“Girl, that is diabolical,” I said.
As we pulled into the mall, Maria rubbed her hands eagerly and then pulled out a list from her pocket. Holly glanced skeptically at it. “What’s that?”
Maria brandished it proudly. “My list! I’ve got us at the coffee shop first, then figured we could stop by Victoria’s Secret for a few and swing by Auntie Anne’s after for a snack then—”
Like lightning, Holly snatched her list, crumpled it, and threw it out the window where it blew away in the crisp breeze.
Maria made various sounds of protest and looked to me for support; I shrugged at her. “I’m on Holly’s side here, sorry girl.”
As we all climbed out of the car, Maria turned to glare at me, but her eyes softened when Holly came from the other side and put her arm around Maria’s shoulders. “Sorry, honey, but you are not going all ‘mom mode’ on our day.”
Maria sighed, and I linked my arm through hers. “Come on, it’s my first shopping trip in Atlanta. Show me how it’s done. Oh, and can we please go to HomeGoods? ‘Cos I have saved up some serious cash for a new mattress.”
Holly frowned. “While a body might fit in my trunk, a mattress sure as shit ain’t happening.”
“No, but Diego can come get it for you later—or I bet they deliver,” Maria said. “Besides, we could use some new bedding in the guest room. Diego got blood all over the sheets. Don’t ask.”
We headed into the mall, making a beeline for a cute littlecoffee shop. Five minutes into debating which stores to visit in front of the mall map, I began to wonder if we should have kept Maria’s list. Holly dragged us into a photo booth and we made total fools of ourselves behind the curtain. I tucked my copy into my pocket carefully.
Over the next three hours, we raided the shelves in almost every store on the first floor. By the time we made it to the second floor, our arms were already laden with bags.
I finally found my mattress store and, oh sweet heaven, they did deliver. I hated a lumpy mattress. I managed to find one on sale that felt like a cloud. The three of us lay on it until the store kicked us out. When we got to the food court, our bags took up two tables, and I said, “Girls, I think we need to call it quits. There’s no way we can carry any more.”
Holly winked at me. “I’ve got a better idea. Grab me some of that crappy pizza, would you? I’ll take care of this.” Meanwhile Maria headed off to get drinks, and I joined the throng of people by the pizza place.
When I got through the line and back to the table with our food, Maria was already back with three sweet teas.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
Holly reached for a slice of pizza and nodded towards the escalator. “There’s our plan.”
I looked over to see three prospects making their way over to us.
“Aw,” she said, “Jackson sent one for each of us. Sometimes, I think he might actually be smarter than he looks.”
Maria made a general sound of agreement around a mouthful of food.
“Hey, Mrs. Morgan. Jackson said you needed us?” one of the prospects said as they approached us.
Holly waved at all of our bags. “I hope you came in one of the trucks and not your bikes.” The prospect nodded, the other two seemingly content to be quiet. One of them winked at me when he caught me looking, and I rolled my eyes. He was cute, but those brown eyes seemed lackluster compared to the blue ones I had found myselfpreferring lately—though I was loathe to admit it.
“Yes, ma’am, sure did. Wasn’t born yesterday. Want us to take all this back to the clubhouse?”
Holly nodded, and the three guys grabbed our bags and left.
Fully sated on greasy pizza, we went through the next stores. Maria went for broke in the bookstore, buying two or three complete sets. “Jewel will go nuts over this stuff,” she told me.
I had somehow become her basket after she insisted she didn’t need an actual one. In the next store, she put a couple of t-shirts on top of the pile in my arms.
“Her birthday is the weekend after next. Which, by the way, you’re totally invited to. She’s turning fifteen, and we’re throwing her a modernizedquinceañera. So, literally, everyone is invited.” She made a face as we made our way to the front of the store. “Except her dad, of course. Don’t need his drama. No sir, no thank you.”
I glanced at her, confused. “Diego isn’t Jewel’s father?”
She shook her head. “He is in every other sense but blood. Her dad… I had a young and dumb moment when I was fifteen. I was so not ready to be a momma, but I stepped up, you know? My girl needed me. But her sperm donor… he’s a useless son of a bitch, and always has been. Just took me too long to see it.”
Holly appeared behind us. “Who are we talking about?”
“Jesse.”
