Page 100 of Salty Pickle

The excitement has come down now that the gift is in my hands. Everyone realizes they misjudged the moment. Future grooms don’t hand over a box.

Even Court seems to understand something else was expected and tugs at his collar.

I open the top. Inside is a heart-shaped locket with a goat on the front. “It’s a goat necklace!” I exclaim. “Court has no hard feelings for how many times Matilda butted him with her head!”

This saves the moment. Everyone roars with laughter. I unclasp the necklace and put it around my neck. It’s a difficult reach, but Court doesn’t step forward to help.

When I continue to struggle to get it clasped, Dawn swoops in to assist.

While she’s close to me, she whispers, “I’m sorry.”

What is she sorry for? That we all thought he was proposing?

“I’m fine,” I tell her. “I haven’t known him long.”

She squeezes my shoulders. “He’ll figure it out.”

The air seems to have been let out of the party, and it slowly dwindles until there’s only me, Devin, Court, and the HR ladies.

“I’ll put the extra cookies in the breakroom,” I say, glad for an excuse to escape everyone.

I combine the leftover cookies into one box and carry it down the hall. I’m getting emotional, when I promised myself I wouldn’t.

It was totally silly to think what I did. For all of us to think it. Court was the only sane one in the room.

But even so, it was a lot of excitement for a big letdown.

I’ll be all right. We have a DNA test to do. By then, a couple more weeks will have passed, and we’ll be tested in the most intense way by caring for a newborn.

We’ll know more about our future as a couple when life get hard than we can ever figure out while things are easy.

30

COURT

The ride home on Friday is quiet.

I’m aware that I made a tactical error in bringing a jewelry box to a party when I have a pregnant woman in my life.

Our big triumph feels like a disaster, even though nobody said anything to me about it. Not Devin. Not Lucy. No one.

But I know.

As if the world wants to kick us when we’re down, we arrive at my apartment to an envelope taped to the door.

“What is that?” Lucy asks, her voice catching.

I pull out the notice.

It has come to our attention that an animal on a balcony on the east side of the building is defecating onto the street below. Extreme action, including eviction, will be enacted if this situation is not remedied immediately.

Lucy sucks in a breath. “We’re caught.”

“I don’t think so. It’s not addressed directly to us.” I glance down the hall. The closest door on our side of the hall is a considerable distance, but I see a rectangle of white taped to it. “They’re fishing for who it is. Probably every floor on this side got these.”

“But it’s just a matter of time, right? In Summer’s apartment, it was in their lease that they could come in anytime they wanted for maintenance or emergency. They could do that and find her.”

I open the door. “We’ll simply install a more solid barrier so she can’t push her butt behind the edge of the balcony. It will be all right.”

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