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If Jake had told her Geri was free, she’d probably better not make an excuse. “Okay, sure, I can come.”
“It’s almost eleven now. Can you get here by noon?”
“Noon is fine,” she replied. “Thank you, Mrs. Saint.”
“Roberta! Roberta! See you at noon!”
Looking at the face of her phone, Geri wondered what she’d have to say to that particular group. She liked Candy and Ava, but had nothing in common with either one of them except they were married or dating a Saint brother. She’d gone running with Ava a few times. As far as Aisling went, she didn’t have much to say, either. Probably Bridget was the one she had the most in common with, and Bridget bent over backwards to be accommodating, but Geri didn’t really trust her, even after their heartfelt chat at Wild Pancakes. Thedo you like guysquestion Bridget had asked on Geri’s first day of work still resonated. It also brought up the question to Geri, why did she hold a grudge? Maybe it was time to move on and grow up.
With an hour to kill, she stopped by the florist and bought Roberta a bouquet of summery flowers imported from South America. The drive through the neighborhood increased her anticipation when her phone beeped again. This time it was Jake.
“I hope you were okay with my giving Roberta your number. I didn’t want my woman excluded from the party.”
“It’s okay, Jake. And it would have been okay to exclude me, too. You know I hate these things.”
“She got lunch from Fedora’s.”
“Well, now I’m glad I’m going,” Geri said, chuckling. “I’ll call you when it’s over.”
“Okay. Talk to you then.”
Parked behind Roberta’s huge black SUV in the Saint driveway were several cars she didn’t recognize, all sedans and minivans. It was usually full of pickup trucks. Adding her little sports car made Geri giggle. These were the girly cars. Most of them had baby car seats strapped in back.
That took her breath away. In less than eight months, that would be Jake’s car among the others, with a baby seat. A little teary eyed, she paused to collect herself before going up to the door. She was excited about the prospect of having a baby. Jake’s baby. Taking a big, deep breath, she proceeded to the door.
“Relax, knucklehead. It’s not a firing squad.”
The door opened and Big Mike appeared with a big grin on his face, making everything okay.
“There she is,” he said.
“You’re off work!”
“Just you, me and Jake. Everyone else is working.”
He held the door for her and she slipped through. The women were milling around.
“Am I late?” Geri whispered.
“No, not at all. The others can’t wait to get free childcare for their kids, so they come here. Our poor housekeeper takes over.”
Roberta came bearing down on her with open arms. “Here she is! Geri, Geri, come in, come in. How nice to see you. I never thanked you properly for all you did for Mike.”
“Yes you did, Bertie. You thanked her at the hospital,” Big Mike said, rolling his eyes.
Geri didn’t have to say a word; embraced by Roberta, the others then flocked around her, all seemingly talking at once.
“Let’s eat, shall we? Jake said you like chicken, so I got their premier chicken dish along with several pasta dishes. You’ll all have plenty to take home for dinner, as well.”
Geri placed herself in neutral as Roberta led her to the dining room. She glanced over at Big Mike, who had his hand over his mouth, laughing, and she winked at him. All would be well. For almost an hour, she listened to the chatter and was rarely asked to contribute to the conversation. Yes or no answers were all that were necessary.
“Your hands always look so nice,” Bridget said during lunch.
“Jake likes to do my nails,” Geri said and then bit her tongue, hoping they wouldn’t use that against him, to tease him or make light of it.
Then the news that she had never expected to hear.
“Jake wanted to be a stylist,” Big Mike said. “I think pressure from the family put an end to that.”
