“So I’m in for the move. It’ll save money and we’ll have more room. Jody can even have a private bedroom for when she gets a boyfriend.”
Both of Jody’s palms went up defensively. “That’s not happening. Paula, I need one of your stones to carry around in my pocket to ward off all feelings of love.”
“That would be a jasper stone. It helps control emotions. I’ll give you one before we leave for work this morning. I’ve carried a moonstone with me for weeks. It helps with pregnancy,” Paula said. “And by the way, I checked the signs last night. This week is a good time to move, but next week isn’t. It seems like an omen to me.”
“I’ve always thought your superstitions and stones were a little wonky,” Mitzi said. “But I might be willing to sleep with a love one under my pillow.”
“Under your pillow won’t work,” Paula scolded her seriously. “It’s got to be next to your skin. You need a rose quartz. Put it next to your heart.”
“If y’all are going to try this, then I’m game, too,” Mitzi said. “But it’ll have to show some power to turn me into a believer.”
“Will your jasper stone keep me from wanting to strangle Lyle?” Jody asked.
“Maybe I’d better give you a sodalite stone. It’s a little stronger than the jasper. So we’re really going to move into the shop?” Paula asked.
Jody cocked her head to one side. “I’m all for it, but what about all those stairs? You going to be able to get up and down them?”
“I’m pregnant, not crippled. Women have lived in two-story houses with babies for centuries,” Paula answered.
Mitzi shook her finger at Paula. “But you got to promise that you won’t lift anything heavy. I’ll call that moving company from—”
Paula grabbed her finger. “I will not be treated like an invalid. I’ll concede to not carrying my dresser and mattress up the steps. But I won’t be mollycoddled. Understood?”
“So we’re in agreement about the move and not babying you?” Jody asked.
“Looks like it.” Paula nodded. “But right now we’ve got to get to work. Wedding dresses don’t wait, and we’ve got to get Ellie Mae’s bodice done this week for her first fitting.”
“You’re awfully quiet, Mitzi,” Jody said. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“I’m sorry. I was thinking about whether it would be wise to get a mover to just come take care of it for us or to use your truck and make a dozen trips,” Mitzi answered.
From the slight blush on Mitzi’s face, Jody didn’t believe that was the entire truth and nothing but the truth, but she didn’t argue. “We should use my truck and save the money. No more than y’all’ve got, we can do it in probably five trips,” Jody said. “Get it all out tonight, and then put things away a little at a time.”
Mitzi nodded in agreement. “I’ll call Granny and Daddy. They both have trucks and they’ll be glad to help. Lord have mercy! Our lives have sure changed since we left work on Friday.”
“Thank God I’ve got y’all to help me through it,” Jody whispered. “It seems like Saturday was a hundred years ago.”
“Amen.” Paula laid a hand on Jody’s arm.
As Jody worked that morning, she really tried to keep her mind off the fact that the trailer where she’d lived for more than a decade was being taken to a ranch near Greenville that day. But it was impossible. One minute she tried to figure out what she could have done different—was this partly her fault for not giving him more attention, more sex, less nagging? The very next thought was that the damn stone in her bra was doing nothing to keep her from wanting to tie him to a chair and use him for target practice.
Paula nudged her ankle with a toe. “Penny for your thoughts.”
“You can have them for free,” Jody said. “This is all surreal. I gave Lyle my heart, my soul, and my life for more than fourteen years. How can he just walk away like that without even telling me to my face? And what do I do now? I feel like an empty shell. We’ve got so much on our plates right now that y’all don’t need to be taking care of me. We’re moving. You’re pregnant. The world is spinning too fast.”
Mitzi tucked a strand of red hair back into her ponytail. “Look at it like this: You’re like an empty gallon-sized pickle jar. You’re