The Green Lace Corset, стр. 54

Of course, Anne’s phone rang right away. Pootie would try to get the news out of her. Knowing her, Anne figured Pootie might even guess the moment she heard Anne’s voice, then blab it all around town.

Anne let it ring through, then checked Pootie’s voice mail. “What’s up, buttercup? Call me right away.”

Anne ignored the message. After a few minutes, Pootie texted again:

Are you pregnant?

Anne lied: No.

Pootie: Cancer.

Anne: NO.

Pootie: Really getting married this time?

Anne: No. Just set up the call, and I’ll tell you all then.

Pootie: Tell me now.

Anne: Just set it up for 6:30 your time.

Later that afternoon, she brushed her hair, put it up in a scrunchie, and added Avon lipstick. She set up her laptop, held her lucky key in her hand, and dialed the number.

On the plaid couch, Baby Brian perched on Pootie’s lap. “Hi, Annie!” he squealed, and waved.

Anne waved back. He sure had grown since the last time she’d seen him, a few months earlier. Aunt Tootie sat beside Pootie, and Big Brian stood behind her in his heating-and-air-conditioning company’s T-shirt.

“Mom, where are you? Move over so I can see you!” Anne yelled.

Her mom moved closer to Tootie. “Can you see me now? What’s going on?”

It felt comforting to see her. She’d curled her hair and had put on full makeup. “Yes.” Anne hesitated and put a hand on her stomach. “I’m having a baby.”

The whole family clapped and hollered, including Baby Brian.

Her mom had the biggest smile she’d ever seen. “That’s wonderful, dear. I didn’t know you were back with Sergio. When’re you getting married?”

“We’re not. He’s staying in New York.”

“I don’t understand. If you’re broken up, how did . . .” Her mom paused. “Are you not getting along?”

“We’re great friends”—Friends with benefits?—“and are in contact all the time. We’ll probably coparent or something. Sorry to disappoint you again.” Her mother had been so disheartened when Anne had left Michigan and never moved back.

Aunt Tootie hooted, “Don’t fret. Your mother never tied the knot with your father, either.”

“What?” Anne put her hand to her chest.

Her mom pouted at her not-quite-sister-in-law. “In my heart, we were married. The wedding was planned for when he returned from overseas. He just never came back was all.” Her mom wept, and Tootie handed her a tissue.

“Why did you lie to me all this time?” Anne reached for a Kleenex too.

“Times were different then. A woman was disgraced if she had a baby out of wedlock, so I added the wedding band on my finger with the engagement ring your father had given me, and I never looked back.”

“I’m the only other one in town who knew,” Aunt Tootie said. “We pretended they’d had a quick ceremony before he left.”

“I can’t believe it.” Anne felt her mouth gaping.

“Nowadays, plenty of women have babies without a husband. I raised you okay, didn’t I?”

Anne wished she could reach through the screen and give her mother a big hug. “Yes, you did. You were—you are—the best mom ever.”

“I always meant to tell you, but the moment just never seemed right.”

“What about Sergio? Did you miss your chance to marry him?” Baby Brian wiggled on Pootie’s lap, and she handed him over to Tootie.

“Not really. It’s complicated.” Anne didn’t feel like explaining it all to them. They probably wouldn’t understand, anyway.

“When are you due?” Tootie asked.

“Mid-January.”

“I’ll book a flight right away.” Her mom smiled.

“You mean you’ll come out here for the birth?”

“Of course I will!”

Anne felt relief for the second time that day. “Mom, that means the world to me. I know how you hate to travel.”

“I won’t miss the birth of my grandchild.”

Tootie put an arm around her and asked Anne, “What do you plan to do? You can’t raise a child out there all alone.”

Anne didn’t like the way everyone kept saying she was alone. “I’m not sure.”

Her mom’s eyes lit up. “Move home, and we’ll all raise her together.”

“I don’t think so.” Anne didn’t want to move there any more than she wanted to move to New York.

“It’ll be so much fun.”

“Over and out.” Anne said goodbye.

Small-town Michigan had been a great place to grow up and continued to be a good place to raise children. What if her mother’s suggestion wasn’t the worst idea after all?

The next afternoon, the buzzer rang. Anne spoke into the intercom. “Yes.”

“UPS delivery.”

She ran down the stairs, and the man handed her a big box addressed to Bigfoot. It reminded her of the time Sergio had sent her the Ferragamos right after they’d met. He could be so romantic. He must be feeling bad about his reaction. Going up the stairs, she gently pushed Thai out of the way and pictured stylish maternity clothes or sweet baby outfits.

In the apartment she pried the package open with scissors. Inside were three jars labeled GIVE, SAVE, SPEND in Sergio’s all-caps writing. What the heck? She sifted through the box and at the bottom found a thin paperback book, The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money. The cover had a photo of jars with labels like the ones he’d sent.

She tried not to cry. Was this some kind of joke? Was he alluding to the fact that she’d never been good with money?

She texted Sergio: I got the package. Thank you. I think?

Sergio: The author is from the New York Times. It’s based on research. The hottest new thing.

Anne: But the baby won’t even be getting an allowance for years yet.

Sergio: I know, but it’s never too early to start planning.

Anne didn’t reply. She tossed the book across the room, picked up one of the jars to smash in the sink, and paused. What a disaster it would be to clean up. She put the jar back in the box. Sergio didn’t have a clue what she was dealing with here. She never wanted to see him again.