“What was that?” Emily asks.
Libby makes big pleading eyes at me.
“Just some advice between besties,” I explain in a vague way that won’t betray Libby’s confidence. “Actually, I think I got it from you. If he wanted to, he would.”
“Ohhh.” Emily nods. “Accept no excuses. If a man’s into you, he’ll show you he cares. Period.”
“Oh, I like that,” Swan says. “No excuses.”
“Marcel found a house for us that included a guest house for my brother.” Charlotte plops down on the couch next to Lilly. “My little shit of a brother who pulled a gun on him the first time they met.”
“Why haven’t I heard that story before?” Shelby asks.
“Were you mad he bought a house without asking your opinion?” Emily asks Charlotte.
“Mad? Hell no. I couldn’t jump him fast enough. Right there on the kitchen counter.”
“Gross.” Heidi clutches her stomach. “I don’t need to know that about my brother.”
Charlotte grins at her, then focuses on Emily. “I don’t think it was quite a done deal. He brought me there for final approval. But he knew me well enough to know I’d love the place.”
“That’s sweet,” Emily says.
“It’s romantic as all get-out,” Shelby sighs. “I wanna write a song about it, now.” She pulls the little purple notebook I’ve seen her with before from the back pocket of her denim skirt. “In fact, y’all have given me lots of inspiration. Don’t mind me.” She taps her pen against her chin. “I wonder if Dawson will let me release a song called Murder Daddy?”
Laughing, Hope turns to me. “Serena, if your side business is doing that well, you should probably think about incorporating. It’ll help you deduct items on your taxes.”
“Ugh, no work talk, Hope,” Charlotte says.
“Hey, I need to keep my skills sharp somehow.” Hope playfully swats at her. “Right now, Trinity is my only official client.”
“I feel so fancy having my own corporate counsel.” Trinity shimmies her shoulders.
“I pay my taxes,” I say quickly. “Learned that the hard way my first year. I barely made a couple thousand dollars, and the IRS was looking for their cut.”
“Anything over a certain amount gets reported,” Hope explains. “I know a good business CPA I can put you in touch with. And I can help you incorporate if you want to do that.”
“Sure. I wouldn’t know where to start. I’ll pay you, of course,” I hurry to add, so she knows I don’t expect her to do free legal work for me.
She waves off the offer, though. “We’ll talk.”
Charlotte leans over and whispers something in Lilly’s ear and Lilly nods.
“Okay.” Charlotte stands and claps her hands together. “This is the best part of the shower,” Charlotte announces. “Or so I’ve heard. Presents!”
“This way!” Lilly stands and motions like a flight attendant for us to move into the room across the hall.
This seems like the family room, with a plush sectional, wide-screen television, gaming consoles and more lived-in furniture. A round table in the corner is stacked with boxes wrapped with pastel paper and gift bags.
“Oh my God. You guys didn’t have to,” I protest, feeling overwhelmed again. “The party…everything is already so…”
“Nonsense, that’s the whole point.” Hope steers me into a recliner near the table. “We had fun with it.”
“Gray said you hadn’t put a baby registry together yet or anything,” Lilly explains.
I hadn’t seen the point since I didn’t expect anyone to throw me a baby shower.
“So Hope, Heidi, Winter, and I put together a list of everything we found the most useful after coming home from the hospital.”
“When the ‘hard part’ is supposedly over and you get the baby home and think, ‘what the fuck do I do now?’” Winter elaborates.
Heaven help me, I haven’t thought that far ahead. “I haven’t gotten there yet.”
“You will,” Lilly assures me.
“Sooner than you think,” Hope adds.
“A crib and stroller are pretty personal,” Lilly says. “Plus, you already know you need those. We tried to choose stuff you won’t realize is important until you’re stuck.”
Even if I hadn’t put together a registry, I’d done a lot of looking and reading online about baby gear. After opening the first few boxes, it’s clear they didn’t choose random, generic baby bibs or throw a handful of onesies in a bag.
Shelby hands me two boxes. “They gave me a list but then I saw this other thing and couldn’t resist. It said zero to three years old, so I hope it’s okay.” She bites her lip and looks at Heidi.
I open the gift Shelby chose on her own. Vibrating Guitar Grasp Toy. “Oh my gosh, this is so cute!”
“In case your little rock star is musically inclined.” Shelby bounces on the couch cushion in her excitement to show me the features. “It’s got little textured ‘tuning pegs’ and it vibrates. I couldn’t resist that.”
“I love it.” I lean over and give her a one-armed hug. “Thank you.”