Page 52 of Hot Momosa

Dahlia

There wassomething magical about a toddler’s laugh. Young children laughed with their entire beings. Unlike adults, the world hadn’t taught them to give a damn about what others thought.

If only I could borrow a little of that joy.

I slid a grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate and handed it to Maggie. She cut it into triangles, added a handful of sliced bananas, and set it in front of Gunnar.

He stopped giggling long enough to pop a piece of fruit into his mouth. “Ketchup. Please.”

Ella tilted her head to the side. “Ketchup, too.”

Shanna wrinkled her nose and squirted the sugary red condiment onto each of their plates.

“More here.” He pointed to an empty spot on his plate.

Shanna added a bit more, and the bottle made a rude sound.

The kiddos burst into peals of laughter. Even little Rocco let loose a belly laugh that had the adults in the room giggling along with him.

“Mommy. Potty.” Ella scrambled down from the chair, leaving a bright red smear on the upholstery.

Maggie moved like the wind, grabbing the child from behind, and hurrying down the hall.

Shanna cringed. “Suddenly I understand why my grandparents covered their furniture with plastic.”

“Stain guard is a godsend, but try to talk Enzo into leather couches before you give birth.” I handed her a grilled cheese. “Better yet, before your water breaks.”

“Thanks for that mental picture.” She took a quick bite. “I’m going to keep poking around in you-know-who’s past.”

“I’d appreciate that. Honestly, I don’t know how the media hasn’t gotten a hold of his rap sheet. Or how you were able to find it so fast.”

“The charges were dropped, but the restraining order is still in effect. I’ve seen this sort of thing before. My guess is someone paid to keep the story quiet. The only reason I found it is my access to the backdoor of the state database”

“You’re a little scary.”

“Not scary. I just have friends in IT dungeons.” Shanna polished off a juice box and let lose a burp that had Gunnar giggling. “Excuse me. I’m barely pregnant, and I’ve already lost control of my bodily functions.”

“Honey, you haven’t seen anything yet,” I said, laughing.

Her expression turned dreamy—very un-Shanna-like. As if she caught herself, she shook her head and squared her shoulders. “You didn’t pick up on any red flags with Harrison?”

“None, until lunch yesterday. Even still, I thought he was pushy, not an abuser.” I’d spent a considerable amount of time with Harrison. He’d never as much as raised his voice at me, let alone a hand. I walked a fine line between asking an honest question and coming off as accusing the victim. “What do we know about his ex-wife? Could there be more to this than we know?”

Shanna’s mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious. You saw the photos I dug up.”

The images of the former Mrs. Meriwether’s bruised and swollen face had turned my stomach. However, I was having a difficult time reconciling the man I thought I knew with the monster who’d done that to his wife.

“I’m not implying she lied or deserved it or anything of the sort. I’m curious. I didn’t even know he’d been married before.” Nudging her shoulder, I whispered, “Hormonal much?”

She held her arms out wide. “And that ladies and gentlemen is how feminism died.”

“Who died?” Gunnar frowned.

“The ketchup.” She squeezed the bottle until it made the fart sound again.

Sufficiently distracted, Gunnar shook his head and shoved a hunk of banana into his mouth.

Shanna turned back to me. “Any idea where you’re going to live?”

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