“Are you cold?” Juliana started to rise from her seat. “No, but I feel distinctly naked.”

Juliana sat back down. “Touché.”


“Who do you tell your secrets to? Who listens to the listener?”

“Hmm, good question. Baylor, I suppose. She’s the one who listens to all my insanity.”

Hobie saw the opportunity and carefully baited the hook. “Have you and Baylor known each for a very long time?”

“We met as kids.” Juliana’s voice seemed tight, which didn’t go unnoticed by Hobie.

“I’m sorry, do you feel uncomfortable talking about this?” Juliana smiled. “No apology necessary. I’m sorry if I seemed abrupt. I guess I feel a little strange talking about Baylor to you.” “Strange...to me?” Hobie stammered. Oh, God. What did Baylor tell her? Maybe she warned her about giving me personal info. What if Baylor put Jules up to asking me out just to get me out of her hair? Have I been a pest? Wait a minute, Hob. Baylor is the one who’s always nipping at your heels whenever you turn around.

It’s like she’s following you. Don’t get paranoid here. “Hello?” Juliana tried to make eye contact with Hobie. She didn’t want to admit that she was a little worried about her glazed-over expression.

“Geez, I’m sorry. I was in another ZIP code for a minute there.”

“More like another time zone.” Juliana laughed. “Sorry. Where were we?”

“I think you were going to tell me about your work.”


Hobie raised one eyebrow. Juliana felt her heart twitch slightly. It was an exact reproduction of Baylor’s trademark move, and when Baylor used it, it was never a good thing.

“No,” Hobie drawled slowly. “You were about to tell me why you feel uncomfortable telling me about Baylor.” She wasn’t certain what was going on, but it was apparent that she had done something to shake Juliana’s usually unflappable demeanor.

“I was?” Juliana struggled to remember how the conversation had suddenly gone so wrong. Only a moment ago, she’d been nicely in control, and now Hobie had taken charge. She’d not given Hobie enough credit. Evelyn had been explicit in her instructions, telling Juliana not to interfere directly when it came to Hobie and Baylor. Juliana remembered laughing when she had said that manipulation was okay, but actually talking about the relationship with either woman was a bad thing.

Juliana unfastened the top button of her blouse. It had suddenly grown warm inside the restaurant. “Well...”

Hobie decided to put an end to her own doubts. Whatever Baylor Warren felt for her, it was a sure bet that Juliana knew what it was. She reached across the table and covered Juliana’s hand with her own. “Jules, tell me something about Baylor. Something maybe she’s keeping hidden.”

“Um...she doesn’t like peas?”


Maybe it was the nervous tension or perhaps it was that Juliana could be as charming as Baylor ever was, but Hobie smiled. Then she laughed, and Juliana laughed with her.

“You are as bad as she is, you know that?” “Oh, now, there’s no need to insult me.” “Do you play golf?” Hobie asked suddenly.

“Golf? Yeah, I try to get in a few holes when I can. Why?” Hobie smiled at her suddenly suspicious expression. “Let’s go have some fun. You know, forget about Baylor and everyone who makes us crazy. What do you say?”

Juliana realized that Hobie was indeed like her sister, who could find a way to have fun in the middle of a snowstorm. Juliana showed off her perfect smile again. “I’m game if you are.”

“Great. Let’s go.”


“Wait a minute,” Juliana called out as she tossed some bills onto the table. “Where are we going?”

“A place I know where we can be kids again. Come on.” Hobie took Juliana’s hand and pulled her along.



“What do you say, Bubba? Ya got room for one more piece?” Baylor and Noah sat on the floor surrounded by empty soda bottles and a cardboard pizza carton.

“I’m gonna explode, I think.”


Baylor chuckled. “I’m with you. I can barely move.” “Hey, Baylor?”

“What’s up?”


“Do you like my mom?”


“Of course I like her. Did you think I didn’t?” Baylor stretched and lay on her stomach, cupping her chin in the palms of her hands.

Noah mimicked her posture. “I mean do you like her, like her? Like for a girlfriend.”


Geez, kids are way more advanced nowadays. The funny thing about Noah’s question was that Baylor felt none of the panic she had when standing before Hobie, faced with the same question. It was as if Noah was a pal, like Juliana. She didn’t feel that lying to the youngster was even an option. “Yeah,” Baylor said. “I do like her.” “Cool.”

“That doesn’t bother you or anything?”


Noah grinned, displaying his perfect baby teeth. “No way, man! You’re so cool, Baylor. I wish you lived here all the time. Anyway, I think Mom likes you, too.”

“Really?” As usual, Baylor’s ears were at attention with that statement. “Did she actually say that she liked me?” I am so pathetic. Milking a six-year-old for info about his mother.


“She didn’t really say so, but she acts like it. You can kinda tell when Mom doesn’t like ya. She goes around the house yellin’ your name.”

“Has she ever yelled my name?” “Nope. You should tell her.” “Yeah, well, about that...”

“You afraid?” “Yep.”

“I know how you feel.”


“Are you sure you’re only six years old?” Baylor asked with an amused grin.

“Uh-huh.”


“So what makes you so knowledgeable?” “Huh?”

“How do you know how I feel?” she translated.


“Madison Riley. She’s in Mrs. London’s class with me. She’s super pretty and she’s nice, too. She says hi to me every day at the monkey bars.”

“What do you want to do about Miss Riley?”


“I don’t know. Ask her if she’ll sit with me at lunch?” “That’s a good start, Bubba.” Baylor was relieved to know

that at six, that was all Noah knew how to do with a girl. She was constantly amazed to hear the language and sexual propositions from the mouths of ten-year-old boys when she walked down Chicago streets. She thought back to her own youth. Her sexual career had begun much too early by most accounts.

“Why don’t you just tell this girl? Go right up to her and ask her to eat lunch with you.” Baylor rolled over onto her back. She rested her hands on her stomach, and when she turned to look at Noah, she saw that he had again imitated her pose. Both of his eyebrows raised above his wire-rimmed glasses at Baylor’s question.

She laughed. “Point taken. Are you sure you’re only six?” “Yes,” Noah said before he burst into a fit of giggles.

“I guess it’s because you’re scared, huh?”


“Yep. What if she thinks I’m a goof? What if she laughs?” “What if she doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Yeah.”


“What do you think we…I mean, you should do?”


“Um...I could wait. Maybe if she likes me, she’ll say something first.”

“Nah.” Baylor shook her head dejectedly. “You can’t do that, Bubba. Trust me on this one. Your girl will end up going on a date with your best friend.”

“Huh?”


“I mean lunch. She’ll end up eating lunch with someone else.”

“Oh. What should I do?”


“You’re gonna have to tell her.” Baylor realized that she was talking to herself. “If you like this girl, I mean really like her, then you’ve got to speak up. You might be scared, it may even feel like you can’t breathe or you’re going to throw up, but you have to suck it up and tell her. See, the crazy thing is, she’s probably just as scared as you are. Yeah, I bet that’s it. Maybe she’s afraid that you don’t feel the same way she does. One of you has to say something, though. I guess it all comes down to how badly you want her.”

“I guess I can try. I sure hope I don’t throw up on her, though.”

“Yeah,” Baylor chuckled. “Take my word for it, they don’t like when you do that. Hey, Bubba, can I ask you a question?”

“Yep.”


“What else do you know about your dad?” “He’s 965-2338.”

“I know that you know his number, but what else can you tell me about him?”

“Nothing.” “Nothing at all?” “Well...”

“What is it? What do you know?”


“Follow me.” Noah jumped to his feet and ran off toward his mother’s bedroom.

Baylor hesitantly walked in as Noah was struggling to push a wooden chair up to the open closet. She felt as though she was violating Hobie’s privacy by being there. She looked around nervously. “What the devil are you up to over there?”

Noah put a large, thick book on the chair and began to scale his self-made mountain. Baylor rushed up behind him to hold him steady.

“Thanks,” Noah said. “Here it is!” He scrambled back down and laid a brown folder on his mother’s desk. He pulled out an envelope and removed its contents, then smoothed the paper as if it were a map to some long-buried treasure.

“Mom showed me it once and said this was my dad. She doesn’t know I figured out where she keeps it. You won’t tell, will ya?”

Baylor looked down at the paper and smiled. In fact, her smile couldn’t get much bigger or brighter or happier. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

They looked down at the faded page. In the center, someone had taped a white appointment reminder card. On the card, two dates had been handwritten under the headings “first insemination” and “second insemination.” Lastly, there was the number that Noah had so dutifully memorized: Sperm Donor #965-2338.