After, Mom and Dad, Morrie and I had thrown a huge party at J&J’s. We gave out tickets, first drink free and Dad grilled bratwursts in the alley that Dee, Mom, Mimi, Jessie and Lorraine had cleaned up with Morrie, Jimbo, Al, Sully and Chris’s help doing the heavy work. They’d festooned it with lights, balloons and streamers. It wasn’t a place of death and kidnapping and blood anymore but a happy place, a place to party. We’d partied and, as usual, the party had lasted all night.

I reckon Joe-Bob would have liked that.

With all that spending, it was lucky that it was summer and turnover at the bar always went up in summer. But it was more. The races were on and we were now a place of interest, almost a tourist attraction. Folks coming into the bar to see where a serial killer made his final kill, to have a look at the woman who was his obsession. Some even took pictures of Joe-Bob’s stool, a stool Morrie, on his own and not telling anyone, had taken away and reupholstered in black velvet, a big, black, satin ribbon attached across the seat, the sides of which were big, satin bows. Every day upon opening, Morrie or Darryl or me poured out a draft and rested the mug on the seat. It was a memorial of sorts. It was also a stool no one but no one put their ass on anymore and never would.

Then there were some who even tried to take pictures of me. Pictures of the stool pissed everyone off but we got used to it, as long as they bought a drink or two, we let it slide. When they tried to take a photo of me that was a different story. It pissed Morrie and Dad off when they tried it. It pissed Darryl off more. They pointed their camera or cell phone at me, they were shown the door, usually by Darryl. Sometimes, they were shown the door in a not very nice way, again usually by Darryl. A couple of times, it was so not nice, they called the cops. Unsurprisingly, any cop that showed up to that call arrived and they weren’t in a very good mood when they did. Not at Darryl, at tourists doing stupid shit that fucked up their day. The cops didn’t tend to spend a lot of time explaining their bad mood before they explained where the town line was and asked if the tourist wanted an escort there. The tourists usually declined their offer at an escort but took them up on the directions.

I hung up the dress, grabbed my bag, exited the dressing room and Phylenda, April, Danny and I walked to the cash register.

When I handed over my credit card, Phy asked, “You gonna let me in on your sudden need to have a fancy tight dress?”

I turned to her and didn’t hesitate. “Yeah, I figure I better wear fancy tight dresses while I got the chance, seein’ as, in a few months, I’ll be big as a house.”

Phy wasn’t one to show her emotions, she didn’t give much away. She’d learned to hold things close and not expose anything, give anyone a weapon they might use against her.

But Phy was changing. Nearly losing her man a different way and him being made into a hero by town’s talk and his own actions had a way of doing that. Darryl did what he did and he showed his true self, maybe late, but he did it. She found herself in the position of having a man who she could be proud of and her kids having that kind of father. For years, Darryl’d been working hard to show her he was that man but she couldn’t ever trust it. He put his life on the line to save mine and that was different. She wasn’t used to being able to hold her head up high but I could tell she was getting used to it and I could also tell she liked it a lot.

Therefore, when she read my meaning, her eyes went wide then they grew wet.

“You’re serious?”

“Doc told me today.”

“How far along?”

“Ten weeks.”

Phy blinked, I giggled, leaned close and whispered, “Yeah, I think it happened the first time we did it.”

She whistled and said, “Shee-it, Colt’s swimmers must be super-powered.”

I didn’t doubt that, practically everything about Colt seemed super-powered.

I signed the receipt, took the bag and we headed into the mall, making a bee-line toward Jessie’s favorite shoe shop.

“I’m scared,” I told Phy, my eyes on the kids who were wandering ahead of us aimlessly, taking in all they could around the mall, probably wondering what they could ask their Mom to buy them that she wouldn’t say no to.

“Why?” Phy asked and I looked at her.

“I’m not exactly twenty anymore.”

“Women havin’ babies later and later, seems to work for them.”

I looked back at Danny and April. “Yeah, maybe so, but doesn’t seem much works for me and Colt.”

I jumped when Phy’s arm went around my waist and I looked back to her. She wasn’t open and she wasn’t touchy either but now she was close.

“Feb, that was then and this,” she put her other hand to my belly, “is now.”

I pressed my lips together and I felt my own eyes get wet.

She smiled at me as I breathed deep.

Then she dropped her hands, shouted at her kids and we turned into the shoe shop.

* * *

“What’s the big to do?” Dee asked, arms crossed, eyes on me, much like Jessie and Meems (though their arms weren’t crossed), all of us scrunched into Mimi’s little office at the back of her coffee shop. “I gotta get back to the bar.”

“Jeez, Dee, you act like that bar’ll crumble to the ground, you’re not in it,” Jessie muttered and Dee swung her eyes to Jessie.

“Yeah, well, I love Darryl, we all love Darryl, we all know why we love Darryl, that don’t mean Darryl can hold down the fort without a little help,” Dee retorted, being generous with her words for, hero or not, once Darryl recovered and got back to work a couple of weeks ago, he had not, unsurprisingly, changed. “Ruthie’s on vacation, Cheryl’s not on until seven, Morrie’s at home with the kids, Jackie’s watchin’ Ned’s babies and Jack’s in the office, payin’ invoices. Not to mention, Feb’s here, actin’ weird and goin’ shoppin’ with Phy, of all people.”

“Yeah,” Jessie’s eyes swung to me and they held accusation clear as day. “Why’re you shoppin’ with Phy?”

“She has the day off and she needs to get out of the house every once in awhile,” I told Jessie.

“But I’m your shopping buddy,” Jessie told me. “Phy’s your movie buddy.”

Since the incident I had taken to spelling Phy’s nursemaiding Darryl by taking her to the movies. When I did this whoever was available, Mom, Dad, even Colt, watched over Danny and April and also Darryl.

“Today, Phy’s my shopping buddy,” I said to Jessie.

“Well, don’t think I’m gonna be your movie buddy. I don’t like goin’ to the theater. You can’t pause the movie if you all of a sudden find you want some Raisinettes,” Jessie decreed.

“Can we get to the point of why Feb’s asked us here at all?” Mimi put in.

“Yeah, I gotta get back,” Dee repeated.

“You said that,” Jessie told her.

“All right, guys,” I cut in, “eyes on me.” When they turned me, I went on. “You have to swear, I tell you this, you keep it a secret, no one, no husbands, no friends, no parents, no sisters, you tell no one, not until nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Got me?”

Their faces had all changed, gone curious and expectant. They were getting used to a February Owens who shared and I found they liked it a whole lot. Since they did, I also found I did it a whole lot more.

“Colt asked you to marry him,” Mimi breathed her very wrong guess.

“Hallelujah!” Dee shouted before I could confirm or, more accurately, deny.

“I get to be Matron of Honor!” Jessie screeched.

Before I could say word one, Mimi turned to her and demanded to know, “Why do you get to be Matron of Honor?”

“I found her first,” Jessie said to Mimi.

“So? You got to be my Matron of Honor and Feb got to be your Maid of Honor and that means I get to be Feb’s Matron of Honor,” Mimi returned.

“Guys,” I tried to interrupt.

Jessie ignored me and said to Mimi, “Yeah, but I still found her first.”

“What you’re sayin’ is, I’m forty-two years old and I’m gonna die not bein’ anyone’s Matron of Honor?” Mimi retorted.

“Guys,” I repeated.

“It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Jessie told her.

“Yeah, so, why you want it so bad?” Meems shot back.

“Guys!” I shouted. “Colt didn’t ask me to marry him. I’m pregnant!”

Everyone’s gaze came to me then they froze.

“What’d you say?” Dee whispered.

“I’m ten weeks pregnant.”

They all stared at me then Meems burst into tears, came forward and yanked me out of my chair and into her arms. Then I felt Jessie get close then Dee, everyone holding onto everyone and Jessie and Dee jumping up and down a bit.

I felt their jumps, their arms, their tears that were now coming through laughter and I suddenly wondered what Angie would have done, she’d lived to see this day. Angie, who knew how I felt about Colt before anyone because I’d confided it to her when we were eleven. Angie, who’d called me and patched things up the minute she heard Colt took me on our first date.

Angie’s life may have worn her down before it was snuffed out but I reckon this news would have lightened the load more than a little even if for just a short time. I didn’t know what to do with that knowledge so, like a lot of shit, I set it aside until there came a quiet time where I could give it to Colt, he could give me a squeeze or a kiss or do something else that only he had the magical power to do and the pain of it would melt away.

They pulled back but all of them kept a hand on me.

“Colt doesn’t know?” Jessie asked.

I shook my head. “We’re goin’ to Costa’s tonight.”