She went on and on as Emma hooked her rolling stool with a well-shod foot and sat down on it, making Presley Ann feel even more dumpy in her comfortable sneakers and sweatpants. Emma nodded and smiled and handed her more tissues after she soaked the first bundle, and listened as she poured everything out.
When a hiccup finally signaled that she was done, Emma reached for her pad and said, “It’s overwhelming, honey. You’re not a bad mom if you need help sometimes. It sounds to me like Kendry—and his brother Jared—care an awful lot about you.”
“They hardly know me. They just moved here.”
Emma smirked. “Okay, Presley Ann, this is your friend talking right now, not your doctor. Those two have had eyes only for you practically since they came for Leah’s wedding and binding to James and Vincent.”
Presley Ann shook her head. “But that’s just it, Emma. What if the real pull is between him and Leah, but she’s unavailable.”
“Huh?”
Presley Ann shook her hands, knowing she sounded a little woo-woo. “What if the real attraction is between Kendry and Leah, because of…you know.”
“Because of Patterson’s heart?” Emma asked with a straight face. “I tend to believe in what I can see. Anytime we’ve hung out with y’all those two hunks only have eyes for you. Sure, there’s a close bond between Leah, James, and Vincent, and them, but I don’t think you need to worry. In any case, I think they’re showing how much they care by watching the baby for you so you could have a few hours of peace.”
“I feel guilty.”
Emma shook her head and put her hands on Presley Ann’s shoulders, gently squeezing. “Don’t go there. You haven’t abandoned him. You’re just taking a break. Now, about your other issues…”
Thirty minutes later, with prescriptions filled and wrist braces purchased, she stood in the soft goods section at Violet’s Emporium.
Violet held up what looked like a stretchy sheet to her and said, “I’m glad Emma suggested that you come in when she did, because I only have a couple of these left and my supplier won’t be making them anymore, even though I have people asking for them all the time.”
Still doubtful how it could help her, Presley Ann said, “Can you show me how this works? It seems bulky and uncomfortable to me.”
Violet led her to the front and said, “I know what you mean. The first time I heard about these, I thought, ‘Oh, my aching back,’ but that’s not the case at all, because it supports your baby from different directions. And it’ll give your arms a rest. Let me show you.”
Violet unfolded the stretchy fabric, then folded it in half and proceeded to show Presley Ann the most ingenious thing she’d ever seen. The fabric didn’t have any loops, snaps to match up, or ties, or anything. It just wrapped around and back and forth over her shoulders and breasts and around her waist, and then Violet smiled as she lifted one layer, tucked a stuffed animal in the pouch, then pulled the other layer of stretchy fabric over it and lifted the band circling her waist up to support the bottom and the back of the stuffed animal. “See?”
Presley Ann stepped around to see the back configuration and the flat knot that was out of the way at Violet’s hip.
“Think of how much you could get done with your hands free. And you can nurse him discreetly in it just by pulling one side up a little higher to cover up. This could actually become a profitable little cottage industry for someone with the desire to pursue it.”
Presley Ann breathed in a sigh, thinking of the mess in her apartment that had driven her nuts because she couldn’t put Whit down long enough to deal with it. Violet’s words about a cottage industry resonated. If she could find the time and a good used sewing machine, she might be able to supplement her income.
“I’ll take it.”
While Violet took care of ringing up the sale, Presley Ann stood at the counter, breathing in the scents of lavender and vanilla permeating the unique shop. Some of the tension drained out of her shoulders as she looked around her, taking in the eclectic atmosphere of the emporium.
Justin Connors’s metal art occupied the center space, catching the sunlight from the transom windows above. She found herself absorbed, looking at his imaginative fantasy art.
Presley Ann smiled, thinking about Charity, Justin, and their unique family. Charity and her sister Grace had been the first to draw her into the midst of the group of friends she now counted herself a part of.
As Violet refolded the sling and placed it in a shopping bag, she said, “It’s good to see you out and about, Presley Ann.”