Free Snowbound Halloween by Veronica Tower Page B

fumbled about in her purse until she found her cell phone. She simply had to speak with someone about this and Kara was the only one she could think of who might keep the secret for her. Besides, not only had Kara introduced her to Nick, but Thea’s older cousin was engaged to a white man just as young as Nick. She really should have a good perspective on everything: older woman/younger man, interracial relationship, the marriage question…
    Thea hit her cousin’s number on the speed dial. They’d become a lot closer in the months since Kara and Ron had introduced Nick and Thea on New Year’s Eve. Ron was pretty good friends with Nick within the limits Nick’s work ethic permitted him to be friends with anyone.
    Nick worked literally all the time and what kind of life would that be for a newborn anyway? Could Mom have been right? You couldn’t even bring a baby into a bar. What kind of business was it where it was illegal to let your kids come to the office? Even if Nick didn’t run away was he going to have any time to raise a family with her? She used to think his drive to make his dream come true was a good thing. She’d been raised to respect a man for working hard at his job. But thinking about the implications for her coming baby, Thea wasn’t so certain any longer.
     “Thea?” Kara’s voice came over the cell phone. “How are you? Ron and I are really looking forward to tonight!”
    The words made absolutely no sense to Thea. “Tonight?”
    Kara kept talking without any sense that something was wrong at Thea’s end of the conversation. “You know I wasn’t too happy about this idea of yours when you first told me about it, but Ron has won me over with the costumes he picked out.  I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m actually excited about tonight!”
    Thea’s head was so mired in her fears and her anxiety that it took a moment for Kara’s words to fully penetrate her brain, but when they did it made everything she was worried about seem a thousand times worse. “Oh my God, the costume party is tonight! It’s Halloween!”
    “Don’t tell me you forgot about your own party!” Kara laughed.
    Thea felt dazed and confused by the sudden recollection that Nick had his biggest event of the year tonight at his bar and it was all her fault. How the hell was she supposed to tell him he was about to be a father when he was already going crazy trying to get ready for his first annual Halloween Costume Party at The Church Key tonight?
    “Of course I didn’t forget,” Thea lied. She didn’t sound convincing, even to herself. “I’m getting off early from my job with Dr. Bartlett even though it’s Halloween and I’m usually the one who gives out the candy when the little trick-or-treaters start coming around.”
    “Wait a minute,” Kara said. “You work for a dentist, don’t you? What is he doing giving away candy on Halloween?”
    Reminiscing about past Halloweens on the job was a pleasant distraction from Thea’s current problems and she almost smiled. “When I first started working for Dr. Bartlett, he didn’t give anything away. You can imagine how unpleasant that was when all the little trick-or-treaters showed up in their costumes. So I spent the whole next year convincing him we had to show the kids what a healthier treat was. So now we give them boxes of raisins or sugar free gum.”
    Kara had an easier time laughing than Thea did today. “That isn’t much better than giving them nothing. I hope you did better convincing Nick to pull out all the stops tonight.”
    “There will be bowls of fattening, teeth-rotting candy everywhere,” Thea assured her. “Plus the truly important thing—a dollar off of every drink for everyone who comes in costume. I don’t know if this will be a money maker for Nick tonight, but everyone should enjoy the party.”
    These last words deflated Thea’s spirits again. How could she have a good time at the party? She was pregnant and she