Let Me Call You Sweetheart Chapter 4, Page 32

Dottie was looking upstairs above the dress shop to see how big it was and what was up there. It had been vacant for as long as Dottie had opened her shop. Her nose started to itch and sneezing took over quickly. No one had been up there in a long time and she was stirring up the dust. She held her handkerchief over her nose and mouth and went over to the window. It was stuck shut, but she did open the curtain with her hand to allow the outside light illuminate the room.

She saw all sorts of items there, a mirror, dress form, bag of old rags, a chest of drawers, a travel trunk, a painting, books, and boxes of stuff. She was very curious to see the rest of the upstairs, but she wanted to get Henry over first to open the windows and get some fresh air throughout.

As she walked downstairs she heard Rosemary calling her. "Dottie! Where are you?"

"Coming, Rosemary," she answered as she was brushing off the dust that collected on her dress. "I was upstairs looking around and it's certainly full of dust, but there's potential up there for expansion!"

"Dottie, do you think Henry will allow you to fix the upstairs up for men and children's clothing?" Rosemary asked.

"Well, dear. That's exactly what I intend to propose. We have to provide our accounting books proving our sales are increasing, and so is the need for clothes for all the family." Dottie declared.

"I want to see up there!" Rosemary said emphatically.

"Go ahead and see for yourself" Dottie encouraged her. "I have to find the wedding dress catalog for Dee. She'll be coming to look through it soon."

Rosemary was squealing with delight when she looked around and saw the chest of drawers and the trunk. She rushed over to them and opened them. Just as she thought, she found they were not empty at all. The chest of drawers were filled with clothes, hair ornaments, jewelry, parasol umbrella, handbag, and even photos. The trunk had hats, Edwardian men's ties, bow ties, cravat, neck scarf, silk shirts, cuff links, wool trousers, and more.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my!" Rosemary kept saying as she rifled through the items. Dottie came back upstairs and saw what she had been doing and stood there with her hands on her hips and her mouth gaping. "Look Dottie, there is a wedding dress in the dresser with all sorts of women's accessories and the trunk has all the man's. It's like these belonged to a bride and groom!"

Dottie couldn't believe her eyes. "How interesting! I've got to talk to Henry about this. I wonder whose things they are!"

The two ladies poured through the contents and carefully put them back just as they found them. Downstairs, they continued to talk all about their findings and how they would decorate and fix the upstairs. They definitely could reuse the chest of drawers and the trunk for display. The dress form would be nice to bring downstairs. The mirror would be certainly a great help, and the painting looked like it could be restored. They would still have to go through the boxes and see what was in them, but Dottie wanted to talk to Henry first and make sure he would allow her to expand and renovate the upstairs.

"Dottie, I want to order some clothes for Paul. I know he has some at the orphanage, but he deserves some new ones, don't you think?" Rosemary asked.

"He sure is a cutie! Well, it's not too late to sew any for him right away, and I can have some shipped in time for Christmas!" Dottie assured her.

"Lee and I are just thrilled to have him, and this weekend will be the pageant, so I'm sure he'll enjoy himself. I'm going to go to the Mercantile now for a little bit and see what they have for toys. I want some for Paul for when he comes to visit." Rosemary said as she was leaving. "When I get back, I want to sew Paul some warm pajamas."

Faith was humming a Christmas tune when Molly walked in. "How are you today?"

"I'm just great!" Faith replied with a smile. "Carson called, and he's coming home for Christmas!"

"That's just wonderful! Did he say when?" Molly asked.

"No, he doesn't know yet, but he couldn't wait to let me know. I'm just thrilled he'll be here!" Faith answered. "That means we can finally be together!"

"Oh, that reminds me Faith, Bill is bringing a tree to my house and I asked him to bring one to yours. Is that okay with you?" Molly asked.

"Yes, that would be perfect. I want to put up the angel that Carson gave me last Christmas. I think he would really like that." Faith grinned. "Clara is coming for her weekly check up. She is so ready to have this baby."

Molly laughed. "I remember what seemed like an eternity for Rosaleen. When the baby is ready, that's when they come the doctor said. I asked, don't I get a say in this?"

"Here comes Clara now." Faith revealed.

"Hello Momma!" Molly greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired! I can't get comfortable no matter if I'm sitting or standing, least of all when I'm trying to sleep in bed!" Clara complained.

"Let's have a look at you," Faith helped Molly on the table and drew the curtain around them. "Your ankles and feet are swollen Clara. I don't think there's anything to worry about, but you should not have any salt, and stay off your feet as much as possible and rest."

"Rest? When I'm trying to sleep, I'm so hot and kick off the blankets, then Jesse says he's too cold. Really! How do I rest?" Clara moaned.

"Well, your baby has dropped down in position and the heartbeat is strong, so that's the good news. Are you still having contractions from time to time?" Faith inquired.

"Yes, nothing steady though." Clara said as Faith helped her to sit back up. "How much longer?"

"I would venture to say that you will be holding your precious little one the next week or two!" Faith smiled happily.

Surprised by Clara's "Really? Another week or two!?", Molly and Faith couldn't help but laugh.