Free Unsung by Shannon Richard Page B

floor.
    *  *  *
    The ohhh s and awe s that emanated from the circle of women around Harper were beginning to get to her. But really what else did she expect? She was at a joint baby shower for two of her friends.
    About thirty women were stuffed into the front room of Café Lula, munching on finger foods and drinking punch. The little eatery, with its variety of bright colors scattered about here and there, was closed on Sundays, so the party had free rein.
    Harper closed her eyes and took a deep, fortifying breath when another round of awe s resonated around the circle. It turned out to not be the best idea as her mother—who was currently sitting next to her—bit into an egg salad sandwich.
    Eggs were currently enemy number one on Harper’s not-so-friendly food list. The smell. The taste. The general thought of them. But as her mother was currently on her not-so-friendly in general list, she wasn’t too shocked.
    Delilah Laurence didn’t always think before she spoke…or before she acted. And yes, Harper completely and entirely understood that mothers could be critical of their children—daughters especially—but Delilah took it to a whole other level.
    She hadn’t held back any of the jabs of late. But she never held back. Ever.
    Harper hadn’t even been at the shower five minutes when Delilah had cornered her and started in. As she hadn’t really been eating the last couple of weeks, and her appetite had been pretty limited even before the morning sickness had kicked in, she’d lost a few pounds. The dress she’d picked out for that afternoon was a size smaller than she’d been wearing, and one that she hadn’t fit into for a couple of years.
    “I might not agree with this breakup of yours,” her mother had said, giving Harper the ever-critical Delilah once-over. “But it does have its benefits. You look skinnier.”
    Wellllll , that was all about to change now, wasn’t it?
    No sooner had the jab from earlier crossed Harper’s mind, when her mother leaned over and whispered, “It’s a good thing you have so many friends with children, now you won’t feel like you’re missing out.”
    Yup. Delilah was in for a surprise. Harper wondered if she could just wait until after the baby was born, and have the baby tell her mother the news.
    Guess what? You’re a grandmother!
    Yeah, probably not.
    Well, at least part of Delilah’s statement was true. Hannah Shepherd and Paige King were both very much pregnant. Hannah was due in mid-October, Paige toward the end of September. Though the odds that Paige lasted that long were a little slim because she was carrying twin girls, her baby bump was quite a bit bigger than Hannah’s.
    The stack of baby supplies on either side of the women was growing considerably. As Hannah was having a little boy, hers was dominantly green and blue. Paige’s was filled with pinks and yellows.
    Paige and her husband Brendan already had a little boy, Trevor, who’d just turned two last month. He was currently helping his mother rip the paper off of her gifts and giving Hannah assistance with her presents as well.
    Paige and Hannah had quickly become two of Harper’s closest friends when they moved to Mirabelle, but the positions of best friends were and would always be reserved by Grace King—now Grace Anderson—and Melanie O’Bryan—now Melanie Hart. Grace and Mel had known each other pretty much since birth. When they’d met Harper on the first day of sixth grade almost fifteen years ago, she’d been quickly added to the fold.
    Neither of them knew what was currently going on with Harper. Not talking to them about it over the last few weeks had been nothing short of painful. But Harper couldn’t talk about it. She wasn’t ready yet. Because if she said the words to someone else, everything would be really real.
    Oh look, there was that denial again.
    But her denial wasn’t the only reason she wasn’t talking. No, the other part was the jealously that she just