Operation Get Rid of Mom's New Boyfriend by E. N. Joy Page B

interrupted Bo just as he was about to head toward
the tree.
    “ Excuse me?” he asked,
halfway paying attention to the gorgeous, young woman.
    “ Do you have the time?” the
woman repeated.
    By now, Sammi and Daryn
were exiting the gorilla display, which was Joy’s cue to
frantically go running over to them. She took two huge last licks
from the cone, dropped it on the ground, and ran over to her mother
and sister. Kennedy headed in the same direction.
    All the while, Bo was
oblivious to the entire, well planned out scene that was taking
place. “It’s 2:17,” Bo told the woman.
    “ Oh, thank you, sir,” the
woman said, batting her eyes. “I’m supposed to be meeting one of my
girlfriends that I came here with outside of the gorilla display at
2:30. I came with a girlfriend because I don’t have a
boyfriend.”
    Bo raised his eyebrows at
the woman.
    “ Oh, no. It’s not what you
think. Not a girlfriend-girlfriend that a nice, handsome guy like
you might have. Speaking of which, do you have a girlfriend?” The
woman put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. “Oh, forgive me
for being so frank. Anyway, like I was saying. I’m supposed to meet
a friend of mine that’s a girl, only silly me, I forgot that I
didn’t have my watch on,” the woman babbled on, placing her hand on
Bo’s shoulder. “Luckily, the gorillas are our last pit stop. If you
ask me,” the woman said, moving in closer to Bo to speak in a
whisper, “there’s not a darn thing exciting about the boring ol’
zoo. I mean, what’s so fun about watching a bunch of animals eat,
sleep, and lick themselves?” The woman began to laugh a loud and
annoying laugh, catching everyone’s attention within earshot,
including Sammi’s and the girls’.
    Sammi had to admit that she
became a little jealous when she looked up and saw the good time Bo
appeared to be having with the woman. Right now, though, she could
only concern herself with her daughter’s well-being.
    “ Joy, are you okay?” Sammi
asked, pulling her daughter against her to hug her. At the same
time, she couldn’t help but allow her eyes to wander back over to
Bo and the woman touching him.
    “ Yes, Mommy,” Joy said
dramatically. That crash drama lesson Daryn had given her was
really paying off. Sammi sure did seem to find the entire act
believable. “I stopped to look at the baby gorilla. I guess Kennedy
and Daryn didn’t notice that I had stopped, so they kept on going
and left me.” To add a cherry on top of her performance, Joy
squeezed out some tears. “I started looking all over for them, but
I couldn’t find them anywhere inside, so I came out and just hid
behind a tree so that a stranger wouldn’t see me wandering alone
and try to snatch me.” For the finale, Joy cried out, “Oh, Mommy!”
and fell weak into her mother’s arms. “I was so scared!”
    Joy buried her face against
Sammi and pretended to weep from fear. All the while, she was
peeking over at Kennedy and Daryn grinning and holding up the
“ay-okay” sign with her thumb behind her mother’s back. Her sisters
smiled and winked back at her.
    “ Well, it’s all right now,”
Sammi comforted her youngest daughter. “It’s all right,
baby.”
    Just then, Bo walked over
after managing to shake off the desperate acting, flirty, young
woman. “I see she’s turned up and isn’t lost anymore.” Bo shot Joy
a look of disbelief as she peeled herself away from her mother and
wiped her forced tears.
    “ No thanks to you,” Sammi
snapped. “She’s been right out here scared to death the entire
time. If you hadn’t been engaging with your lady friend over there,
you might have noticed.” She nodded in the direction of where the
young lady now stood with her friend. “Or perhaps I should have
gone with my first motherly instincts and not let you talk me into
allowing them to go off by themselves in the first place. Bo Hart,
this is all your fault!”
    “ What Lady friend are you
talking