Page 1 of Crossing the Line
One
"Janice!"
Janice Landy turned toward the front door with a big grin on her face. She'd know the sound of that voice anywhere! "Samantha! Good to see you!"
Samantha waved her hand between them. "You're acting like we didn't see each other a couple of days ago!"
Janice's smile turned into a full grin. "Can I help it if seeing you makes me happy?"
Samantha rolled her eyes and made her way straight to the counter. "How are things going here on your side of the universe?" With that, she flicked a glance at what had been a very prominent white line between the half of what had been Landy's Market when they started it nearly two decades before. "Has Bixby been a good boy on his side of the line."
The teasing words were common. Over the years, their divorce had become part of the story of their market.
Some tourists even came into the building to take pictures with the white line. Some, if they were a couple on either side of the line. Some, if they were single, straddling the line. And some, picking a side and taking a selfie on one side of the line.
"He's busy on his side. He got some kind of sausage machine and he's over there making 'custom' sausage links."
Samantha's eyes widened. "Is that driving business in his direction? Is it becoming a depraved sausage party over there? Men playing with their meat in little sausage casings?"
Janice lifted her hands and covered her cheeks. Samantha's comments were silly, but she had heard a lot of talk about sausages over there.
"What if we try some fat back and lamb together?"
"Ohh... I've got an idea for a game heavy sausage!"
Janice leaned in and whispered to her friend. "It's been getting a little... raw on that side."
Samantha winced like she'd just bitten into a fruit that had soured. "That can't be fun."
"Nope." Janice sighed. "The less I hear about butts and fat backs the better I'll sleep at night."
"Amen, sister."
The door opened up again and Mirella Santini walked in with a handcart holding three crates of green herbs and a baby in a sling around her body. "Hey, ladies!"
The baby in the sling craned his neck to look over the edge of the sling.
Janice crouched down a little and lifted her hands, wiggling her fingers at the little boy whose hand gripped the edge of the sling. "Hey, baby boy!"
Fiore Santini smiled, and his chubby cheeks looked full and rosy with health.
Janice lifted her gaze to Mirella's face. "How are you doing?"
"Losing the baby weight faster than I did with the girls. I've got a ton of orders and working in the garden is helping a lot."
Samantha grinned. "He looks bigger than the girls were at this age."
Mirella sighed and blew at a bit of hair that had fallen forward over her forehead. "Ugh. Absolutely. Where the girls were on the small side. He's on the ninety-something percentile for size and weight. I've told Teo and Lorenzo that they're going to have to carry him around just so I can get some sleep."
Samantha winced. "Yikes... You're not getting a lot of sleep?"
Mirella shook her head. "Not really. He's a bit of a night owl."
Janice nodded, but felt a little out of sorts here.
While she and Bixby had wanted kids, it hadn't worked out for them. Even when they'd realized that kids were not in the cards for them and they'd gone through therapy to deal with the loss, Janice had never stopped loving kids.
She just didn't have any knowledge to share with others when they were talking about their children.
