The Shop on Blossom Street Page 0,71

was.

"Hi," Alix said, sauntering up to the table. Her manner seemed self-conscious, and she glared at Lydia and Carol as if defying them to comment on her changed appearance. Then she sat down in one of the chairs and took her knitting out of the plastic video-store bag.

"Hi," they both responded.

"How's the pregnancy going?" Alix's voice was matter-of-fact; she seemed to consider this a perfectly normal question.

Carol saw that Lydia looked over at them warily. No one else had dared ask Carol about her condition. "So far, so good," she said. "I'm still peeing blue."

"What?" Alix raised her head.

"The test that tells me I'm registering as positive for a pregnancy," Carol explained. With the fertilized embryo implanted in her womb, it wasn't getting pregnant that was difficult, it was staying pregnant. Twice now she'd lost the baby before the third week. Holding on to the pregnancy this long meant there was hope, but no part of the process was certain. The first three months were the riskiest in any pregnancy. In her online support group, Carol had recently heard from one friend who'd been pregnant for two and a half months only to miscarry. It had been heartbreaking, and every member had felt Susan's loss deeply.

The door opened again and Jacqueline came into the shop, bracelets jangling. She wore a tailored pantsuit Carol considered far too formal for the occasion and carried not only her Gucci purse but a leather tote in which she kept her knitting. The woman did like to make an entrance. It was as if she expected everyone to notice she'd arrived and react accordingly. Actually Carol didn't mind. She'd grown to like all the women in her knitting group.

She and Jacqueline were onto new projects now. The only one who hadn't finished the baby blanket was Alix, and Carol suspected it was because she couldn't afford to buy more yarn.

"I'm starting a new sweater," Carol said, still leafing through patterns.

"What about the other one?" She knew Alix had especially liked the gray cashmere.

"I'm tired of it." She glanced at Lydia and shared a conspiratorial smile with her. "Do you want the yarn?"

Alix's eyes lit up. "You don't want it?"

"Not really."

"What about the pattern? Do you need that?"

"Not particularly."

"Great!" Alix shoved her knitting into the plastic bag and nearly rubbed her hands in glee. "I'm almost done with the blanket, and I'd like to knit that sweater for a...friend."

"Who?" Leave it to Jacqueline to ask.

"A friend, like I said," Alix muttered defiantly.

"Don't get high and mighty with me," Jacqueline snapped. "I was just interested, that's all."

Jacqueline expressing interest in Alix? A few weeks ago that would've been unimaginable. The change in attitude between them was dramatic and had begun with the near-mugging in the alley. They still sniped at each other but that seemed more out of habit than conviction.

"I didn't know you had a male friend," Lydia said, smiling at Alix.

"I don't," Alix said quickly, too quickly to be convincing.

"Then who's the sweater for?"

"Like I said, a friend."

"Sure," Jacqueline murmured, grinning. She winked at Alix, whose cheeks immediately blossomed a fetching shade of pink.

"If you must know, it's a guy I met at the video store," Alix said irritably. Still, Carol had the feeling that Alix wanted to tell them....

"Does he like you?" Jacqueline asked.

Alix shrugged. "He did when we were in sixth grade - but, well, he's a preacher and I don't exactly see the two of us sailing off into the sunset, if you catch my drift."

"Why not?" Lydia asked. "Preachers have lives, too, you know."

Alix lowered her head and concentrated on her knitting. "He's a good kisser," she said in a soft voice.

Predictably, that piqued the group's interest, and a lively discussion broke out.

"Reese was quite a kisser in his day," Jacqueline volunteered. "I remember the first time he kissed me. Every cell in my body sprang to life."

Carol smiled at the dreamy look on Jacqueline's face. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven the first time Doug kissed me," she recalled. She noticed that Lydia was doing busy work around the shop, straightening patterns that were already straight. "What about you, Lydia?" Carol asked.

Lydia jerked around, almost as if she resented being included in the conversation. Then she sighed. "I don't think I've ever felt anything more than a...kiss. It was always pleasant, but nothing earth-shattering happened afterward."

"It will one day," Jacqueline assured her.

"Don't you think you're placing a lot of importance on a simple kiss?" Lydia asked. "Good grief,