Free Totlandia: The Onesies, Book 1 (Fall) by Josie Brown

cannot cross’ her, or you’re out of the club. Their horror stories could curl your hair.”
    “Which is why you do so many Kerastase treatments.”
    Barry’s joke earned him a raised brow from Christian.
    “We all know that’s the last thing I need.” Ally shook her head. Her long, dark curls, which spiraled down her back, bounced from side to side. “Seriously you guys, how bad can it be?”
    “Oh, it would be okay,” Christian had chimed in, “if you were a brain-dead stay-at-home MomBot who angsts over whether you gave up breastfeeding too early because you pulled the poor kid off your tit before she started grade school. But that’s not you, Ally. And you know it.”
    Barry’s brow shot up. “Well, well, well! Someone is being a bit too catty.”
    Christian shrugged. “Nope, sorry. You can’t accuse me of that. Hell, if it had been up to Ramona, I’d still be suckling.”
    Barry laughed. “You’re right. You’re such a mama’s boy.”
    They were only kidding, but that didn’t stop the tears from welling in Ally’s eyes. She’d always felt guilty for never breastfeeding Zoe. But how could she? Bracknell International’s offer to buy Foot Fetish had been proffered in the fifth month of her pregnancy. The deal had closed the day Zoe was born. Her dream—to sell the company, so she’d have enough money to raise Zoe without ever having to work again—to put her through college, without the fear of her daughter incurring debt to get her degree, like she’d had—had finally come true.
    With one caveat: Bracknell International insisted she stay on as the company’s chief strategy officer for at least three years.
    The offer had been too tempting to refuse, especially after BI had accepted Simon’s counter: besides taking home a seven-figure salary and additional stock options, she’d only have to show up at the office two days a week in order to participate in design sessions, vendor relations strategies, and the monthly board meetings.
    For those days, she had lined up a great nanny: Lucy Sweetin, a grandmother to three strapping grown boys, all San Francisco firefighters.
    A corporate board hadn’t been easy to get used to. Before Ally had sold the company, she’d had only one person to answer to: herself. Her style was to make snap decisions. Now she had bean counters who questioned her every move.
    The worst of them was the CEO, Ellis.
    But she also had the financial freedom that any mother would envy.
    And she’d done it without a man at her side.
    Working all those long, late nights was easy when you were going home to an empty house.
    Her twenties had been a decade of missed opportunities and heartbreak. The decision to have Zoe meant that at least she would enter her forties with someone at her side. Someone to grow with and with whom she’d share experiences.
    Someone who would always love her.
    Now that she and Zoe had been accepted to PHM&T, the good times were about to get even better.
    Ally had smiled up at Christian. “You know better than to listen to gossip. I’ll finally have an opportunity to bond with other moms while Zoe socializes and plays. It’s a dream come true.”
    Barry frowned even as he kissed her forehead. “Be careful what you wish for, Al.”
    Now, even as she patted down the wet stains on her blouse and stared out at plastic shards and crushed circuit board that used to be her cellphone, Ally Thornton knew that her sweet Barry had nothing to worry about.
    She grabbed her bag, scooped up Zoe, and ran through the mansion’s front gates, right behind some tall man with a baby boy on his shoulders.
     
    10:14 a.m.
    The man may have been over six feet tall, but this didn’t seem to bother his toddler son, who sat high on his shoulders and chortled as he yanked at his father’s thick, blond hair.
    Mallory, who along with Joanna had been handing the guests their nametags, saw him first. She nudged Kimberley, who had been handing rose corsages to the new