by LuAnn McLane
“It’s only hormones. I’ve been crying at Hallmark commercials lately.” Perhaps after years of holding back, the dam has finally broken, she thought wryly.
“Bull,” Madison protested, and sat down in the easy chair across from the sofa.
“Aunt Myra, please explain aging to Madison,” Jessica said, and sighed.
Aunt Myra looked across the room from her perch on the armrest of the sofa. “Madison, she’s right. Hormones can play havoc with your emotions.”
“See?” Jessica raised her palms upward. “You should go back to the party with Jason. I’m sure Bella and Nicolina want you there too. Owen is heading home so Aunt Myra can stay with me for a while.”
“Mom, Ty is really worried. He wants to come over.”
“No!” Jessica sat up straighter and tried to calm her pounding heart. “I don’t want him to miss anything. I’ll be fine.” She made shooing motions with her fingers. “Go.”
Madison looked as if she wanted to protest, but surprised Jessica by standing up. “Okay, but if you want me to come back later, I will.”
“Thank you, sweetie.” She forced a smile. “Tell Ty I’ll call him . . . later.”
Madison gave her a curious look. “Why don’t you call him now?”
Jessica lifted one shoulder. “I don’t feel up to it just this minute,” she replied, and tried to keep her voice steady. “Just let him know that I’m fine. . . . I think everything has caught up with me and my forty-year-old body is responding.”
“Okay,” Madison said, but looked at Aunt Myra. “Call me, okay?”
Aunt Myra nodded. “I will,” she promised, and walked Madison to the front door. As soon as it was closed, she turned to Jessica. “So . . . are you pregnant?”
Jessica felt emotion well up in her throat.
“How did you guess?”
“It wasn’t all that difficult. I’m surprised that Madison didn’t suspect, but I suppose young kids don’t think old people actually have sex, much less procreate.”
Jessica tried to laugh, but her sense of humor failed her.
“Oh, Aunt Myra, I felt terrible the entire game and didn’t really think it was anything more than indigestion. But I suddenly realized that I’m . . . late.”
Aunt Myra came over and sat down next to Jessica. “Oh, sweetie . . . don’t fret. Something tells me this is meant to be.” She drew her into her arms and hugged her hard.
“Aunt Myra . . .” Jessica started crying. “How in the world could I allow this to happen? I’m no longer a young girl!” She pulled back and looked at her aunt. “This . . . this is terrible.”
“Is it?”
“Yes! I’m so embarrassed. Ashamed! And how in the world can I tell Ty?” She held her head in her hands. All of the emotions from years ago came flooding back in giant waves. “Aunt Myra . . . my God!”
Aunt Myra tilted Jessica’s chin up. “You listen here, missy! You’ve never had anything to feel ashamed about! While teenage pregnancy isn’t anything we want to see happen, you handled yourself with flying colors. You should feel proud of yourself and your life, not ashamed,” she said hotly.
“Oh, but I don’t want Madison to know. . . . I don’t want anyone to know!”
“Maybe you’re not, Jessica.”
“Oh, Aunt Myra, I feel sick and I’m late.” She sniffed hard and shook her head. “What else could it be?”
“Well . . .” Aunt Myra shrugged. “You are forty. Your body will start to really give you fits.”
Jessica sighed. “Well, I will know soon enough.” She tried to smile, but failed. “Please don’t tell anyone about this, especially not Madison. I know that she suspects that something isn’t as it seems, but she also sensed that I wanted to be alone.”
“You know I won’t breathe a word of this, not even to Owen. Honey, do you want me to stay here tonight?”
“No, that would just make everyone suspicious. Go home to Owen. I’ll be fine. But I would really appreciate if you would run Wine and Diner tomorrow. I need to take a pregnancy test to be sure.”
“Sweetie, I don’t want to leave you.”
“I will be fine. Truly.”
Aunt Myra gave her a measuring look, but then patted Jessica’s leg and stood up. “All right. But I am a phone call and a short drive away. Don’t you dare hesitate to call.”
“Thanks, Aunt Myra. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You have been such a blessing in my life.”
“I will always be here for you,” Aunt Myra said in a firm voice that shook with emotion. “And I do know that Ty McKenna loves you. Keep that in mind, Jessica. If you are with child, that man will do right by you.”
Jessica nodded and waved. “I will keep that in mind,” she promised, but as soon as Aunt Myra closed the door, she leaned back against the cushions and felt emotion well up in her throat once again. She thought of all of the people who had deserted her in her time of need when she’d discovered she was pregnant with Madison, and she shivered with apprehension. And the last thing she wanted was for Ty to do the right thing. Pregnancy wasn’t a reason for marriage.
Love was.
And Ty loves you went through her head, but she put a hand over her tummy and shut her eyes. “Yeah, everybody loves me until I mess up.”
But then Jessica suddenly thought of her mother making the decision not to follow her to Cricket Creek or demand that she come home. “Oh, my . . .” Her hand remained protectively over her stomach, and even if she wasn’t sure if she was pregnant, she knew that giving up her child would be a sacrifice she could never make. And her mother had done it . . . for her. All at once, she believed this with absolute clarity: Her mother had given Jessica the ticket to freedom and happiness and had paid the ultimate price. She folded her arms across her chest and ached for her mother’s gentle touch, and prayed that someday, somehow, she would find a way to see her mother again. “Oh, Mom!” The thought made her so sad but lifted the weight of anger from her shoulders.
Jessica sighed. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.
25
Sweet Dreams
“Good morning!” Bella poured a steaming mug of coffee for her mother and then one for herself.
“Good morning, Bella. I hope you slept well on the sofa. I still feel bad about taking your bed. You could have slept with me, you know.”
“Mom, I don’t mind the sofa. I’m a restless sleeper and didn’t want to keep you up.” Logan had partied pretty late and was either still asleep or was giving Bella some time to visit with her mother. She was coming to find out that he was much more considerate than she ever dreamed. “Well, you and Mitch Monroe sure were chummy last night.” She sat down at the kitchen table and smiled over at her mother.
“He’s an interesting man,” Nicolina admitted.
“He seemed very into you.”
“We were talking business, Bella.”
“Right . . .” Bella poured creamer into her coffee and stirred her spoon in slow circles. “Well, he’s also a handsome man.”
“I suppose,” Nicolina said with a casual shrug, but the color in her cheeks told Bella that she was attracted to him.
“So are you going to see Mitch again?”
“He’s going to show me the storefronts under construction down by the stadium.”
“So, is he an investor in the riverfront project?”
Nicolina pressed her lips together, but then leaned forward and whispered, “Yes, but don’t say anything. He wants to remain a silent partner in this venture.”
“Mom, he could be quite an asset to you if you decide to open up the jewelry shop. Maybe an investor as well?”
Nicolina stared down at her coffee. “He’s expressed interest. I gave him my Web site so he could see more of my product.”
“Mom!” Bella felt a tingle of excitement. “This could be the break you’ve been waiting for.”
Nicolina tilted her head sideways. “I trust his expert opinion—that’s for sure. If Mitch says this is
a good market, I believe him.”
“You make a cute couple.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Bella! My relationship with Mitch Monroe is strictly business!” she sputtered.
“Whoa, there. I’m just teasing,” Bella said, but in reality she wasn’t. They really would make a striking couple.
“Besides, he’s only here for a few days and then is going back to Chicago.”
“And so are you. At least for the time being. So . . . ?”
“We might meet for cocktails and—”
“I know—discuss business,” Bella interjected, and rolled her eyes.
Nicolina took a sip of her coffee. “Speaking of cute couples, I suppose Mr. Game Saver is sleeping in after last night?”
“We’re not a couple,” Bella insisted, but felt heat in her own face this time.
“Right . . .” Nicolina mocked, but then smiled warmly at her. “Arabella, I see the way you two look at each other. And you were a nervous wreck when he came in to pitch. You don’t have to keep your feelings a secret from me. I don’t know him well, but I like what I’ve seen so far. I just don’t want you rebounding from David.”
“I’m not,” Bella said, and realized that it was true. She felt more strongly about Logan in this short period of time than she had ever felt about David.
“Ah, so then there is something between you two?”
Bella caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
“I knew it,” Nicolina said, and patted Bella’s hand. “I wish you happiness, whether I come to live here or not. You know that, right?”
Bella blinked hard. “I never meant to stay here, Mom. It just somehow feels right. I’m really trying to take it slow with Logan. All I know for sure is that I am happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
“Well, then, you should stay here,” she answered firmly, but her smile trembled a bit.
“But . . . we’ve always been a team.”
“You’re an adult now, Bella. Whether it is with Logan or someone else, if you find true love—happiness—grab it and hold on tight. It doesn’t come along often,” she said with a smile, but her voice was wistful.
“And you should too.”
Nicolina shrugged and glanced away.
“Mom! You’re right: I am an adult now. Like Jessica, you’ve dedicated your life to raising a daughter. Now it’s your turn to get out there and find a life other than being my mother. You are so talented! Go for it and don’t look back.” She reached over and grabbed her mother’s delicate hand. “It’s your time now.”
“I’m fifty-two years old, Arabella. The bloom is off the rose.”
“Shut up!” Bella narrowed her eyes at her mother. “First of all, you’re gorgeous. And second, you can fall in love at any age. Just look at Myra and Owen!” She leaned back in her chair and arched one eyebrow. “And I noticed how Mitch Monroe looked at you!”
“He is out of my league.”
“I can’t believe you just said that!” Bella’s bare feet hit the floor with a smack. She thought her mother was one of the most confident women she knew, and this admission stunned Bella. “Why in the world would you say that, Mom?”
“Bella, he’s a big-business tycoon. I’m from a poor Italian family and have only a high school education. I’m sure that he is used to a much more educated, sophisticated woman.” She wiggled her fingers in the air.
“I’ve always thought of you as sophisticated. Mom, you are beautiful, have style, and are supremely talented. I’m stunned that you would even say such a thing, much less believe it!”
Nicolina lifted one slim shoulder. “I put on a good show.”
“Oh, come on, Mom . . . really?”
“Bella, I was a struggling single mom for years.”
“You’re a talented jewelry designer!”
“Pfft. I sell my jewelry at craft shows!”
“Mom, you’ve created beautiful designs for how many brides and wedding parties?”
“For friends,” she argued.
Bella leaned forward. “It’s called referrals. Networking. Sure, it comes from friends and family at first, but then grows. Why are you selling yourself short? We’ve talked about opening a shop for years. You have a kick-ass Web site. Why are you hedging now?”
“Because before it was only talk . . . pipe dreams.”
“And now you’re facing possible failure.”
She nodded.
“So what if you do fail?” Bella asked softly. “Isn’t that better than never trying?”
“Bella, if I fail, I will have eaten up the savings that I’ve worked so hard all of these years to build up.”
“Money?” Bella gave her mother a level look. “That’s not really the reason, is it?”
“No.” Nicolina cupped her hands around the mug as if warming up cold hands. She finally shook her head slowly. “Oh, Bella, if I fail, the dream is gone. And then what do I have?”
Bella remembered her mother’s excitement when a new shipment of beads would arrive, or the joy of a finished necklace that turned out beautiful. She would often design late into the night and then have to go to work early the next day. Suddenly, it all made sense. “Oh, Mom, your dream got you through some tough times. Didn’t it?”
“I clung to it like a lifeline.” She reached over and took one of Bella’s hands. “I always hated the sacrifice you had to go through. “We ate lots of tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches so that I could buy my materials. And I could never afford new clothes for you.”
“Mom, I never thought of our simple dinners as a sacrifice. I loved sorting through the colorful beads and watching you work. And my clothes?” She laughed. “You would sew trinkets to my jeans and make those amazing beaded headbands! All of my friends loved those headbands. Oh, Mom, my clothes were the coolest in school and nobody else had them.”
Nicolina smiled softly. “I had forgotten about those headbands.”
Bella tapped her fingers on the table. “You should think of having a children’s section in the store! Even little girls are fashion conscious these days. Those headbands would fly off the shelves. And beaded bracelets? Teenagers are wearing them halfway up their arms.” She bounced in her chair. “And Jessica is going to add a retail section at Wine and Diner for selling Kentucky-made items. You could start marketing your jewelry there to give yourself some exposure!”
Nicolina tipped her head to the side and her smile widened. “You’re getting me excited about this.”
“Mom, allow the excitement to melt away the fear factor. Let me tell you something. This little town has some backbone. Instead of becoming another casualty of this economy, the people here have dug in their heels and are fighting back.”
Nicolina closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Bella, my heart is beating a million miles a minute.”
“We’re still a team, you know.” Bella’s voice was gruff with emotion. “I don’t have any money to contribute, but I’m still a mean bead sorter.”
When Nicolina opened her eyes, they were swimming with unshed tears. “I know I drive you crazy sometimes, but I love you, Arabella. More than anything in this world.”
“And I love you. No matter what happens in our lives, that will never change.” She had to clear her throat. “Now, can I fix you some breakfast?”
“I’m having brunch with Mitch at Wine and Diner, so I’ll just have another cup of coffee.” She handed Bella her mug. “Speaking of Wine and Diner, have you heard how Jessica is feeling?”
“No.” Bella shook her head as she stood up. “But I plan on calling Madison in a little while.”
“I sure hope she’s okay,” Nicolina said. “She must have felt rotten not to have come over to Sully’s last night. Maybe she’ll be at the diner later.”
“I hope so,” Bella agreed. “I’m off today, so I plan on being lazy.”
“When I get back, I’ll be lazy with you.”
“Right . . .” Bella handed her the mug. “You don’t know how. But I
’ll be glad to teach you.”
“Well, I think I’ll start my lazy day by taking a long, hot bath.”
“Excellent! Are you going to the game with me tonight?”
“Yes,” she said, and then flushed a little.
“Let me guess. You’re heading over there with Mitch?”
“Well, we will be checking out the shops available for lease, and it simply makes sense to head there together. He, of course, is going to the game too so it’s only natural—”
“Mom!” Bella laughed as she cut her off. “You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s gorgeous out. Enjoy your day and your man.”
“He’s not my man.”
“He is for today.”
Nicolina smiled. “You know, you’re right.”
“And one more thing,” Bella said, causing her mother to pause at the doorway. “Nobody, and I do mean nobody, is out of Nicolina Diamante’s league. You got that, Mama?”
“Got it.” Her chin came up and she saluted, but her smile faltered just enough to let Bella know that this was still an issue with her mother.
“Good!” Bella shot her a smile, but it faded as soon as her mother left the room. She had always thought of her sassy mother as one of the strongest, most confident women she knew, and she had been floored by her mother’s admission. But after thinking about it, Bella could relate. The feisty attitude she put out there wasn’t always what she was feeling beneath the surface, and when David had cheated right under her nose, Bella’s self-worth had been shaken to the core. “Well, enough of that nonsense,” she muttered as she walked into the living room to tidy up the covers on the couch. It was about time to reclaim her self-confidence!
A little while later, Nicolina walked into the kitchen where Bella was stirring up ingredients for pancakes. “Making silver dollars?” Nicolina asked, bringing a smile to Bella’s face. Silver-dollar pancakes had been her most-requested breakfast as a child.
“Yes, with whipped butter and dusted with powdered sugar.”
“Sounds delicious.” Nicolina spun in a circle. “How do I look?” she asked casually, but looked closely at Bella.
“Mom, you’d look good in a burlap sack, but your tan jeans and tweed jacket are classy. Ralph Lauren?”