guys! I’m Hadley. Is there anything I can help you find?”

Violet greeted her with a big smile. “Hi Hadley, I’m Callie Ford. Maggie placed a wholesale order from me for my latest release, and I finally got the books in. My brother-in-law is grabbing them from the back of the car to bring inside now.”

“Oh, wonderful! It’s just me here today, and I’m sorry I’m still learning the ropes, but I’m more than happy to slip them in the back room until Maggie is back tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Is it okay if we look around a bit, too?”

“Of course!”

I’d wandered away from the girls, finding the small section of pregnancy, birth, and parenting books just a few steps away from the register. The bell over the door chimed, and I watched Hayes stroll in with two large boxes stacked one on top of the other, his eyes going wide when he looked at the woman behind the desk.

“You’re not Maggie.”

She smiled. “Hi, uh no. I’m not. I’m Hadley. I just started here. But I’m guessing those are Callie Ford books in those boxes?”

“Yep. Where do you want them?”

“Oh, right here is fine. I’ll bring them to the back in a bit.”

“I can carry them back there.”

Smooth, Hayes.

“Uh, yeah. Okay, sure. Let me show you where to set them.”

Hayes followed behind Hadley, his eyes wide and his face slightly more red than I’d ever seen it before. Hm. That was interesting.

My eyes wandered back to the shelf in front of me. Was there any sense in looking at these? I’d already practically made it to the finish line of my pregnancy in a totally oblivious state. I hadn’t even downloaded one of those tracking apps that tells you the size of your baby in fruit, or weird shaped things from the 90s.

“I liked that book during my pregnancy, but this one…” Jess’s voice startled me as she reached past me to grab a book near my shoulder. “Yep, this one was great for when Beckett was a newborn and we were surviving those first few crazy months. It talks about all the milestones their brains are going through and how to best support them through it.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Her hand released the book as I took it, but she stayed in place, like she had something she needed to say to me. Probably another warning to leave her brother. I squared my shoulders, ready to listen to what she had to say.

“Lainey, I’m sorry about the other day at the spring. I should have thought of a nicer way to voice my concerns.”

“You were right to say what you did.”

“Well…” Jessie smiled, her eyes going back to the bookshelf. “I’d like to work on becoming friends again, if that is something you’d be interested in.”

Holy shit! “I’d really like that, too. Thank you for giving me a second chance.”

“It’s not just for you.”

I understood, she was trying to be peaceful for her brother. But I would take the kind gesture.

“I get it. And I appreciate it.”

She nodded. “I know you still have some time to get things for the baby, but Beckett’s newborn outfits and some of his toys are just sitting packed away. I’d be happy to pull things out and drop them off at Lach’s.”

Relief washed over me. I really didn’t want to shop, and Birdie kept reminding me of all the things I still needed to get. To not have to ask for handouts, but to be offered hand-me-downs…it was such a generous offer.