“Great. I’m going to run up and see what they’ve got done.” Mitzi was halfway up the stairs when she met Graham coming down. Two big people passing in a narrow space left no room to do it without touching. She could almost count his thick eyelashes through the lenses of his glasses that had slid down slightly on his nose. His hand grazed her bare arm as he reached to push them up. Her shiver had nothing to do with the cool air flowing from the air conditioner vent right above her.
“I understand we’re all going to the café for supper?”
He was close enough that his breath reached to that soft spot on her neck, creating even more moisture on her palms. She caught a reflection of herself in his glasses and bit back a gasp. She’d sweated off every drop of makeup. Stray red hair had escaped her ponytail. Good Lord! Had her deodorant failed her, too?
She forced a smile. “My treat for all the help.”
“You might regret that. We’re not a bit bashful when it comes to food.” He grinned.
“Neither are any of us. We’ll just hope that the café doesn’t run out,” she teased.
He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you again for taking my girls under your wing. I’ve never seen them this happy.”
“Thank you for letting them take me under their wing,” she said. “They’re proving to be great help, but I wish you’d let me pay them.”
“Let’s keep it simple. You teach them to sew, and they can do whatever you need done to help out around here.” He moved his hand and headed on down the stairs.
She didn’t touch the warm spot on her shoulder, but she sure wanted to. She took the rest of the stairs two at a time and peeked into each room. Dressers and chests of drawers were in place, and beds were put together and ready for making up. Even the spare mattress was on the sofa in the living room.
Paula came into the room behind her and said, “Never would have guessed that only yesterday we got this idea. Wish that wedding dresses went together so fast. And”—she wiped a tear away—“I’m getting excited about the baby now. This was the right decision. I can’t wait for us to start decorating the nursery.”
“Me, either, but I’ve got a confession—I’m jealous,” Mitzi said.
“Well, I got to admit that your dad would be a helluva lot better with you being a single mother than my mama is going to be. I might be shunned like Jody has been all these years,” Paula said.
“It’s really not so bad when you consider the alternative of having to put up with her.” Jody joined them. “The café will have our table ready when we get there.”
Mitzi draped an arm around Paula’s shoulders. “Jody is right. Just think of all the extra little things like changing light bulbs and watering plants that you’ve been doing for Gladys. She’s going to miss that, but it’ll give you more time and less stress.”
Jody nodded and headed back down the stairs. “Amen to all that, but I call first dibs on getting to rock the baby to sleep. Have you thought of names?”
“No, but we can do that later.” Paula lowered her voice. “Has the rose quartz worked any magic for you, Mitzi?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Mitzi laid a hand on her chest.
“Don’t give up. Sometimes it takes a while,” Paula said. “Right now, we need to pay our helpers by buying them supper.” Paula turned around and started down the stairs with Mitzi right behind her. “I go for another ultrasound on Thursday. If the baby is cooperative, we could have a gender-reveal party on Friday night. And I know what you’re thinkin’ without even looking at you. I’ll tell my mother right after my visit for the ultrasound, when I know whether the baby is a girl or boy. I’ve put it off long enough.”
“Want me to go with you when you do?” Mitzi felt both sorry and happy for Paula: sorry that she had an unsupportive mother and happy that she was going to bring a baby into their family circle. The three of them had been friends for so long they were family whether DNA agreed with them or not.
Paula turned at the bottom of the staircase. “Yes, and Jody, too. I’ll need all the help I can get.”