Rick already caused that girl enough grief, and she wouldn’t add to it. Or really, she wouldn’t give Rick the chance to give them both grief. He wouldn’t take kindly to some guy coming around Angie. He had made that comment many times, and yeah, it was stupid of Lucy to worry about what he thought, but it did worry her. He was unpredictable, and she was okay with her life as it was. She didn’t need a man. No, she would be the staple in Angie’s life. She would be strong; she would be the best role model she could.
But was she being that without trying to love again? Angie was loved, over and beyond, but that was by family. Was Lucy not giving her the example of what marital love could be? All she had were the interactions between her and Rick—those were never good—but was she cheating her baby out of a family? But Angie had Rick and Heidi, if that was even an example. Who knew? Heidi was a dimwit, but shit. Was she fucking up? No, she was doing fine. Angie was happy, she was loved, everything was fine. God, why did she do this to herself?
What happened to just wanting hot, nasty sex from the guy?
Jesus, she was a mess.
Closing her eyes, she ran her other hand through her hair as her phone beeped and her assistant Rayne came over the speaker. “Lucy, do you have Angie this weekend?”
Looking at the phone, she closed her eyes again, holding back her moan. She really needed to hire another designer. “Nope.”
“I have a guy on hold for a design on Saturday. He’s leaving town on Sunday and wanted to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. He’s offering to pay a rush fee if needed. When would be good? You have the whole morning blocked out, but then your mom called me and told me to block out your lunch and two hours after that.”
“Jesus, why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you should call her back?”
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. “I guess I should. Okay, so what, like, four? Would four work?”
“I’ll ask, but you want to do anywhere between four and six? So I don’t have to call you back?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” she said with a sigh. “Does he sound rich?”
Rayne laughed. “He offered a rush fee and said he needs a design for his whole house. He just moved in and doesn’t have time to make it adultish. He’s funny.”
That perked her interest. A whole house? “Is there a wife?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Just wondering how much I’ll actually be designing, or will I be trying to please a wife.”
“Does it matter?”
Lucy scoffed. “Nope. Yeah, between four and six is fine.”
“Party. I’ll put it in the books.”
“Fabulous, but make sure my Sunday is free.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said and then the phone went dead.
Lucy was curious about her new Saturday appointment, but instead of waiting for the info to come up on her calendar so she could stalk the guy, she decided she needed to call her mother.
So, obviously, she called Avery instead.
“Hey!” her sister-in-law said, sounds of sweet baby Ashlyn in the background.
“Hey, what’re you doing? You busy being an awesome mom and songwriter?”
Avery laughed. “Actually, I just got done cleaning poop off my shorts. Ashlyn had an accident. Explosive one.”
“Ew. Don’t miss those days. Got time to chat?”
“Of course, missy is going down for a nap and then I gotta work some. My goal of selling to Ed Sheeran before the year is up is slowly but surely diminishing.”
Smiling, Lucy leaned back in her chair. Avery had been writing a lot lately and selling like mad, but of course, the girl was wanting to sell to someone who really didn’t buy. “He writes his own stuff, babe.”
“Yeah, yeah, but I’m gonna get him, you watch. I’ve got four months to do just that.”
“Chase those dreams!”
“You know it,” Avery agreed and Lucy listened as she slowly shut the door. “So, have you talked to Baylor?”
“No, but I talked to Jayden and things aren’t looking good.”
“Yeah, she was telling me she thinks she’s gonna retire before they tell her she won’t be able to play anymore.”
That broke Lucy’s heart. “Man, that sucks. She wants it so bad.”
“I know,” Avery said sadly. “I hate it for her, but your mom is happy. You know how she worries.”
“Yeah.”
“And she wants them to have a baby.”
Lucy scoffed. “Of course, she does. If she had her way, everyone would be pregnant.”
“I think it’s coming for Claire and Jude.”
Lucy shook her head even though Avery couldn’t see her. “No way, Claire is too busy. I think it will happen when her contract is fully up. She still has obligations and shit. Who wants to be pregnant around a bunch of burlesque dancers?”
Claire was a big shot burlesque dancer and choreographer in Vegas. That girl wasn’t getting pregnant; neither was Baylor. It had surprised the hell out of everyone when Jace came home saying he and Avery were pregnant. They were both so young, but they were doing well. Way better than Lucy ever did when she was their age with Angie.
“True, I kinda want someone to get pregnant.”
Lucy laughed. “Why?”
“So Mom will stop calling me! I love her, I do, but man, she calls me all day to check on Ashlyn.”
Lucy smiled. Her mom could be very suffocating, and with her baby moving to Florida with his wife and baby… Yeah, she wasn’t handling it well. “Yeah, sorry about that. I call a lot too. Do you want me to stop?”