AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I do.” The other woman laughed a little and rolled her eyes. “God, I remember when my Bliss was a baby. Seems like a long time ago. Too funny…Joy and Bliss. I guess we know where our heads were at.” Rachel glanced at the form again, opened her mouth to say something, but then hesitated.
Uh-oh. Madison leaned in. “Did I make a mistake on the form?”
“No. Sorry.” She laughed again, a bit self-consciously this time. “I talked myself out of asking a nosy question.”
“It’s okay.” Madison leaned in and offered a smile. “I don’t have many secrets.”
“You’re a single mom?”
“I am.”
“Me, too,” Rachel said. “Toughest job you’ll ever love. If you ever need a hand, or just want to run something past someone who’s been there, feel free to reach out.”
“Thanks.” She handed Rachel’s forms back to her. “That’s kind of you.”
“My pleasure.” The blonde tapped the edge of the stack of papers on the table to straighten them. “I’m going to turn these in to our manager. Then I need to hustle my butt over to Old Navy because they’re having a BOGO on women’s polo shirts. I like to stock up on black work shirts when the price is right. I start here on Wednesday. When’s your first day?”
“Same.” She thought about the last round of work shirts she’d bought and how tight across the chest they’d been even before she’d started nursing. Wearing them now was not going to be pretty. “Come to think of it, I could use a few new shirts.”
Rachel smiled. “Awesome. There’s an Old Navy just a couple blocks down. Want to follow me there after we’re done here?”
“Sounds good.”
She didn’t know the area especially well, so she kept Rachel’s white Festiva in view as they made their way to the store. Inside, she bought two large black polos, got two for free, plus the priceless and all-too-rare experience of shopping with a woman her own age.
While they waited in line at the register, Rachel ooh-d over a pair of shoulder-sweeping crystal earrings, and they both stroked a pair of totally impractical electric blue suede high-heeled ankle boots. She missed bonding over silly stuff like dangly earrings and cute shoes. Hanging out with friends at the dinky m
all one town over from Shallow Pond during high school seemed like an eternity ago.
On the way out of the store, she paused by a display of baby clothes and fingered the sleeve of a cute yellow sweater covered with colorful butterflies. “After I get a few paychecks in the bank, I need to come back and buy some clothes for Joy. She’s growing so fast.”
“Oh, my God, that’s adorable.” Rachel touched the sweater as well. “But, you know what? Don’t waste your money on new clothes she’s going to outgrow in a month. I have boxes of Bliss’s baby clothes stuffed in a closet at my mom’s place, not doing anyone any good. Let me go through them, and I’ll bring a couple bags to work. You can help yourself to anything you like.”
“That would be amazing. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Are you kidding? My mom will thank you,” Rachel replied, leading the way out of the store. “She’s been after me to clear that stuff out for ages. Just give me a few days to make her dreams come true.”
Madison laughed and, following instinct, gave Rachel an appreciative hug before the other woman got into her car. A few seconds and a wave later, the Festiva pulled out of the parking lot. Madison turned and…her smile froze on her face. All the excitement bubbling in her chest turned to lead and dropped into her stomach.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Cody.” He looked terrible. Same light brown hair but disheveled and overdue for a trim. The guileless green eyes had turned hard and hollow in his too-thin face. His once-charming little half smile appeared calculated.
“Wow. You had the baby. When?”
“Over a month ago. I’m late, Cody. I’ve got to go.” With that, she turned away and started toward her car.
Footsteps followed her across the pavement. “Whoa. Maddy, wait.”
Not a chance. She kept walking, digging her keys out of her purse as she went. Just as she pressed the button to unlock the doors, a hand hooked her arm.
She shook it off and spun to face her ex. “No. Cody. Whatever you want, my answer is no.” Fate, or Karma, or pure, dumb luck may have put them in the same random shopping center at the same time, but she didn’t read the unhappy coincidence as a sign some higher power wanted her to listen to anything he had to say.
“What do you mean, ‘no’?” He hit her with the wounded, puppy dog eyes she’d once found so irresistible. “Honey, I haven’t even asked you for anything.”
“Well, don’t bother, because you’ve already heard my answer.” She opened her car door and threw her shopping bag into the passenger seat.
“Look, Maddy.” He lowered his head and ran a hand through his hair then glanced up and gave her the eyes again. “I messed up. I got freaked out and I left you to deal with a pregnancy all by yourself. I’m sorry.”
