Page 171 of Phoenix's Fire

"Oh."

But Lessa was smiling at me. "What convinced you to come over, Meri?"

"I thought that maybe I could help you sew again," I admitted. "You said you have orders, and I..."

I glanced at Drozel, then back to Lessa. "Jeera and Brielle are always busy. Ayla has the dog and won't come around without it. I don't like books as much as she does, so I don't know what else to do and I'm tired of being in the way. I'm sorry. I don't know how to ask except to come over and actually ask."

Lessa hummed thoughtfully, then looked at Drozel. "Make your boyfriend pamper you. I think I just got an assistant, so I'm going to knock out a few of my orders."

"I'm cooking lunch in a bit," Omden called from the back room. "I'll make enough for four!"

"Thanks, sweetie!" Lessa yelled back before pushing to her feet. Then she offered me a hand. "I guess this means I should finally clean up the sewing room, huh?"

"I wasn't trying to make more work for you," I insisted.

But she thrust her hand at me again. "You're finally giving me the break I needed so I can get to it. C'mon, Meri. Let's go make ourselves useful."

Fifty-Three

Meri

An hour later, I had a stack of fabric beside me, a collection of thread spread on the other side, and was pushing cloth through the machine that operated by a pedal I could pump with my foot. It wasn't easy, but it was a lot easier than sewing everything by hand the way we'd done it in the compound.

"Am I useful?" I asked, letting the machine slow to a halt so I could rest my leg.

From the far side of the room, Lessa chuckled. "Very. Why?"

"Because you looked like you were relaxing, and then I showed up, and now you're working," I said, turning to see her.

Lessa grabbed a few more bolts of fabric, struggling to get her arms around all of it. "I have been wanting to get this cloth organized for months now," she said, moving along the back wall to drop off the fabric in various places. "I alsohatechanging that asshole's bandages."

My brow furrowed. "I thought you were friends with Drozel?"

"I am."

"But he's an asshole?" I asked. "Isn't that a bad word?"

Lessa giggled. "It is, but it's also true. Drozel's a grump most days. He's also a nice guy, and ripped."

"Ripped?" I asked, trying to figure out what that would mean in English.

"Muscular," she offered instead.

"Oh." I pushed to my feet and reached for one of the bolts near me. "How are you organizing this?"

"Don't you dare pick up that fabric!" she snapped, making me jerk back.

"I'm sorry!" I whimpered.

"Some of these weigh a lot," Lessa said, hurrying around to see me. "You're not supposed to be lifting that much."

I sat back down with a heavy sigh. "I see."

Lessa kept coming, but the look on her face had changed. "You don't want to hurt the baby, do you?"

"No, I suppose not."

That made her head cock slightly. "Meri? Are you okay?"