The Christmas Clock and A Song For My Mother - Kat Martin Page 0,69
would be good for you to get out and about again.”
“You've never had kids, Mrs. Culver. You don't realize how time consuming they can be.”
“I guess that's true.” Mrs. Culver went to work wiping off the counter and Emily led Timmy over to one of the wrought-iron tables. She lifted the little boy into one of the chairs and sat down across from him.
Mrs. Culver didn't say any more but as Emily ate the muffin, she couldn't get the notion of returning to Suzy's out of her head. First Patrick Murphy. Now Doris Culver.
What if they were right? What if she could be a mother and still have a job? Randy didn't believe it. He had wanted her home every day. But when she was young, she had dreamed of being a fashion designer and working in the boutique was in some small way a fulfillment of that dream.
Emily sighed. As soon as they finished eating, she wiped Timmy's hands and face with a napkin, tossed it into the trash can, and left the bakery. She was still not ready to face the empty house. Instead of going home, she drove to the mall just outside the city limits.
The parking lot was always busy on Saturdays but she finally found a spot. Taking Timmy's hand, she led him through the automatic doors into the interior. She passed the Payless shoe store and Harvey's Sports. There were three ladies' dress shops, two on one side and one on the other, and she wandered in that direction.
Sarah's Trunk came first. It felt good to stroll among the dresses and scarves and ladies' handbags. The smell of leather mixed with the fragrance of perfume and the fresh scent of the starch in the garments. Pausing for a moment at the jewelry counter, she studied a rack that held earrings and necklaces in the new spring colors.
Yellow and pink were big this year, she saw, wishing she had a few new things in her closet. But all she really needed were a couple of spring scarves and a few new pieces of jewelry to update her wardrobe, and maybe a big summer purse.
She was looking at an oversize canvas bag in a bright shade of yellow, examining the zipper and the handy interior pockets that would be perfect for her lipstick and car keys, when the salesclerk walked up to the counter.
“May I help you?” She was twenty-two or -three, far younger than Emily's thirty-three years, tall and slender, with very short red hair and big hoop earrings, a look that was trendy and a nice change from the conservative styles most people wore in rural towns like Dreyerville.
“For the moment, I'm just looking,” Emily said. Holding on to Timmy's hand, she tugged him over to a rack of dresses marked down 50 percent. One was a smart little paisley print that stood out among mostly heavier clothes left over from winter. Emily lifted it off the rack and held the hanger up in front of her, turned to survey herself in the mirror.
The sound of a woman's heels clicking on the floor drew her attention.
“Oh, what a darling little boy.”
Emily looked up to see a woman in her early fifties, well dressed in a simple blue gabardine pantsuit, attractive except for a faint scar that ran across her forehead near her hairline and trailed down to her temple. She smiled at Emily, then returned her attention to the child.
“Hi, sweetie, what’s your name?''
“His name is Timmy,” Emily said when her son just stared silently up at the older woman with his big brown eyes.
The woman knelt down to the little boy's height. “Hello, Timmy. My name is Anna.”
Timmy turned away, clung to Emily's leg. “He's a little shy sometimes.”
Anna rose. “I'm Anna McAllister.”
“I'm Emily Carter. It's nice to meet you, Anna.”
Anna studied the dress Emily had forgotten she still held in her hand.
“That's a really nice dress.”
“It's half price.”
“Well, you've found a real bargain there. Why don't you try it on?”
She wanted to. She hadn't had anything new since Randy died and she had quit her job at Suzy's. She didn't really have a place to wear it but she loved clothes and at 50 percent off, the dress really was a bargain.
“I think I will.” She tugged on Timmy’s hand, trying to urge him toward the row of dressing rooms against the wall, but he was fascinated by the bright-colored jewelry on the counter and refused to budge.