Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,62
be down in a minute. Come on into the back, and I’ll show you what I have done so far.”
Sonia and Ricky live in the one-bedroom apartment above her mom’s store. Her parents gave it to her to live rent-free as a graduation present. Ricky moved in right before their wedding.
We walk into Kathy’s workspace in the back of the store. She has a clothing rack with an array of wool skirts in different colors and sizes. Each one has a hand-stitched poodle in the bottom-right corner.
“These are amazing!” Elle gasps. “Exactly what we wanted.”
“Which one is Doreen’s?” I ask.
Kathy thumbs through the skirts until she plucks a powder-pink skirt with a black poodle.
“She’s going to die,” I say in approval.
We have a skirt, bobby socks, and saddle shoes for Doreen, so she can change once we get her to the party and the cat is out of the bag.
“Mine?” I ask.
“Yours isn’t ready yet, Bellamy. I had to send off for the turquoise-blue material you’d requested. It should be here the first of next week, and I’ll have it done in plenty of time. Same with Sophie’s. I failed the first attempt to create a maternity poodle skirt, but I found a pattern online, so I’m giving it another shot.”
“Okay, I’ll go ahead and pay you for these completed ones and get them out of your way. I’ll pay for and pick up the rest next Friday,” Elle tells her.
“Sounds good. The skirts are twenty each. That covers all the materials and also a crinoline for each. I’m going to donate my time for Doreen’s birthday gift.”
“Oh no, we want to pay you. It’s a lot of work, and we ordered two dozen of them.”
Elle tries to convince her to charge more, but she refuses.
“Nope, I want to do them. Now, scoot,” she demands.
Sonia comes in, and we order a pizza from the Pie Junction next door.
We sit on one of the couches and eat and gab as Kathy sews away.
“I’m so happy we are getting to spend a minute together. It feels like we never get to do this anymore,” I tell them.
“Same,” Sonia agrees.
“Speaking of time together, Bells and I are taking a couple of the fellas and going for a hike on Friday. Are you and Ricky free? We’d love for you guys to join us,” Elle invites.
Sonia grimaces. “We can’t. It’s Ricky’s poker night, and we’re going to his friend Scott’s house,” she informs us.
“I thought Saturdays were poker night?” I say.
She nods. “They are.”
“So, you have to go to his friend’s house and hang out with them two nights in a row every weekend, but he can’t come to spend one afternoon with us?” I ask her to clarify.
“I know. It’s just … he gets the impression that my guy friends don’t like him, and he says he doesn’t want to spend an evening playing pretend just to make me happy.”
“Do you like all his friends?” Elle asks.
She shrugs. “They’re okay. Of course, they aren’t you guys, but I can enjoy myself with the wives while the husbands play, I guess.”
“You want to come with us? Let him go to his poker game, and you come out and then spend the night with us. We’ll have a slumber party, for old times’ sake,” Elle pushes.
“I can’t. I like taking Ricky and being able to drive him home. They get so sloshed when they play, and I stay sober because I like to sleep in my big bed, not in the tiny twin-size guest beds they have.”
“All right,” Elle huffs.
“He’s my husband,” Sonia murmurs.
Elle presses her lips together.
“I know. And we don’t want to steal you guys’ time together with his people. We just miss you. That’s all.” I pout.
“We’ll figure something out so that we can see each other more,” Sonia promises.
Elle sticks out her pinkie finger, and Sonia wraps her own around it.
“Pinkie swear. Now, you’re legally required to make it happen.”
“Now, let’s talk about Bellamy and Brandt Haralson.” Elle turns the conversation onto me.
“What do you want to know?”
“Progress report,” Elle says.
I blow out a breath. I don’t really want to discuss Brandt and me at the moment because I have no idea what to report, but the three of us tell each other everything. We have no secrets. So, I tell them all that has transpired up to this point.