“A pump?” I asked.
“Yeah! For all that breastmilk that starts hurting your boobs in-between feedings,” she said.
“That’s a thing?” I asked.
“I thought you were the one reading all the books.”
“Yeah, on childbirth and raising a child. Not on my boobs,” I said.
“Well, we should stay safe either way. Pads for your bra and a pump, which means you’ll also need bottles or storage bags. What about these? They’re supposed to help with gas.”
I was looking at the bottles Anna was holding up, but my mind kept going back to the man who’d threatened me in my gallery. I had no idea what in the world I was going to do. I couldn’t empty one of our bank accounts without Bryan knowing. We had agreed to put my profits from the European tour into a joint account to start the combining of our lives. If I drained one of those accounts, he would know and get suspicious.
“Oh, oh, oh! Hailey, look at these cute little socks!”
I watched Anna hold up a package of red and blue socks with little bows on the sides.
“See? Red and blue for a boy, but bows if it’s a girl,” she said. “And if you have a boy, just cut the bows off.”
“Why can’t boys wear bows?” I asked. “What if my little man liked bows?”
“Then keep the bows. I don’t care. All I’m asking is if you like them.”
“Sure,” I said. “Throw them in.”
The man’s comment about the police was true. Even with Bryan’s father pulling the strings he did, he saw how apathetic the police department was toward John’s case. They hadn’t cared back then because John had a history of drugs, and they didn’t care a few months ago because the case was so old. No police officer would give two shits about some man threatening me for drug money. They’d arrest him, and then someone else would seek me out.
Apparently, that was an easy thing to do now.
“Have you guys thought about baby baths?” Anna asked.
“Huh?”
“Hailey, are you even here? We’ve had this shopping date on the calendar for three weeks.”
“Sorry. I’m not sleeping well at night anymore,” I said.
“Yeah, well. That happens when you’re pregnant. Now, do you guys want this bulky plastic thing with a mesh net, or do you guys want this cute little flower that sits right in your sink and cradles your baby like a silken cloud?”
“All right, weirdo,” I said, giggling. “The silken cloud flower it is.”
“Good choice. They have it in yellow as well as orange. Which one do you want?”
“Let’s go with orange,” I said.
If this man was related in any way to the man who had pulled me out of my bed by my neck, then I knew he was serious. He was serious about getting his money, and he was serious about the threat against my child. Would it just be better for me to pay this man off? He said he would go away if I gave him the money. Was he telling the truth with something like that? Or would he only come back and hound me for more money?
“You guys have the nursery down, right?” Anna asked.
“Yep. Bryan’s made the entire nursery set,” I said.
“Such a man. Mm. You’ve got yourself a good one there.”
“You had yourself a good one with Drew too. You guys talked lately?”
“Let’s not get into that today. Today is all about buying cute baby stuff for my little niece or nephew,” she said.
“Uh- huh. You’re not getting out of this conversation that easily,” I said.
“I know, but let’s save it for food or something. Right now, I want to focus on all the cute stuff in this store.”
I was scared for my child’s life. The man who had come into my shop was rough. He was more than ready to gut the paintings on my wall and had no issues with intimidating me to get what he wanted. He had no moral code, and he certainly had no boundaries. And the money he was seeking out was a lot. Men had killed each other over much less.
And the worst part about it was that if Bryan got dragged into this, he would have to rehash his brother’s death like I was being made to do. The man’s questions about the paintings had thrown me off, but once he started diving into details of my past with John, it made me sick. I couldn’t drag Bryan back into something like that. Things were going so well for him with the foundation and our marriage. He was so excited about having a child with me, and I didn’t want to dampen any of this for him. He had dealt with enough guilt and enough bullshit surrounding his brother’s death. Hell, he was still going through it with his own mother.
I couldn’t drag him back into this if money was how I could solve it.
“Hailey, are you okay?”
“What?” I asked.
“Okay. I’ve asked you three times if you’re going to use cloth diapers or use disposable ones. What gives? And don’t give me the nothing trick. I know something’s wrong.”
“Anna, I’m tired. I can’t have caffeine, and I am riddled with hormones I can’t control. This child is less than two months from being born, and I just feel unprepared.”
“You’re nervous,” Anna said.
“Yes. Very.”
“Uh-huh. I’m not sure I believe you fully, but I’ll accept it for now. But you know you’re going to be a wonderful mother, right?” she asked.
“I’m trying to be.”
What would a wonderful mother do in a situation like this? Would she pay off a drug runner to keep her child safe? Or would she go to the police and inform them of what was going on and risk the safety of her child? Maybe Bryan’s mother was right and I was going to be a terrible mother.
“And with the diapers, I still don’t know. At this point, I think I’m going to go disposable for now. It’ll be easier, at least in the beginning,” I said.
“Then you’ll need diapers as well as a diaper pail.”
“How much are you planning on spending today?” I asked.
“As much as I can until you stop me.”
“So, I take it your work at the foundation is going well?”
“Oh, it’s going wonderfully. I can support myself while giving help to those who need it the most. Ellen has hired me as an in-house counsel as well, so that income really helps. It was her hiring me on in that position that enabled me to take on the project I’m doing this summer. You know, the free legal counsel thing.”
“I heard that got approved. Congratulations,” I said, grinning.
“Thanks. I’m really excited about it. Working with the foundation was the solution to all the problems I was facing. I run my services out of the foundation headquarters, so I’m not renting a space out-of-pocket. I have a regular income through foundation employment, so I can drop my prices even lower for my services. I have creative freedom on who I take on as clients, so my schedule is always booked. There’s no one looming over my shoulder unless a massive case drops into my lap. It’s the perfect scenario.”
“But?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Anna, you’re my sister. I know when you use the word perfect, it means there’s a ‘but’ coming on,” I said.
“There’s no ‘but.’ I feel so much better about life. I know we talked about singing or whatever, but this really does make me happy,” she said.
“But?” I asked.
“Fine. Whatever. But it is a bit lonely.”
“And that’s where Drew comes in,” I said.
“I’m not calling Drew.”
“Then get out there and start dating. If you don’t want to date Drew, then find someone else to date,” I said.
“Hailey, I’m not ready for something like that. Is it lonely? Yes. But I have to be ready, and I’m not there yet.”
“I know you guys drifted apart, but I also know you guys enjoyed the time you spent together. I’m sure you still have his number in your phone, right?” I asked.
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked.
“Just text him. You don’t have to see him or go out with him, but maybe talking with him will alleviate some of the loneliness.”
“Hailey, come on,” she said.
“What? What’s so wrong with that?”
“He should be pursuing me. That’s how he operates, right?” I asked.
“Seriously? You’re not calling him because you think he should be calling you? Anna, I can’t think of one good reason why the two of you couldn’t get back together.”
“I thought you said you just wanted us to talk,” she said.
“Why are you being so weird about this?” I asked.
“Why are you suddenly so persistent about it?”
Because the topic of conversation was a damn good distraction from that man in my gallery. Every time I thought about it, I worried about my life. About my child. About the safety of my home. Knowing that man was out there somewhere, tracking me and looming over me, it made me feel like I was being watched. Like at any moment, I could turn my head and he would be there with that knife in his hand. It made me scared to walk to my car alone. It made me scared to be in my gallery alone. I didn’t even feel comfortable conducting other interviews in my gallery until I could get this resolved.