“It’s me, Sandy.” Debbie smiled back. She’d gotten this reaction a lot lately.
“I almost didn’t recognize you without–” Sandy stopped talking and looked down at the conveyor belt. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your jewelry.”
Debbie laughed. “A lot more has changed about me than my jewelry.”
Sheila and Joy had told her if she wanted to be a mom, she should look the part. They’d convinced her to trade in what they called the “bombshell look” for the “mom look”–jeans and a t-shirt. It hadn’t taken much persuasion, because the heels Debbie had worn so religiously for the past few years were starting to cause back problems. So, she’d said good riddance to the low-cut, skin-tight clothing, and enough jewelry to buy food for a medium-sized country, and she donned yoga pants and sweatshirts. And she hadn’t regretted it.
“I see that.” Sandy’s smile was back. “You look great. Different for sure, but you also look…happier.”
Something interesting happened to Debbie when she changed her wardrobe. She no longer heard others’ spoken and unspoken criticism, because she now looked like everybody else. She hadn’t realized the stigma she’d placed on herself by dressing in expensive, revealing clothing and jewelry.
“I am happier, thanks for noticing.”
“Good. I’m happy for you.”
A few minutes later, Debbie pushed her purchases out to the dimly lit parking lot and froze.
There was no way all this stuff would fit into the two tiny trunks of her sporty little car.
This is what I get for being so impulsive.
CHAPTER2
Austin watched the pretty redhead push her shopping cart toward the front of the store. At roughly five foot five, she could barely see where she was going around the stack of diapers.
He felt like a jerk for noticing that she was unnaturally busty for someone with such a slender waist. Her narrow hips didn’t exactly have the soft rounded curves of a woman who’d just had a baby, but they were attractive nonetheless.
So why is she buying so many diapers?
The fluorescent light glinted off her red hair and he took note of its remarkable color. It was the most amazing shade of red, somewhere between dark burnished copper and ripe cherries.
After ensuring she was far enough ahead he wouldn’t run into her a third time, he pushed his cart to the registers. He watched the total carefully as the cashier scanned his groceries. This was the first and biggest shopping trip of the month. He couldn’t afford to go over budget.
He slowed his stride as he pushed his cart out to the parking lot and approached his truck.
Beside his king-cab pick-up truck stood the redhead with the front and back trunks and passenger door open of a gleaming red Porsche. She shifted a box from the front of the car to the back only to take it out again, then muttered something about her family never letting her live this down.
Austin cleared his throat. “Do you need help?”
She spun around and shrieked, her hand flying to her throat.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He took a step back so she wouldn’t feel threatened. “You just look like you could use some help.”
Her face reddened again in the dim parking lot lights, and a small flutter spiraled up from his stomach to his chest. She was even prettier when she flushed like that.
“Like I mentioned earlier, I got carried away. I didn’t stop to think about how I was going to get all this home.” She waved her hand toward the three boxes of diapers still in the cart.
Austin had never driven a Porsche before, but he knew there was no way the car’s two tiny trunks and the single passenger seat would hold all her purchases.
“Um… yeah, I don’t think it’s going to fit in your car. Maybe you should call your husband to come pick it up.”
“Oh, I’m not married. And I don’t own a bigger car.”
Not married.
Austin didn’t know why but that tidbit of information both pleased and surprised him. She was a beautiful woman with gorgeous red hair, striking blue eyes, and an attractive figure. How had some man not snatched her up already?
She must be a single mom then, with a small child. If the diapers and baby paraphernalia were anything to go by. Sympathy pulled at him. He was all too familiar with how difficult being a single parent was.
