Knitted Hearts by Amber Kelly

Sonia

Itook the day off work today.

Does being heartsick count as a sick day? It should.

I slept in with George, which I haven’t done in ages. I let her out of her crate and into my bed for the first time. I figured it had been a rough couple of days for us both, so we deserved it.

Momma had called last night, and I gave her the abbreviated version of events. She wanted to come right over, but she sounded so tired, and I’d had a lot to think about after my discussion with the girls last night.

Am I being unfair?

My mind and heart are such a jumbled mess right now that I don’t know up from down at the moment.

George is lying on the pillow beside me. Her big brown eyes staring at me like there is nothing she’d rather do than be with me.

Why did I wait so long to adopt a puppy?

“I think a little Maw-Maw love is just what we need. Do you want to take her lunch?” I ask George.

She lets out a long, lazy yawn as she stretches her front paws. Then, she settles on my shoulder.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I get up and get dressed and feed George. Then, I call in a to-go order of sandwiches and cupcakes to Dallas.

“Good afternoon, Dallas,” I greet as we come through the bakery’s door.

“Hi. I’ll have your order up in a minute. The sandwiches are still in the oven. You want a drink or something?” she asks.

“I’ll take a cup of coffee.”

She pours us each a mug, and we both sit at the counter.

“You look better than you did yesterday,” she observes.

“I feel a bit better. I got some sleep, and I took the day off to spend with George and Momma.”

“I hope you’ve thought about what we said last night. I know you were blindsided. Foster was too.”

I set the cup down and turn to her. “It’s just a lot, you know? I wasn’t even sure I was ready to start a new relationship. Then, Foster came along, and it was like he erased all that bad stuff. I was happy, but when he came in and told me about the baby, it all came flooding back, not just that one thing. All of it. It was like a dam broke, and now, I’m drowning.”

“I know, but this time, you don’t have to face it alone. If you take his hand, Foster will walk through this with you.”

A beep sounds, and she stands.

“That will be your lunch.”

Dallas goes to pack our order just as the door chime goes off. George jumps up from her spot on the floor beside me and takes off for the customer.

“George, no,” I shout as I grab her leash.

“Hey, Georgie girl.”

Truett bends and gives her a good rub-down. Much to her delight.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize.

“She’s fine.”

He stands and looks past me to Dallas. “Myer had me bring the car seat to you. I put it in the backseat of your truck.”

“Oh, thank you. Sorry you had to make the trip,” she tells him.

“No problem. I do it for the cupcakes.” He grins.

Dallas sets my bags on the counter, walks over to the display case, chooses two, and places them in a bag for Truett.

We both take our wares and say our good-byes. He opens the door for George and me as we exit.

“Foster is finalizing his divorce today,” he says as we step out onto the sidewalk.

“I thought that wasn’t going to be official until the end of the year?”

“Wendy decided to stop holding things up. I guess pregnancy hormones have made her nice. It’s weird.”

“Is Foster happy about it?” I ask.

To be honest, I thought the baby news would halt the divorce, not speed it up. Don’t they need time to decide if they want to try to be a family?

“Happy? My brother’s a wreck right now,” he says.

“That’s a shame,” I answer, not knowing what else to say.

“You should go talk to him,” he suggests.

“I think he has more important things to worry about than me at the moment,” I tell him.

“Are you shittin’ me? You’re the only thing he’s worried about. The other stuff will work itself out.”

“I can’t …” I start before he holds up his hand.

Truett shakes his head in disappointment. Disappointment in me?

“I thought you were different,” he grumbles.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“It means, he had a wife who abandoned him the minute he came home, injured, and the plans she had for them changed. This time, I thought he’d found a woman who loved the man more than the plan. I guess I was wrong because at the first curveball, you bailed,” he bites.

“It’s a baby, Truett. That’s a pretty big curveball, don’t you think?” I defend.

He throws his arms in the air in frustration. “Aren’t they all? Life doesn’t promise you smooth sailing. There will be wind gusts and raging storms. That’s life. But if you loved my brother—really loved him—then no matter what it threw at you guys, you’d stand by him. He deserves that kind of love and loyalty. Hell, we all deserve that.”

I hang my head. Since when does Truett Tomlin throw reason and truth in your face?

“It’s a baby,” I whisper under my breath, but he hears me.

“Yep. It’s a baby—a sweet, innocent piece of Foster. And the way I see it, anything that is a piece of my brother is going to be a blessing. So, why are you treating it like it’s a curse?” he asks.

“I’m angry and hurt and—”

He cuts me off again, “And scared. I get it. Do you think he’s not scared? I watched him fall apart the other night. He’s scared shitless, scared of being a father. Scared of losing you. Scared his life is taking another fucking turn into the gutter and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

I sniffle. Trying to hold back tears.

“Look, Sonia, I’ll admit, the timing sucks, but ask yourself this: if you’d met my brother and he was a divorced single father, raising a kid who looked just like him, would it have mattered? Do you hate kids? Or are you just knee-jerk reacting to the news?”

The truth is, I don’t know.