Baby Business. Brenda Novak

not living here yet. I still have five days. And I want every one of them.” She turned her back on the offending refrigerator and reached above the sink to make herself a cup of coffee, but she found a note there, too. “Caffeine causes birth defects,” it said in big block letters.

      Lisa started laughing so hard she had to sit down.

      “I can’t believe you,” Macy complained. “You’ve been on his side from the beginning.”

      “I’d love to see what he’s done to the liquor cabinet.”

      “You know I don’t have a liquor cabinet. The most I ever drink is an occasional glass of wine.”

      “Then tell him you have some Jack Daniel’s stashed away and let him knock himself out trying to find it. That would be a fitting revenge, don’t you think?”

      The telephone rang, but Macy made no move to answer it. At this hour, it had to be Thad…or the hospital. Her heart skipped a beat at the second possibility, and she dived for the receiver. “Hello?”

      “Macy?”

      Thad. She made a face into the phone, but was actually grateful it wasn’t the hospital. “I see you’ve been in my house again.”

      “You had nothing but baking soda in your fridge. How can a person survive on baking soda?”

      “Okay, that’s it.” Macy set the phone on the table and marched through the living room to the front door, where she promptly removed the spare key from under the mat and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans.

      “Hello? Macy?” Thad was saying when she picked up the phone again.

      “I’m back.”

      “Where did you go?”

      “To remove your invitation to enter my house.”

      He whistled. “It’s a good thing I know you like me. Otherwise, my feelings might get hurt.”

      “Yeah, you sound pretty broken up.”

      His laugh rumbled in her ear, and she pictured him lying back in an easy chair, watching the television she heard droning in the background. “I guess I called at a bad time. I just wanted to see if you’d like to go with me when I buy your ring tomorrow. I mean, you’re the one who has to wear it for nine months.”

      “No.” He was buying her a ring? Macy hadn’t even thought about those kinds of details. Was there something she should be doing to prepare for Saturday? How far were they going to take this sham of a marriage? “I have to study for finals,” she said, letting go of some of her anger.

      “So, any kind of ring is fine?”