The Perfect Dress(26)

“You’re kiddin’ again, right?” Jody finally whispered. “We’d have known if . . .”

“This is huge. When? Where? Who’s the father? Are you getting married and leaving us?” Questions poured from Mitzi.

Paula shook her head. “Slow down and listen to me. At first I was in denial. You know I’ve never been regular. I didn’t even know until three months ago. Then the doctor said that there was a possibility I’d have a miscarriage, so . . .” Paula hesitated a minute before she continued. “But when I went for my checkup this week, I’d passed the second trimester and she says she thinks the baby is going to be fine now. I didn’t want to worry y’all.”

“B-but you don’t look . . .” Jody stammered.

“Us big girls don’t always get the popular baby bump.” Paula laid a hand on her stomach.

“Or people think we’re pregnant when we aren’t,” Mitzi said. “Who, what, when?”

“Long version or short?”

“Every single word,” Jody said.

“Okay, here goes. I was seeing a man in Tulia,” Paula said.

“Clinton?” Jody said. “The sumbitch who went back to his wife, right?”

Paula nodded.

“You stayed in bed for a whole weekend after he left. We ate half a gallon of ice cream and used more than two boxes of tissues,” Mitzi said.

Another nod.

“And I drove out there to be with y’all,” Jody said. “That’s part of the reason we decided we should put the business here in Celeste to get you out of that area.”

“I couldn’t have gotten through it without y’all. I really loved him.” Paula’s chin quivered.

“Does he know about the baby?” Mitzi asked.

Paula shook her head. “No, and he’s not going to, so that can’t leave this room.”

“Why can’t he know?” Jody asked.

Heat traveled from Paula’s neck to her cheeks. “His wife is pregnant. He’s a bastard, but I won’t ruin her life or the baby they’re going to have. She went through in vitro twice just to have a child. It’s complicated, but they were only separated, not legally divorced. Y’all know the story. It’s not her fault that I loved him, but he didn’t really love me.”

“Remind you of anyone?” Jody asked.

“Of course it does,” Paula said. “That’s what came to my mind immediately when you told me about Lyle. I wondered if you might be pregnant, too.”

“We’ll know in a few days. I’m regular as clockwork,” Jody said.

“Well, we won’t worry about that right now.” Mitzi took control. “What we’re going to plan for now is a new baby, which means we need a bigger place.”

“I vote that we move into the upstairs of the shop,” Jody said.

“But we decided that we needed a house so that we’d have a life and not work every day until bedtime,” Paula said.

“But,” Jody argued, “there are five good-sized bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small room that the previous owners used for an office. One for each of us and one to make a nursery, and we can put a sofa and television in the other and call it a living room.”

“It might work.” Mitzi stood up and began to pace the floor. “But the only way would be if we vowed to separate work and our personal lives.”

“The smaller room could be the nursery,” Paula offered.

“I think we should use a bigger one and give the little one to the girls to do their flower business,” Jody said.

“Sounds good to me,” Mitzi said.

“Rent’s up on the fifth, so we’d have to do it in a hurry, like in two days,” Paula said. “Maybe we should think about it for a few weeks and give a notice. We’ll lose your deposit if we don’t.”

“Yes, but we won’t have to pay the extra rent or utility bills, so we’ll actually be ahead of the game.” Mitzi sat down at the table. “We can move tomorrow evening after work.”

“I can’t believe we’re even thinking of this,” Paula said. “But we’ll have to promise that we don’t bring work upstairs.”

“Exactly, and we each have a life to live, so we don’t have to tell each other where we’re going or what time we’ll be home,” Jody said.

“What are we going to do with that mannequin?” Mitzi moved from the kitchen chair to the middle of Jody’s couch-bed. “Whoa!” She held up a hand. “We’re freaking out about moving and we’re forgetting the big picture here. Paula is going to be a single mother and she needs our support.”

Paula went to sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank you. I’m okay now that I’ve told y’all.”

“No, you’re not.” Jody sat on the floor beside the bed. “I won’t even know for a few more days, and I’m still totally freaking out about being a single mother. So fess up, Paula. We’re here for you.”

“Okay.” Paula held out her trembling hands. “I go to bed wondering if I’ll be a good mother. Look at our moms, Jody. Are we going to be like them? Demanding, judgmental? It scares the crap out of me. Then I wake up worried that my child will feel cheated since she won’t have a father. So, yes, I’m freaking out, but knowing y’all are here for me helps.”