Free Mollywood by L.G. Pace III Page A

Stacy’s crew were my newest employees, so I had them fix me the “Cranky Carpenter Wrap”, since it was a customer favorite and therefore a staple in our menu. They’d nailed it, and I gave them the thumbs up as I chewed the delicious corned beef.
    “It’s true.” I finally responded taking another bite.
    “Omg! When are you due?” She blurted loudly, and the rest of the crew wandered over. Though I’d only planned to tell Stacy, I was faced with no choice but to share our news with them all. They all uttered a collective gasp when I told them about the twins. I was bombarded with a rapid fire series of questions that I did my best to answer. Most of them were concerned about how this would impact Wrapgasmic. I assured them I had no plans for it to affect the business and that all their jobs were more secure than ever, since I would undoubtedly need more help.
    They’d raised a few new concerns I had yet to consider, and flared nerves made my appetite vanish. I tossed the rest of the wrap into the garbage, knowing I had another truck and another session of show and tell to get through. The doctor had advised me to eat small, frequent meals, and warned me if I hadn’t gained weight by my next visit, I was in for a lecture.
    “Boy, it’s a good thing you signed up for that expensive insurance plan.” Stacy said as she walked me to my car. “Can you imagine how much you’d be paying out of pocket for pre-natal care?”
    “Yeah…” Cost was something else I hadn’t considered, and I wondered how much the hospitalization for delivering the babies would be. My mom had advised me to splurge on the best health plan I had access to. She’d said ‘you can’t afford not to, Molly. You’re the boss. If you get sick or need surgery, it could bankrupt you. Think of all those employees that depend on you.’ Fortunately, for once, I’d taken her advice. I made a mental note to thank her.
    “Maybe you should reconsider that deal to make a frozen line.” Stacy was a smooth operator, slipping in her agenda like a senator with a new bill. I’d been approached by a local grocery store chain about doing a frozen version of Wrapgasmic’s biggest sellers. I hadn’t even considered it. I just told the rep I thought it sounded disgusting and hung up on him. Stacy had been very verbal about what a huge mistake she’d thought it had been.
    “Smooth, Stace. I’ll be just fine without selling my soul.” I drolly replied. She lifted her shoulders in a cheeky shrug.
    “So Joe’s gotta be freaking out, right?” Stacy handed me a bottle of water as I climbed into my car. I leaned back and cracked the lid, forcing myself to drink a half of it, I’d been warned by Dr. Myers that she might have to hospitalize me if I let myself get dehydrated.
    “No. He’s not, actually.” I admitted.
    “That’s a little weird.” She looked doubtful. “Most guys I know would totally lose their shit, at least at first...” I shrugged and pulled the door shut. Waving to her as she walked back to the food truck I put the car in gear and headed across town.
    I considered her comment as I drove through lunch hour traffic to location two. Even in a crisis, Joe was always my rock. I’d breeze around spontaneously doing whatever seemed like a good idea at the moment and he’d quietly ground me. But this? This was game-changing shit here and short of a momentary pause, he’d barely blinked.
    Joe hadn’t always been this stoic. When we were young, he’d been painfully easy to read. In fact, Mason used to joke that Joe had the worst poker face he’d ever seen. When they were roommates, the twins banished him from their weekly poker games because, as Mason put it, ‘it was like kicking a sick puppy behind a dumpster’ taking Joe’s money.
    I smiled when I thought about the kind of a jokester he’d been back in the day. Every time I was at their ramshackle hellhole they called home, Joe would do all sorts of crazy, goofy shit to make