Page 31 of Offside Attraction

"Hey, guys!" Rhonda stopped next to Curtis’s wife, Sasha, and threw an arm over her shoulders. She was just so glad to be there all of a sudden. It was like she turned away from the screen playing Derek’s phone call and her night with Jordan on repeat and was now watching her favourite channel.

"You decided to honour us with your presence." Country grinned, and Jenna rolled her eyes.

“She’s only half an hour late.” Jenna pulled her into a hug. “How are you?”

Rhonda squeezed her hard and pulled back. “Great, I just had to finish packing.”

“Is this your trip to Edmonton?”

Rhonda nodded. “I leave tomorrow morning.”

Sasha sighed. “Do you ever need an assistant? Or a publicist?”

Curtis threw an arm over her shoulders. “I told you I’d take tomorrow off. You can go to the spa or something.”

“Not by myself,” Sasha groaned. “I need a girls’ weekend, but all my mom friends are busy, and you all are working.”

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “I could probably sneak away for an hour or two.”

Rhonda reached over the banister for a sparkling water from the table. Suraj saw her reaching and passed it to her. She thanked him, then opened the cap and took a sip.

“Supper’s ready!” Sharla called, and they all knew the drill. Jenna took Rhonda’s arm, and they moved to line up with Anne.

“I didn’t know if you were going to come tonight.” Anne gave her a hug. “Don’t you have to leave early?”

Rhonda nodded. “Not too early that I can’t eat pot roast and talk to you two.”

“Ah, I notice the pot roast came first.” Jenna raised an eyebrow.

“I mean . . . how can you argue with that?” Anne pointed to the steaming roasting pans Rob was setting out on the island.

Rhonda froze as a head full of blond, shaggy hair turned. Darcy was there. Only two people in front of them. She spun so he couldn’t see her face. “These Sunday suppers are so great. I’ve really missed you two.”

Jenna gave her a look. “What’s wrong?”

Rhonda scoffed. “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted you to know that.”

“You’re standing backward in the line.” Anne cocked her head to look over her shoulder.

“Only so I could talk to you instead of craning my neck.” Rhonda grinned then turned to the side to shuffle forward. “Tell me what you and Country are working on.”

Jenna was hesitant at first, but then happily launched into their recent online creator conference where they digitally met people with some of the biggest online news and broadcasting platforms. Rhonda listened and nodded, all while tryingnotto accidentally meet Darcy’s eyes as they approached the plates and cutlery.

“I have so many ideas, especially since we’re getting so many calls from agents and players,” Jenna said.

“Mm-hmm.” Rhonda reached for a paper plate, then handed two behind her for her friends.

Jenna exhaled. “Which will be hard since I’ve been doing so many renovations lately.” Rhonda nodded and grabbed a napkin. “And I’ve got so much furniture to buy.”

Rhonda was about to nod a second time then stopped. She blinked and met Jenna’s eyes, and her mouth dropped.

“Are you?—?”

Before Ann could finish, Jenna put a finger to her lips. “Shh. We’re not telling everyone yet. But I couldn’t keep it from you guys a second longer.”

Rhonda pursed her lips, willing herself not to throw her plate on the ground and scream in excitement. Jenna and Country had been trying to adopt since the second they got married that summer. They’d looked into every option, but Jenna hadn’t heard anything since they’d fostered a six-week-old baby for a few weeks at the beginning of September. “You’re serious?” she hissed.

Jenna nodded, her eyes glassy as she motioned for Rhonda to turn and dish up.Holy shit.Jenna and Country were having a baby. She wanted to ditch the supper and drag Jenna outside for all the details. Before she could drop the plate, she looked up. Darcy was staring straight at her. He knew.Damn it, he knew.She hadn’t said two words to Darcy since he came back, and that was a full onlook.

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