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Doesn’t that sound familiar?I keep my mouth shut instead of blurting.
“By getting married, you’d already left him, Holly. Jake wanted the last word,” Sloan rebuts.
“Sometimes it’s not what people say but how they say it… Jake ditched me on the dance floor at Cary’s and my wedding reception and I was sort of dumbfounded. I felt like he…” Holly inspects her shoes, her tooth poised to puncture her lower lip. “Like he loved me. I mean, Jake said he loved me, but I thought he meant as a friend. Not the way he loves you, Paisley.” Holly is still speaking about Jake like he is not the monster who abandoned me.
The calculating, vengeful ice god that I know he is.
“Jake doesn’t love me,” I tell them. Jake says things he doesn’t mean all the time. He uses phrases that can be left up to interpretation. “And you yourself said that if Jake loves something, then the big jerk’s not going to set it free.”
“Don’t pretty it up on our account, Paisley. Jake’s an asshole.” Kimber winks.
“He issuchan asshole.” I agree, offering the abbreviated version of Jake admitting he smashed the boutique’s window. I keep Jake running out on me as PG as possible. No matter how many times I recount it, I have a hunch I won’t get over feeling like Jake’s callousness stripped me bare. I’m not ready to be that vulnerable with anyone after giving my heart to someone who didn’t care for it.
Sloan’s jaw drops. “Good lord, could he have blown a sensitive situation any worse?” She wraps her hand around my wrist. “It may not help you feel better, but all the guys have had their moments. We’re sorry we didn’t come by sooner. We wish you would have felt like you could come to us.”
“It’s okay,” I reply with watery eyes.
Since Jake abandoned me, it feels like I’m walking on broken glass. I hadn’t wanted them to blame me for the breakup. So I pulled away from the mill girls because I didn’t want to be the one to suffer when they moved on.
Doesn’t that sound familiar?My subconscious echoes its earlier words.
Until recently, it was a negative pattern I’ve repeated my entire life. Believing that since I was going to die anyway meant people wouldn’t want my friendship made it easier to keep acquaintances rather than friends. Getting to know Greer changed that. And now that I have one close friend, I’d like more. But putting yourself out there, exposing your weaknesses, is scary. When I hadn’t received any sincere messages from these three women within days of Jake ditching me, I took their silence as them retracting the unconditional support they’d shown in the ladies’ room at Royce’s.
As Holly hugs me again, she peers into the box that I set on the counter. It’s filled with plush chenille giraffes in a creamy yellow.
“These are adorable.” She clutches one to her chest. “And so soft!”
“One is for Greer. I’m planning her baby shower and have been collecting some of the cute finds to do an extra display in the boutique for new moms or anyone who needs that kind of gift. The hardest part is holding onto everything so that she doesn’t see what I’ve gotten for the baby. I want to put it all out beforehand. I was thinking if I added a few items she has been experimenting with, like belly butter that—” I prattle, excited. This is my most recent pet project, taking over the time I used to spend with my jackass boyfriend.
“Greer has belly butter? And can I have one of these?” Holly lifts the tag. She frowns, finding no price on it yet. “How much? I have to bring this home to show Cary.”
Kimber spins the jewelry rack, stopping it to inspect a mother’s necklace. Like it always does, my eyes catch on the arrow of the anklet that I tore off.
“Holly, is there a little something you want to let us in on?” Kimber wiggles the necklace card.
“Yes, there is.” She twists her hips and throws an arm over my shoulder. “I’d like to tell you about this amazing boutique downtown that has the sweetest gifts that you’ll go gaga over when you are ready to buy for my baby.”
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“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. The clients Walsh puts on the books have to come first.” There’s no need for Trig to be contrite standing in the front entryway.
He sold his security company to a big corporation. With it comes upheaval during the transition. I’m thankful he could make it. Kimber volunteered his services after I grumbled in a text about my attempts to figure out how to install a doorbell camera. They haven’t been as successful as the venture into stocking various pink, blue, and gender-neutral plush toys and some cute booties.
Emboldened by the mill girls’ encouragement, that afternoon I set out the giraffes along with Greer’s belly butter on consignment and a basket of quippy mom-centric necklaces and bracelets. My customers flocked to the new display. I’ve already ordered new items to replenish what I’ve sold, including the giraffe I’d kept aside for Greer when a newly minted grandmother saw it hidden behind the counter.
Who knew that so many babies were born at this time of year? After months of stagnant sales, in all honesty, I appreciate how much everyone is loving it. At least once a day, a customer asks if I’m going to add a clothing line, which makes me wish there was a downtown Brighton storefront where I could send the extra business to. Like I told my mother, I like other people’s children a heck of a lot more than the idea of having a baby of my own.
As exciting as things have been at the shop, I’m glad to be home. Today is my scheduled day off. As luck would have it, Trig had a late afternoon opening. He should finish assisting me with my technophobe issues by the time I have to leave for yoga with Greer. Though I’m fearful of what the camera will catch, I can’t come home—or stumble over what’s been on the doorstep in the mornings—any longer.
“It’s no big deal,” I tell Trig. “I appreciate your coming at all. It’s not like this camera is complicated… for anyone but me.” I point to the Walsh Home Security logo on his shirt. “Those new polos are spiffy.”
Kimber’s husband winks conspiratorially. “I’m drumming up business. But I also like going home and not getting bogged down thinking about anything that’s not important.”
Trig’s devotion to Kimber and their kids is super sweet.
