We Interrupt This Date by L.C. Evans Page A

managed to hug them both. Then I held
out my arms. DeLorean handed him over, carrier and all.
    “Thank God you’re finally here, Susan. What
took you so long? All this stuff weighs a ton.”
    “Come over to this side.” I led the way to a
bench. “Let’s wait till the herd thins before we fetch your
luggage.”
    “Good idea.” She collapsed on the bench, her
bags spread out around her, and on my feet. “I have three
suitcases. Can you believe it? Two years with Baldwin, that flaming
narcissist, and all I have to show for it are a few bags and
suitcases. And my precious Cole, but you know what I mean.”
    I’d flown out to California six months ago
when Cole was born because Mama was not quite over her hysterectomy
and couldn’t make the trip. DeLorean had proudly shown me the
beautifully decorated apartment and expensive furniture that looked
like it had come out of a showroom. Baldwin liked to have friends
over and he obviously wanted them to see that his place was first
class. He’d paid more attention to his décor than he did to his
son, bragging that he’d had his home professionally decorated.
Later DeLorean had pulled me aside and told me with a pout that
Baldwin didn’t want a child, but she was going to get him to be
reasonable now that the child had actually been born and was lying
right there in a crib staring up at him.
    As if she were reading my mind, DeLorean
said, “Baldwin got custody of the furniture and all the other
gorgeous things in the apartment, and I got Cole and Brad. Not that
I’m complaining.”
    I’d been nodding, thinking that since Baldwin
paid for everything and set such store by his possessions, he’d
want to claim them for himself. But when she said, "Brad,” my
senses went on high alert.
    “Who or what is Brad?” I was almost afraid to
hear the answer. Long years of experience with DeLorean had made me
cautious.
    Her bright expression didn’t change. “He’s
Cole’s puppy. Named after Brad Pitt. Don’t you think he’s the
handsomest thing in Hollywood?” DeLorean beamed me a smile that
would have prompted whole cities of admiring men to throw
themselves off cliffs on her behalf. “Goodness, it’s crowded in
here.” She extracted a sheaf of papers from her purse and used them
to fan herself.
    I knew DeLorean too well to let her distract
me. “You didn’t say anything about a puppy.” I glanced at Cole and
when he flashed his dimples at me and gurgled, I reached down and
stroked his silky blond hair. A baby this age wouldn’t know a puppy
from a giraffe. What was DeLorean thinking?
    Big, troubled sigh from DeLorean, accompanied
by a mini-pout. “There wasn’t time. I had a ton of stuff to do,
getting my stuff packed, picking up Cole’s medical records from his
pediatrician, putting in change of address forms at the post
office. You have no idea. You’ve always been willing to stay stuck
in Mount Pleasant like it’s the Garden of Eden or something. Moving
across country is hard work. I can’t be expected to think of every
single thing like I’m some kind of robot with a computer for a
brain.”
    It didn’t take a computer brain to remember
you had a dog. “We can pick up the puppy after we load your
bags.”
    “Did you bring your old car, that van thing
with all the room in the back?”
    “The minivan. It’s the only vehicle I have,
Dee. I haven’t gotten rich and added a little sports number to the
fleet since you last talked to me. Why?”
    “Brad’s crate wouldn’t fit in a regular car.
And I don’t want him bouncing around loose next to Cole in his car
seat.”
    Okay, so Brad sounded like a lively puppy.
There was plenty of room at my place for him to run in the fenced
back yard. True, the fenced part of the yard wasn’t all that big,
but how much room could a puppy need?
    The answer to that question took on new
dimensions after we pulled around to the cargo area to get Brad. I
left DeLorean and Cole in the car and walked over to a