Free Love by the Yard by Gail Sattler Page A

need you to come to Shanna’s right away.”
    The urgency in her voice made his heart skip a beat. His mother was one person who could always be relied upon in the case of an emergency. He’d suffered terrible allergies as a child, and his mother’s quick action had saved him from death more than once. His first thought was that something had happened to one of Shanna’s children. In that case, she should be calling an ambulance, not him. “What’s wrong? Should I bring something? What do you need?”
    â€œI need you . Come now. Hurry. But don’t speed. I don’t want you getting a ticket, or worse.”
    He abandoned his half-eaten supper on the table and ran out the door. A ticket would be the least of his worries; but he wouldn’t be any good to anyone, especially in an emergency, if he was late or had an accident and injured himself or someone else.
    The traffic lights were on his side. Brendan arrived at Shanna’s home in good time. He ran to the door, opened it without knocking, and dashed in.
    The second his foot touched the floor, Boffo came bounding down the stairs. Brendan pushed down on Boffo’s shoulders to make the dog remember to sit and not jump on people, and Brendan raised his head. “Mom? Shanna? Where are you?” he called up the stairs.
    His mother and Shanna hustled down the stairs, both wearing jackets. The children were nowhere to be seen. In the background, he heard the television, but it wasn’t CSI ; it was a cartoon.
    â€œSusan called. I forgot all about the ladies’ Snack ’n Yak night. We need you to watch the children.”
    Shanna smiled weakly. “They both go to bed at 7:30, 8:00 at the latest, or Matthew will be cranky in the morning.”
    Brendan froze where he stood. “You called me here in a big rush so you could go have coffee with a bunch of women?”
    â€œIt’s more than that. This is part of our big fund-raising project. It’s the dessert auction. We’ve raised a lot of money for that orphanage the church is sponsoring, but we still need more. Fortunately, Shanna had just made a batch of cupcakes for the children, so we’re taking most of those tonight. I hope we have enough larger cakes for the auction, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. Susan just called and said a couple of the people who volunteered to help got sick. Shanna said she could help, so we need you to watch Matthew and Ashley. You don’t mind, do you?”
    â€œWell. . . I. . .”
    â€œI hear that Rosie is making her famous triple chocolate delight cake. If you give me some money, I’ll see if I can bid on it for you.”
    Brendan knew he’d lost the battle. There was no point in trying to fight. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and gave his mother twice as much as he thought any self-respecting cake should go for.
    After she took his money, his mother reached up to rest her hands on his shoulders. She rose on her tiptoes, pulling him down slightly as she stretched herself out to as much height as she could manage, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “You’re a dear. We’ll see you later. Bye.”
    Before he could respond, both women were gone and the door closed behind them.
    â€œI don’t believe this,” he muttered to the wall.
    His mother’s car started, and within seconds, they were gone.
    Brendan turned his head and listened to what was going on upstairs before he actually went up.
    He’d never been inside Shanna’s house before, except for the brief time it took to get rid of her brother-in-law. Otherwise, he’d only been in the office, through the entrance from the backyard.
    He looked up the stairs. Shanna’s home was like many others in suburban Seattle—a two-story house with a ground-level entry and the main living area on the upper floor. He was a little familiar with the ground level. It was smaller