Indy stared at her. “You’re crazy. I know you want to be a mom, but have you considered
how hard it will be to do it all alone? There will be so much you won’t be able to
do.”
Kate interjected, “Indy has a point. I’m in the thick of it. I can’t go to a movie
whenever I want. The thought of a vacation brings chills. I can’t remember the last
time I went shopping for myself where I got to try things on before purchasing them.”
Quinn turned toward Kate. “But would you change anything?” Kate smiled. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“See?” Quinn turned back to Indy. “That look on Kate’s face? I want that.” She took
a deep breath before continuing. “This is not the life I planned. I’m supposed to
be married with a couple of kids and a house in the suburbs by now. Nothing I’ve been
doing has worked, so I’ve developed an alternate plan.”
“But you’re alone,” Kate said. “Regardless of how rocky my marriage is, I have Mark
to fall back on. His paycheck allows me to stay at home with the kids. If I need to
run out in the middle of the night for Tylenol because a kid is sick, he’s there.
I have support.”
“You said yourself Mark doesn’t do a whole lot when it comes to the kids. He loves
them and plays with them, but you’re the one who takes them to school and the doctor.
You’re the one who takes care of them when they’re sick. What is his involvement?”
Kate’s eyelids lowered and she shrugged.
Indy moved forward. “She at least has a sense of help. If it was really important,
Mark would step up.”
“Millions of women are single moms and they manage. They manage with little or no
education, a low-paying job, and no benefits. I’m already so far ahead of so many
people. I can handle this. I’m not naïve. I joined an online loop for single moms
a few weeks ago. It’s opened up their world to me.”
Quinn went to her desk and pulled out her master schedule and plan. “Look. I’ve thought
it all through.”
“What the hell is that?” Indy asked.
“It’s my plan. I started with conception dates because really, everything hinges on
that.” She pointed to the calendars coded in yellow, purple, and green. “These show
the dates I can conceive and have a summer baby. If I give birth over the summer,
I don’t have to take any time off work. If I come too close to the start of the school
year, I have sick days saved that I can use, but with any luck, I’ll get pregnant
earlier and have the whole summer with my baby.”
“What about the cost? Most families are struggling with two incomes.”
Indy obviously thought she was an idiot. “I have enough money saved that I can try
to get pregnant three times. The odds aren’t in my favor. It takes an average of six
times, but I’m hoping I won’t need that. Insurance covers the actual pregnancy.”
She flipped the page to show her income and expenditures. “The only thing that I’m
iffy on is whether I should sell the loft and get a small house or stay here for a
couple of years. Sooner or later, I’m going to want a house and a yard for my kid.”
Kate moved closer to inspect the charts, graphs, and lists. “You definitely did your
homework.”
Indy shook her head. “I think you’re nuts. You need to make sure you’ve lived all
the life you want before you trap yourself. Even if it is a trap of your own making.”
“Nothing’s definite yet. I haven’t talked to a specialist. I’ve been doing research.
Did you know for five hundred dollars I can order sperm online? Not only that, but
I can choose a guy’s height, weight, eye and hair color, education, race, and nationality?
It’s insane. Click-click and I choose a father who looks like me.”
“No way,” Kate said.
“Seriously. I spent a good hour the other night playing around with it.”
Indy shook her head. “I think you need to spend more time with kids and less playing
who’s the baby’s daddy.”
“I have plenty of experience with kids. I babysat all through high school and college.
But just to prove to the two of you that it’s no big deal, I’m offering to take Kate’s
kids for a while. No big deal.”
Kate’s eyes lit. “Name the time and they’ll be here.”
Quinn continued to lay out her plan. “I’ve planned out the timing for this. If I take
my vacation in early August, I can come home, choose my donor, and inseminate by the
beginning of the school year.” She sipped on her drink and waited for Indy’s next
blast.
“What’s your hurry? You have plenty of time.”
“I told you before. I’m tired of waiting for life to happen. I’m going after what
I want, but I’m still researching to figure out what the best course of action is
for me.”
One side of Indy’s mouth lifted. “I know you. If you’re bringing it up to us, you’ve
already made up your mind.”
Quinn bit her lip. “The more I look into it, the more people I talk to, the more excited
I get. The prospect of having a baby and being a mom makes me feel like I’ve found
the missing component in my life.”
Kate reached out and covered Quinn’s hand. “We’re here for you.”
“Good, because I need help with a couple of things on the list,” Quinn answered.
“What’s next?”
“I need a karaoke bar, somewhere to pose nude, and a summer romance. And I need to
figure out where to take my vacation.”
“Sure, let me whip out my phone book,” Indy responded.
“You don’t need to be sarcastic. I’m looking for ideas. Obviously my usual way of
doing things isn’t working. I should get bonus points for asking for help instead
of finding the easy way.”
“Go to the Art Institute and some other local colleges. They might have a bulletin
board advertising for models for the art classes.” Kate put her drink down and swiveled
off her chair. “I’ll be right back. The kids are too quiet. They must’ve gotten into
something.”
“Let’s talk vacations. What kind of atmosphere are you looking for?” Indy asked.
“I have no idea. I suppose it would depend on whether or not I find my summer romance
before I go on my trip.”
“You’re supposed to go alone. That’s the deal.”
“I know. But if I don’t have a summer romance, I’ll be depressed, so I’ll need someplace
to cheer me up. A place with a high male-to-female ratio so I can find someone there,
so I can have a quickie romance.”
Kate came back to the counter.
“Kids okay?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah, they were smelling the beautiful daisies on the table and pretending their
Little People were getting married. It was kind of cute.” She took a drink. “I say
regardless of whether or not you find a man, you go somewhere fun.”
“Like?”
“The Bahamas,” Indy offered.
“I don’t think I want beach. I don’t know if I’ll have to start taking hormones. What
if they make me feel bloated and fat? No swimsuits.”
The buzzer sounded and Kyra shot up again. “I’ll get it.”
Indy looked at Quinn. “Expecting someone?”
Quinn shook her head. “You guys.”
“Who is it?” Kyra asked into the intercom.
“This is Ryan. Is Quinn home?”
“Yeah,” Kyra answered, but didn’t move to buzz him up.
“Can I come up?”
“I don’t know.” Kyra looked over at Quinn.
“Let him in, Kyra. He’s a friend.”
“Spending a lot of time with your
friend,
aren’t you?” Indy leaned forward, expecting juicy gossip.
Quinn turned back to the blender. “I spend a lot of time with you, too, and you’re
nothing special.”
“Hey, Auntie. He’s not on the elevator,” Kyra called from the hall.
“He always takes the stairs. Give him a few minutes.” Right after she said it, she
heard the stairwell door clunk.
“Hi,” Ryan’s voice echoed in the hall. “I’m Ryan. Who are you?”
“I’m Kyra.”
“Nice to meet you, Kyra. Can I go in to see Quinn?”
“Sure.” Kyra reentered the loft, tugging Ryan behind her.
He looked around the open space. Quinn tried to imagine how he would view it. In the
short time they’d been there, Kate’s kids had managed to make a huge mess in her living
room. Toys and crayons were scattered across the floor.
Kyra released his hand and closed the door. Ryan carefully stepped over toys and around
toddlers. Nicole looked up and smiled at him. He wiggled his fingers at her and she
waved back.
“Hi, Ryan.” Indy got off her stool and kissed his cheek. “It’s been a while.”
“Hi.” He nodded to Kate. “I’m guessing the kids are yours?”
“You guess right. You met Kyra in the hall. That’s Thomas and Nicole,” she said, pointing
to each child.
“Hi.” Quinn finally turned away from the blender. The last time she’d seen Ryan, she
practically threw herself at him. It didn’t matter that they’d shared a friendly dinner
afterward, the embarrassment still hung around her. So did the flurry of heat in remembering
the kiss. “What brings you by?”
“I wanted to give you this.” He slid a flyer on the counter next to the chips.
She picked up the glossy paper with writing in deep blue and purple: T
HE
T
WILIGHT
C
LUB. “
What’s this?”
“It’s a good blues bar, but once a month, it’s karaoke night. Next Thursday is the
next night.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, aren’t you a knight in shining armor,” Indy purred.
“Huh?” He took a chip, slathered it in dip, and popped it in his mouth.
“We were discussing this list and Quinn’s plan of attack. By my count, you’ve helped
her with roughly half the list.”
He popped another chip in. “I’m doing what any friend would. I’ve offered to help
with the second half of the list, but she declined.”
Indy laughed.
Quinn’s face warmed.
“So what’s next on the list?” he asked.
Indy answered, “We were telling Quinn where she should go—”
Quinn saw the glint in Indy’s eyes and cut her off. “On vacation.” She did not want
Ryan’s help figuring out where to pose nude.
“She needs to go somewhere alone,” Kate said.
“And it can’t be job-related,” Indy tossed in.
“A job-related vacation?” Ryan asked.
“Whenever she goes on vacation, she explores things she can go back and teach. She’ll
visit the graves of dead authors and stuff. This needs to be about her.” Indy’s smile
held something devious. Quinn was afraid to wonder what.
“How about Vegas?”
“No,” all the women said in unison.
“Whoa.” Ryan put his hands up. “Just a suggestion. Nothing academic in Vegas.”
“I don’t do Vegas,” Quinn said grimly.
Ryan eased his hip against the last free stool. “Why not?” “Nick and I were married
in Vegas.”
Ryan choked on a chip. “
You
got married in Vegas?”
“Yes.” Quinn turned her back on them and wiped off the counter. “You want a margarita?”
“No, thanks.”
Quinn gulped her margarita. She hated talking about Nick and her pathetic wedding
and marriage. It seemed so romantic at the time. A whirlwind romance, a cross-country
drive. They landed in Vegas and got married in a little white chapel.
She hadn’t done anything spontaneous since.
“Let’s think of some other places to go. Florida?” Kate nudged them forward in conversation.
With her composure regained, Quinn turned back to her guests. “I am not going to Disney
World alone.”
“There’s more to Florida than Disney World,” Kate said.
“Yeah, beaches. No, I want something different.”
“New York.” Indy’s eyes lit. “There’s shopping, night life, shopping, restaurants,
shopping . . .”
“Crowds, rude people, and I don’t like to shop that much.”
Kate rested her chin in her hand. “How about Niagara Falls?”
Quinn crossed her arms over her midsection. “I want to go there, but I’m saving it.”
“For what?”
“It’s where my mom and dad had their honeymoon.” She sighed. “I always hoped I could
go there on mine too.”
Indy pushed away from the counter. “I think it’s time to have intelligent conversation.
I’m going to talk to the kids.”
Quinn’s eyes closed and she shook her head. She hated not being able to mention her
parents in front of Indy.
Kate’s voice was full of sympathy. “Don’t worry. She’ll be fine. You know how she
gets when it comes to your parents.”
“New Orleans,” Ryan blurted.
Quinn and Kate both looked at him.