AllFreeNovel
Share Us
TWENTY-THREE
In Washington, D.C., ShanaLiveLaughLove was at her kitchen table reviewing her online appointment calendar while Caleb was doing his math homework. She had a meeting with a client tonight, the sitter would be there soon, and she needed to get changed.
Her phone pinged with an alert. Shana ignored it and returned to her calendar. If she left by seven, she could make it to the restaurant by eight. Then her phone pinged again and again and again until the alerts were coming in like machine-gun fire. Caleb looked up from his worksheet. “Jeez, Mom,” he said.
“Sorry, honey,” Shana said, ruffling his hair and lowering the volume. “It’s probably just Aunt Stephanie. She must have some big drama going on.”
Shana navigated to her messages and had to read the most recent message from Gabriella, a woman she worked with, three times before it registered. You’ve gone viral! And not in a good way!
She scrolled through the messages, all from different senders. Girls she worked with, her best friend, her sister, her mother. Another text appeared from Gabriella. It was a link to an Instagram video from JoJo Holt, an influencer who got second place in The Queen of Cakes baking competition series a few years back. Now, she recapped reality TV episodes on social media, all while offering baking tutorials. Shana clicked the link and JoJo’s face appeared on her screen, nearly shimmering with excitement.
“Good evening, Luckies,” JoJo said into the camera. “I’ll get right to the point. You probably already know that former Senator Richard Crowley was voted off the show this evening.”
Shana froze. Richard was on a reality show? She hadn’t talked to him in over a week or seen in him in over a month. Since he retired from the Senate, he didn’t get to D.C. as much. She glanced over at Caleb, who was once again immersed in his homework.
A flurry of comments filled the feed.
Travesty. I’m from Texas and Crowley was a godsend. Always put Texans first and foremost.
Shana heartily agreed. Amen, she typed.
Well, I’m from Texas too and Crowley always put himself first.
Shana watched as JoJo began measuring out cups of flour. “This latest news is bananas. But first, lemon squares. Since One Lucky Winner takes place in an Italian-inspired villa, I’m going to share my variation of the classic Italian lemon square with you. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and sassy—just like me.” JoJo gave a self-deprecating laugh. “For the crust, we add three and a half cups of all-purpose flour, a half cup of powdered sugar, and half a teaspoon of coarse salt.
“So, Luckies,” JoJo said as she dumped all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. “I know that the senator was a controversial figure but wait until you hear this.”
More heart emojis floated across the screen. Shana added her own heart.
“In case you haven’t heard, Senator Crowley had an illicit affair, cheating on his wife of fifty years,” JoJo said. Shana froze.
An image appeared above JoJo’s head of a glamorous woman with shoulder-length blond hair and pumped-up red lips. She was wearing an expensive but tasteful black cocktail dress. Shana couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was a picture of herself.
“Caleb, sweetie,” Shana said, her voice unnaturally high. “Can you please go clean your room up before Katie gets here?”
Caleb didn’t need to be told twice. He leaped from his chair and rushed from the kitchen.
“But there’s more,” JoJo whispered conspiratorially. “So much more.”
Shana felt light-headed. Sick.
“Apparently, the good senator’s—” JoJo crooked her fingers as she said the word good “—mistress was a high-end escort from Washington, D.C.”
“Please no,” Shana whispered as her phone vibrated with more alerts. Another image of Shana appeared on the screen. In this one, a false eyelash hung precariously from her right eye, her lipstick was smeared, and she was wearing a deer-in-the-headlights expression. It was obviously a mug shot. “Luckies, meet Shana Stonehaven.”
Shana prayed that would be it. That there would be no more. She could handle this. She could keep the photos from Caleb, could explain them away.
“Now combine the dry ingredients with one pound of chilled unsalted butter,” JoJo went on. “That’s right, four sticks of the good stuff. Press into a baking pan and parbake for about thirty minutes at three hundred and fifty degrees.
“But there is more, Luckies,” JoJo said with delight. “So much more. Now for the filling. Four cups sugar, two-thirds of a cup of flour for thickening, a half a teaspoon of salt, the zest of one large lemon, and then whisk these ingredients together. This wasn’t just a ‘slam, bam, thank you, ma’am’ sort of arrangement with the escort who has been identified as one Shana Stonehaven, but a full-fledged affair,” JoJo said as she whisked. “A long-term relationship with jewelry, and vacations, and an expensive apartment in D.C.”
Shana wanted to throw up. Her world was tilting on its axis.
JoJo held up an egg. “Okay, this recipe calls for eight large eggs. Thankfully, all I need to do is go right outside to my chicken coop and the ladies there have all the eggs I need. Mix the eggs with one and a half cups of fresh lemon juice. Fresh is key.” JoJo began cracking the eggs against the side of the bowl and tossing the shells aside. “But sadly, there is more when it comes to the senator. Do you want me to tell you, Luckies?”
The comments came fast and furious.
Yes!
