ZINA
I heldthe beer bottle to my lips and took a nice, long draw. What a day. Between the surprise that I was going to be in charge of the Munyon wedding and the lip-lock with Alex, I wanted to lose myself for a little while in a local beer and a platter of chicken nachos while watching the high school basketball team take on their rivals from Swynton on the local station.
“Go, Beavers!” Zeb shifted on the stool next to me.
I turned, my mouth full of the giant bite of cheese-covered chips I’d just eaten. It was one thing to get my brother out of the house for our weekly dinner together, but I didn’t expect him to actually engage in anything beyond a stilted conversation. The fact he was cheering for the home team put a smile on my face.
Before I could swallow and comment on his enthusiasm, my phone rang.
Lacey.
Hadn’t we had enough excitement for one day? I turned it facedown and grabbed another chip.
The phone rang again and Zeb pointed to it. “Aren’t you going to answer your phone?”
I groaned and held it to my ear. “I’m at dinner with Zeb. What’s up?”
“Can you swing by the house tomorrow morning? Kirby wants to talk to us about starting a transportation service. I think he found an old limo or something and wants in on the wedding business.”
I took a swig from my beer. “Did you not hear the doctor? You’re pregnant.”
“Yeah. But it’s not a death sentence. I’ve got months ahead of me before I have to start worrying about an actual baby.”
She might have finally lost her mind. I’d heard other friends talk about pregnancy brain. Evidently it was a real thing. “You’re pregnant. Incubating another human. There’s an alien being growing inside you.” I waited for some aha moment to wash over her.
Instead, she cleared her throat. “Doc said as long as I take it easy, I can still work from my bed. That means I have plenty of time to make sure Ms. Munyon gets the wedding of her dreams and still be ready to welcome baby P into the world.”
“Baby P?”
“Yeah, like a pea pod. Bodie thinks the ‘P’ refers to Phillips, of course. But I know it really means ‘P’ for pea pod.”
“You’re bananas. Like certifiable, you know?”
“There’s a lot riding on this. I’ve got to make sure this wedding goes off without a hitch. It’s our chance to put Ido on the map.”
“Déjà vu. You do realize you said those exact same words last year when you were working with Adeline Monroe on her big wedding. Or don’t you remember what a shit show that turned out to be?”
Her laugh pealed over the phone line. “I got a husband out of it, didn’t I?”
I shoved another chip in my mouth, bracing myself for the inevitable speech that surely would follow. This was the perfect segue into her favorite topic of conversation: my love life.
“You know, Bodie’s got a new guy in his department. What if I order in and the two of you come to the house for dinner next week, and?—”
“No.”
“But he’s perfect for you.”
Talking around the bite of nachos, I managed to ask, “What makes you say that?”
“He wants to settle down. He’s got a pension already going with the department and he’s super stable. Bought his own place just outside of town and has plenty of room for?—”
“For what?”
She paused. “For pets and babies and horses if you want them. Come on, aren’t you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? You deserve some downtime, someone to take care of you for a change.”
I took a calming breath in through my nose. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course.”
