Blue Dahlia (In the Garden 1)

She wanted to eat a pint of vanilla fudge ice cream and sit in a cool bath. For the rest of her natural life.

She shoved open the front door, stomped inside.

The shouts of Surprise! had her heart jumping into her throat, and she nearly lost control of her increasingly tricky bladder.

In the parlor pink and blue crepe paper curled in artful swags from the ceiling, and fat white balloons danced in the corners. Boxes wrapped in pretty paper and streaming with bows formed a colorful mountain on a high table. The room was full of women. Stella and Roz, all the girls who worked at the nursery, even some of the regular customers.

"Don't look stricken, girl. " Roz strolled over to wrap an arm around Hayley's shoulders. "You don't think we'd let you have that baby without throwing you a shower, do you?"

"A baby shower. " She could feel the smile blooming on her face, even as tears welled up in her eyes.

"You confe on and sit down. You're allowed one glass of David's magical champagne punch before you go to the straight stuff. "

"This is . . . " She saw the chair set in the center of the room, festooned with voile and balloons, like a party throne. "I don't know what to say. "

"Then I'm sitting beside you. I'm Jolene, darling, Stella's stepmama. " She patted Hayley's hand, then her belly. "And I never run out of things to say. "

"Here you go. " Stella stepped over with a glass of punch.

"Thanks. Thank you so much. This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. In my whole life. "

"You have a good little cry. " Jolene handed her a lace-edged hankie. "Then we're going to have us a hell of a time. "

They did. Ooohing and awwing over impossibly tiny clothes, soft-as-cloud blankets, hand-knit booties, cooing over rattles and toys and stuffed animals. There were foolish games that only women at a baby shower could enjoy, and plenty of punch and cake to sweeten the evening.

The knot that had been at the center of Hayley's heart for days loosened.

"This was the best time I ever had. " Hayley sat, giddy and exhausted, and stared at the piles of gifts Stella had neatly arranged on the table again. "I know it was all about me. I liked that part, but evervone had fun, don't you think?"

"Are you kidding?" From her seat on the floor, Stella continued to meticulously fold discarded wrapping paper into neat, flat squares. "This party rocked. "

"Are you going to save all that paper?" Roz asked her.

"She'll want it one day, and I'm just saving what she didn't rip to shreds. "

"I couldn't help it. I was so juiced up.

I've got to get thank-you cards, and try to remember who gave what. "

"I made a list while you were tearing in. "

"Of course she did. " Roz helped herself to one more glass of punch, then sat and stretched out her legs. "God. I'm whipped. "

"Y'all worked so hard. It was all so awesome. " Feeling herself tearing up again, Hayley waved both hands. "Everyone was - I guess I forgot people could be so good, so generous. Man, look at all those wonderful things. Oh, that little yellow gown with the teddy bears on it! The matching hat. And the baby swing. Stella, I just can't thank you enough for the swing. "

"I'd have been lost without mine. "

"It was so sweet of you, both of you, to do this for me. I just had no idea. I couldn't've been more surprised, or more grateful. "

"You can guess who planned it out," Roz said with a nod at Stella. "David started calling her General Rothchild. "

"I have to thank him for all the wonderful food. I can't believe I ate two pieces of cake. I feel like I'm ready to explode. "

"Don't explode yet, because we're not quite done. We need to go up, so you can have my gift. "

"But the party was - "

"A joint effort," Roz finished. "But there's a gift I hope you'll like upstairs. "