girl, how ya feeling?”
“Don’t ask.”
“You’re a better woman than me.”
“Listen, I was hoping the three of us could get together this afternoon.”
“Hmm, what time? Me and Nick were getting ready to fix something to eat.”
“You mean, Nick is fixing something to eat.”
Dani giggled. “Don’t hate.”
“How about four at The Shop? Maybe by then my stomach will have settled down to a quiet roar.”
The digital clock on the nightstand illuminated eleven.
“Sounds good. Did you call Mia?”
“No, not yet. Would you mind? It’s going to take me a while to get myself together as it is, and I don’t need Mia slowing me down by needing all the details of a simple late lunch.”
The friends laughed. Of the trio, Mia Turner was the organizer—to a fault. As head of her own events management business, she was a stickler for planning each and every move. Although it was an outrageously annoying habit, her obsession with order and detail always ultimately paid off.
“Sure. I’ll do that as soon as we finish. What’s up, anyway? Just need to get out?”
“Actually it’s a little more than that.” She lowered her voice and got off the side of the bed to make sure Blake was still parked securely in front of the television. She closed the bedroom door. “I have another assignment, and I need yours and Mia’s help.”
Mia Turner had been up since daybreak. She fixed a spectacular breakfast for her and Steve—homemade Belgian waffles; egg-white omelets filled with mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers and cheddar cheese; fresh orange juice and an incredible Turkish coffee that she’d received from one of her corporate clients as a thank-you gift.
Of the trio it had always been efficient Mia who hadn’t had a man in her life. Savannah had Blake and before Danielle finally starting playing house with Nick, she always had men to keep her warm and well tuned.
Mia had always known about Steve Long: she’d seen him from a distance from time to time, since he and Savannah’s husband, Blake, were tight buddies and business partners. But they’d never spent any time together, and it had never occurred to Mia to do so. It wasn’t until she’d planned a get-together, with Steve being an invited guest, that they both realized what they’d been missing. They’d been an item ever since, and Mia couldn’t have been happier.
Steve left shortly after breakfast for a game of tennis, and Mia decided to get a jump start on the week. She went into her immaculate office, where not a paper clip was out of place, and settled down for a few hours of planning. She had several corporate clients that were planning major conferences as well as restaurant locations that she needed to set up for more intimate meetings.
She turned on her seventeen-inch flat-screen computer and quickly clicked on her color-coded spread sheet program; then she opened up another program window, this one with a grid of Manhattan.
Just as she started plugging in information, her phone rang. It was Dani.
“Hey, girl, what’s up?” Mia kept her attention on the screen while she talked to Dani on speaker.
“I hate that damned speakerphone! Makes me sound like I’m underwater.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.”
“Can you please just stop doing what you’re doing and pay attention to me for a minute?”
“You know, you sound like a whiny five-year-old,” Mia said, taking the call off speaker. “Better now?”
“Much,” Dani said with a huff.
“So what is it? You’re breaking my flow.”
“Savannah just called. She wants us to get together around four at The Shop.”
Mia frowned. That was not on her agenda for the day. She’d have to rearrange things to make that happen. If there was one thing that worked Mia’s nerves more than anything, it was surprises that knocked off her schedule and her plans.
“Well, okay. I’ll have to shift around a few things. Why today? Did she say what it was about? Our get togethers are always planned in advance…”
“Dang, Mia. This is the best advance notice we can give. Five damned hours. Now do whatever it is that you do to get yourself in gear, and we’ll see you there at four.”
Mia huffed with indignation. “You don’t have to be nasty…I was just saying…”
She almost sounded hurt, Dani thought. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to snap. You know my mouth sometimes. Anyway, Savannah said it was important.” She paused. “She needs our help.”
Mia knew exactly what that meant.
Chapter 2
For four o’clock on a Sunday, The Shop, located in the West Village, was pretty crowded. The hum of conversation interspersed with bits of laughter floated over the pulse of some nondescript listening music.
Although she’d complained about the disruption in her day, Mia was, of course, the first to arrive and had secured their favorite booth in the back. She was sipping on a mimosa when Dani walked in looking like a super-model, followed moments later by Savannah, whose petite frame was getting plumper by the day.
“Movin’ kinda slow there, sis,” Dani teased, as Savannah lowered herself into the seat next to Mia.
Savannah put her purse on her lap and took off her sunglasses, setting them on the table. “Don’t make fun. It ain’t funny,” she grumbled over a half smile.
Mia put her arm around Savannah’s shoulder and pulled her in for a short hug. “At least you look cute.”
That much was true. Much like Danielle, Savannah loved to dress, and being pregnant only upped the ante. She was determined that the worse she felt, the better she would look. No expense was spared when it came to her wardrobe.
Today, she wore a bolero sweater, cuffed at the elbow, in a sea-moss green that sparkled in the sunlight, over an empire shirt in the same color, with tight accordion pleats that fell just to the waistband of her designer jeans, and a pair of emerald-green ankle boots in butter-soft suede.
“Thanks. And thanks for coming.”
“No problem,” the duo murmured.
Dani flipped open a menu. “So whatsup?”
Savannah leaned forward. Dani and Mia drew closer.
“I got another assignment.”
“We figured as much,” Dani said. “So how can we help?”
“I got major grief from Jean about pulling you two in the last time around.
