Shelley Galloway - Baby Makes Six

“If I did, that would be a good thing. Shawn always said I planned too much.”

Melanie pushed the magazine to one side and finally looked at him. Really looked at him. “I guess you’re right,” she said softly. “I miss Shawn so much, sometimes I forget how unhappy you both were before you separated. We’re all entitled to move on and change. Next time you bring Jayne around, I’ll put out more of an effort. I promise.”

“Thanks.” He paused. “Maybe one time John can join us and the four of us could go out.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Ever? It’s time for you to move on, too, you know. The guy’s crazy about you.”

After a pause she finally nodded. “Maybe one day soon. Not yet. But maybe soon.”

The familiar sound of his cell phone ring brought them both up short. “Wagner.”

“Eddie, omigosh, the worst thing happened,” Shawn said in a single breath. “I’m so sorry I haven’t called.”

“Shawn,” he mouthed to Melanie before gripping the window frame in relief. “Are you okay? Are the girls hurt?”

“The girls are fine. We’re all fine.”

Closing his eyes, Eddie began a silent prayer, asking forgiveness. Of course a part of him had hoped she’d have a good reason for not being there. Then, almost immediately, his frustration let loose. “What happened?”

“I, um, locked my purse in the house, which is where my cell phone and keys are.”

“What about the extra set?” After the fourth time she’d been locked out, he’d made copies of the keys and created a hiding spot for them in the backyard.

“I never put them back. Not after the last time I used them. I had to go next door to see Delores and ask if I could use her phone to call the locksmith. And you know how ornery she is—I didn’t dare ask to call you.”

“She would have said no,” he replied, smiling in spite of his irritation. “Long distance.”

“You got it. So the girls and I just sat outside and waited for the guy to come.”

“But he didn’t?”

“Oh, he came. The minute after I paid him, we were on our way, but by then the roads were crazy. Listen, the traffic is horrible, so horrible that I haven’t felt like I could do anything but drive with two hands on the wheel. But we’re almost at your place. Ten minutes at the most.”

“Okay. See you then.”

“Listen, did you already eat? I could run the girls to a drive-through?”

“We haven’t eaten. We’ll wait.”

“Okay. Thanks, Eddie.”

She clicked off before he could say another word.

“She’s okay?”

“Yeah.” Eddie couldn’t believe it, but he actually felt like smiling. “Locked her purse in the house, but she’ll be here in ten minutes.”

Melanie stood up again. “Sooner than that! There they are!”

Following Melanie out of the house, Eddie found himself chuckling. That had been maybe one minute, tops.

Shawn had never met a schedule she could keep.

SHE’D DONE IT. She’d deposited the girls at Eddie’s.

As Shawn drove along the highway once again, she tried not to think about how empty she felt.

She hated it when the girls stayed overnight at Eddie’s. This weekend was going to be even worse. Eddie was going to have them until Sunday. She had two whole evenings to get through.

Opening the sun roof in her van, she caught the pungent smell of sea air and tried not to think about how desperately lonely she felt, driving away from Bishop’s Gate and back to Destin.

But as the mile markers flashed by on the highway and resort communities gave way to office parks, Shawn’s emotions ran wild as hunger pangs and hormones warred with each other.

Obviously she needed to eat or she was going to be in tears before she drove another three miles.

Though she’d planned to heat up a frozen dinner at home, that didn’t appeal to her. Neither did seeing the disapproving stare of Delores. Making an executive decision, she pulled off at Rocky Ridge Shopping Plaza.

This was something she used to imagine doing right before she and Eddie had separated. She used to crave just a few moments alone. Okay, a few hours. Now she had two days of it and it didn’t feel so alluring.

After parking, she went into Drew’s Diner, a knockoff fifties restaurant that served thick shakes and really good fries.

“How many?” a perky teen in a pink poodle skirt asked.

“Just one.”

“This way.”

Shawn slid into the booth, ordered their Blue Plate Special and a thick strawberry shake, and leaned back.

Moments later, as she was enjoying that shake just a little too much, she noticed a man in the booth across from her also sitting alone.

And he was watching her drink the shake in amusement. “Guess you needed that, huh?”

She met his gaze and chuckled. “Some girls need vodka martinis. I need ice cream.”

He lifted his glass. “Mine was chocolate.” Just after the server placed a plate of roast chicken, mashed potatoes and a side of green beans in front of her, he spoke again. “You dining alone?”

“Yes.”

“I am, too. Any chance you want some company?”

Shawn was stunned. Was she getting hit on? “Thanks, but no.”

“Sure? I’m told my table manners are good.”

He was kind of attractive—if you were into that vintage Robert Redford kind of look. “Thanks, but no.”

The server brought his meal—burger and fries. When their eyes met again, he looked a little abashed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I didn’t see a ring and, well, it is Friday night and you’re alone. Are you taken?”

She nodded. “Very much so. I have four kids.”

His eyes widened. “Gotcha.”

Shawn spent the rest of the meal trying not to look at him. Trying not to wonder why she didn’t feel the slightest bit of attraction to a guy who was handsome and obviously found her attractive.

And dared to wonder why saying she was the mother of four for the very first time…hadn’t sounded painful, after all.

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