Page 21 of Someone I Chose

Shanae snorted. “In here!”

Bo strutted in, swirled his wife around, and gave her a sloppy kiss. Shanae laughed and swatted his arm. “You feeling all cuddly is no emergency,” she reprimanded him.

He gave her another peck. “But this is: My mother’s oven broke down. As in kaput.”

“On the morning of Thanksgiving?” Neha gasped. “Oh, she must be so mad.”

“I guess we will clear our kitchen for her.” Shanae turned to leave the room, but Bo held her back.

“No, we won’t. And she’s not mad. Instead, she is driving me mad, but that’s entirely different. I’ve been recruited as kitchen help. Are you even aware of how many potatoes need to be peeled?” He gave a theatrical whine.

Shanae patted his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. “There, there.”

Bo grinned and winked at his wife. “Jay offered to get a new oven. I guess we’re lucky the big box store at the mall has one that my mom deems acceptable.”

“He can’t get an oven all by himself!” Shanae exclaimed.

“That’s what friends are for. Nathan got voluntold.”

“So everything’s settled, then?”

“Not quite. Mom just realized she’s out of apricot jelly. No idea what that’ll be for, but it is worthy of an emergency.”

Shanae took Neha by the arm. “Come, we’re going to talk in the car.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Bo, who laughed and blew her a kiss.

On the drive to the mall, Neha brought her friend up to speed. She would take the bar exam in Colorado in February and become a partner afterward. “Working with Juliette is great. Small-town drama isn’t any less exciting than the city’s.”

“You’re not trying for a baby anytime soon?”

“Not right now. We want kids, but it doesn’t feel right yet.”

Shanae squeezed her hand.

After they found the apricot jelly, Shanae pointed to the far end of the store. “I want to show you something.” They walked past apparel, electronics, household goods… When they passed the toy aisle, there was a Latina with a boy of maybe seven years. “No, Xavier, I will not buy this for you. It looks like a great toy, but it is way too expensive.”

The boy gave a little wail and spat, “Stupid horrible idiotic toad!”

Neha laughed hard at that. The woman gave her an apologizing glance. Shanae grinned. She held a hand over her tummy.

“Xavier, where did you get that from?”

“You can’t tell me off, Mama. There was no bad word. I made sure.”

Neha and Shanae both giggled as they turned into the next aisle. “Are you okay?” Neha asked and pointed at Shanae’s tummy.

Shanae grinned and said, “I am. I’m just hoping that my peanut will grow to be such a smart kid, too.”

“Hang on.” Neha registered what aisle they were in: baby clothes, bibs, strollers… “Are you pregnant?”

Shanae nodded. Neha hugged her friend and whispered, “This baby is going to have a fine momma.”

“Thank you.” Shanae wiped at a tear. “Our parents still don’t know. I thought of giving them onesies and watching their faces as they open their gifts.”

“I’m not sure you’d actually need that, but I am all in for buying baby clothes.”

Twenty minutes later, they approached their car. “Look.” Shanae pointed. “There are Jay and Nathan.” They had strapped a big cardboard box to the truck’s bed and leaned to the side of the car talking to a police officer. “That’s Bill Leigh. He helped me last year, when… You know. And I consider him a friend ever since he rescued Mousie when she—”

“Watch it!” Nathan yelled. Both he and Jay jumped to the sides. Officer Leigh did not. He reached for his weapon and turned around. Just then, he saw a car coming at him and tried to get out of its way, but it was too late. He was jammed between it and the truck with the oven.