That Baby: A Small Town, Friends-to-Lovers Romance (That Boy Series Book 3)

Since Danny hired Joey to run his nonprofit, he and Chelsea are in town, looking for a place to live. Phillip and I worked until noon and then spent the rest of the day taking them on a tour of some of the neighborhoods they are going to look at tomorrow with a realtor.

“I’m starved!” Chelsea says, grabbing a menu as we all slide into a booth at our favorite sports bar.

“She’s not kidding,” Joey teases. “Stand back when the food comes, or you might get your hand bitten off.”

“Not funny,” she says, but she’s laughing along with him.

“We need appetizers, stat,” Phillip says to the waitress. “We have two hungry, pregnant women here.”

The waitress chuckles and takes our order.

“So, did you have any favorite areas?” I ask.

“We really like this area,” Joey says. “Lots of restaurants. Close to everything. Good schools. Even though that might not matter to us now, my dad says it’s important for your resale value to buy in a good school district.”

“The one I like best online is near the park, too. I hope we like it as much in person.”

A text flashes on my phone.

Danny: Lori is in labor. We’re at the hospital. This is it! It’s time!

Me: Are you sure?

Danny: Yep. Her water broke, so we’ll be meeting the little monkey within the next twenty-four hours.

Me: That’s amazing, Danny! Are you nervous?

Danny: The weird thing is that Lori was on medicine to stop her labor, and now that her water broke and she should be in labor, she’s not. They have her walking the halls, trying to get it started. If it doesn’t progress on its own, then they will give her something to start the contractions. But I have a problem.

Me: What’s that?

Danny: We don’t have the bag we packed for the hospital. When her water broke, we were out. We called the doctor, and he told us to go straight to the hospital. Lori is sorta freaking out about not being able to follow her birth plan. Is there any way you could bring it here?

Me: Of course we can.

Danny: Thank you. It’s by the front door. We’re in room 320.

Me: Good luck, Danny.

I announce to the table, “Danny and Lori are at the hospital. Her water broke.”

“That’s awesome!” Chelsea says, but then she looks at the table and does a little frown.

I told her most of what had happened with Lori in confidence because I truly needed a girlfriend to talk to about it. She feels the same way I do. Lori owes me an apology, not excuses.

“He needs me to pick up their hospital bag and take it to them.”

“You guys stay here and eat,” Phillip says. “I’ll run home, grab the bag, let Angel pee, drop the bag off, and meet you back here. Sound good?”

I let out a sigh. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath. “I am hungry.”

He leans over, gives me a kiss, and heads out.

Actually, I’m really not that hungry. I just sorta didn’t want to take Lori anything.

But then I internally chastise myself for being a shitty friend.

When Phillip gets back, Joey’s had enough beers for all of us, and Chelsea and I are stuffed.

“Their kitchen is never going to be done before they get home. It’s too bad,” Phillip says. “I wouldn’t want to have to take a baby home to that mess.”

“I wonder if we can make it happen,” I say, a plan slowly forming in my head.

“Make what happen?” Chelsea asks as she’s perusing the dessert menu.

“I’m going to step outside for a minute. Make a couple of phone calls.”

The first person I call is the contractor who’s working on our building.

“Hey, Mike. It’s Jadyn. Big favor. Do you think you could get a crew together to finish a kitchen remodel?”

“Maybe. How soon are we talking?”

“It needs to be done in the next thirty-six hours.”

“Wow, that’s fast! What is there to do?”

“Well, the flooring and cabinets are in, but the door fronts aren’t on. The countertop is in but not the backsplash. Electrical and plumbing are complete, but the appliances are sitting in the garage, and the light fixtures aren’t hung. Then, there are the finishing touches, like putting on the cabinet pulls, hanging curtains, decorating.”

“What’s the rush?”

“It’s my friend Danny Diamond’s kitchen, and he—”

“The Danny Diamond?”

“Yeah. His wife just went into labor. This remodel was supposed to have been done last week, but they had some electrical issues that set them back. I just can’t have them coming home to a mess with their new baby. I’ll get ahold of the designer. Do you think we could all meet at their house, like, in an hour? Will that work?”

“I can do it, but it’s gonna cost you.”

“I figured. Offer them double overtime.”

I know Danny would gladly pay anything to have it done, but I don’t plan on asking him. I know Mr. Diamond will let me take it out of my trust. Surely, he wouldn’t want his grandchild to go home to that.

“That will help get them there,” he says.

I give him the address. “See you soon.”

Next, I call their interior designer, who calls her construction crew. They all agree to meet me and seem up for the challenge.

Then, I call the one woman who I know could probably pull this off single-handedly. “Hey, it’s JJ.”

“Did you hear the good news? Lori is in labor,” Phillip’s mom says.

“Any chance you’d like to come visit me tomorrow?”

“What do you need?” she asks, so I tell her.