“If we had opportunity and time was on our side, we’d get a genetic screening done, but that’ll take longer than your cruise. I’d ask some key questions about longevity, color, basic metabolism. Ask to see photos on his phone. Make sure you get to see family members and not old girlfriends.” Kim sipped her exploding sunrise.
“So, she’s to ask how long life expectancy is in the family and if there are multi-cultural elements?” Across the counter, Phoenix mixed cream into her coffee.
Mary looked at Kim, waiting to see her reaction.
“Depends on what’s important to her.” Kim’s blue eyes lifted from peering into her glass. “You can ask questions without being direct. You can say your mom took a lot of pills, which worried you because you don’t know what they are. They’ll probably describe tablets to you, because of what they’re taking. Text me and I’ll tell you what it’s probably used for.”
“Good. Color or sexual preference isn’t important to me. I mean, I want a straight guy to do me, but if he has relatives who’ve chosen a different life style, that won’t affect my decision to select him as my baby’s father.” Mary stood, nodded in confirmation, and started to pace.
“Damn straight. If a guy has good genes and no signs of illnesses, he’s a viable candidate.” Jenn pulled her hair into a loose knot and then got a fresh piece of gum from her purse.
“Which brings us to another reason we wanted to get together.” Phoenix sat at one of the bar stools, lowered her java and extracted a slip of paper out of her pocket. “We met earlier today.”
“Because?” Mary’s stomach churned. Her heart beat as fast as Jenn chomped on her new wad of gum. It had taken her friends’ constant badgering for the past twenty-four hours to get her to agree to the cruise. The day before, she’d anticipated getting pregnant by the love of her life, and instead he’d robbed her store. The police couldn’t find him or his partner in crime. Her bags had been packed for over a week, so she could pick up and go, but should she? Mary continued to have doubts about the ethics and even the possibility of getting pregnant with a stranger.
Phoenix held out a business card. “Here, take this.”
Her sly expression bothered Mary a little. The paper was a business card. “Your brother in Vermont? Are you trying to tell me if it doesn’t work out, he’ll provide the sperm?”
A deep, throaty chuckle rippled from Phoenix as she released the card into Mary’s open palm. “I think his life partner would have issues. What we want–”
“We think you need to have an out-clause.” Jenn leaned on the black speckled granite counter.
“Out-clause?” The card crunched between Mary’s fingers as her mouth dropped open.
“Considering he arranged this cruise to act out a sex-with-stranger fantasy, odds are he will try to get to you.” Kim’s no nonsense tone vibrated through the room. “Don’t get nervous, Mary, but we think since your ex-boyfriend continues to be on the lam and considered dangerous by the cops, you might want to have an escape route if he should show up at one of the ports where you dock.”
Mary fell onto the seat of the red plaid sofa. “Conrad would not go on a ship. He’ll be caught by the police for sure.”
Jenn snapped her gum. “Mary, I love you, so don’t take this the wrong way, but you always choose handsome but stupid boyfriends. Most definitely Raddy-Boy would be likely to follow you on the cruise or wait for you to disembark and try to–”
“Jenn!” Phoenix shouted. She sat beside Mary. Phoenix’s lips relaxed and her eyes softened, almost giving the impression of intense sympathy. Mary’s heart rate escalated, she didn’t want to hear what was to come. “Honey, we’re your best friends and we have to tell you over the years you’ve selected…not the brightest guys to date.”
“Bill, the pothead,” Jenn said.
“Pete, the fertilizer salesman.” Kim sighed.
“Jeremiah, the poet. Thomas, the artist.” Phoenix patted Mary’s hand.
“Tom and I were in the same design class. He wasn’t dumb.” Mary had to at least defend one of her choices.
“Austin, the waiter, was definitely the most handsome of all of them.” Jenn spit her gum into a piece of paper and zeroed in on the shiny silver trash container a few feet away.
No one spoke. What were they waiting for? Did they think she’d agree her partner choices were idiot pretty-boys? She threw her shoulders forward and took a deep breath. Yes, she had chosen wrong.
“Clearly Conrad wasn’t brainless. It took some intelligence to arrange to steal a million dollars of uncut diamonds and point the blame at me.” Heat rose to Mary’s face. She hated saying the words out loud. Her friends had kindly ignored the subject during dinner and most of the night.
“Oh, honey.” Phoenix wrapped her arm around Mary’s shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.
Her goal, to become the most sought-after jewelry designer in Keefe, South Carolina, had been achieved. She’d stayed at the top for a mere year, until she met Conrad Peabody. How could someone with such a proper name have fooled her so severely? Her mistakes didn’t deserve tears.
“Conrad was hot. I adored how his bright blond hair constantly fell onto his forehead. I loved his dimples, a charming set resting on the top corners of his mouth. He was built, perfect V.” Mary leaned against the sofa.
Phoenix shifted, before her arm got trapped.
“How can you possibly talk about him in a positive way? Andre is still in the hospital, with a complex concussion. You had to shut down your store while the investigation is going on, because Peabody stole your jewels.” Kim slurped the sunrise until nothing was left but crushed pink ice. “Thank God your grandfather arrived a few minutes after the robbery, or you’d have been tied up until a customer came in, or Lisa.”
“I don’t know, I guess because Conrad was beautiful. Maybe he was forced into stealing.” This thought had been recurring since the entire ordeal began. The incident had to have been some sort of mistake. Didn’t it?
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Jenn stood in front of Mary, looking a bit like a dark Peter Pan. “He was the leader.”
“We’d been together for almost a year. Other than ditching me a couple of times, he was a perfect gentleman.” Mary had to breathe. Her heart tapped little beats against her chest. “I loved him. I thought he loved me too.”
“Hello, part of the con-artist personality. Get in, pretend to be someone else, steal and escape. I thought you understood that by now?” Jenn’s snarky tone must have alerted her to the need for a new jolt of nicotine because she stomped away and withdrew another patch from her purse. As an attorney’s office assistant, her knowledge of criminal activity and the law was priceless, but it came with a lot of stress. In addition, she and her husband had decided to start a family, which had encouraged Jenn to stop smoking.
“Okay, we know he had attributes. But overall, he stole from your place of business and made it appear you were to blame.” Phoenix rubbed Mary’s arm, gentle little circles that reminded Mary of how she soothed Kim’s girls when they’d been hurt.
Mary put her drink on the side table and held her palms to her eyes, pressing so the pain would stay away. Everything her friends said was factual. She had to admit the truth and move past this entire ordeal. “Which is why this sperm-seeking cruise will be perfect. I’ll get a baby without the blind fallacy of love.”
“You’ll need to hear the rest of the out-clause before you leave to jump on the boat.” Kim withdrew a notebook from the sofa table. “Phoenix, you have the best penmanship. Write down the donor list and what the acronym stands for.”
Kim met Mary’s