Page 8 of Best Kept Secret

“You don’t have to pay. It’s not like we’re on a date.”

Kelsey laughed. “This is probably as close as I’m going to get to one.”

“Why don’t you just ask Hudson out?”

“How do you propose I do that? Every time I see him, Jared is lurking around, watching us.”

“You could offer to walk the baby with him.”

“How will I know when she’s there? I don’t even have his phone number.”

The waiter returned with her credit card and receipt. She signed it with a flourish, and then she and Stacy exited out the gate to the sidewalk.

“I just thought of something,” Stacy said excitedly. “Nick probably has his phone number. I could ask him for you.”

While Kelsey appreciated her friend’s enthusiasm, she was hesitant to ask for help. She liked the idea of going out with Hudson, but she’d been hoping he’d ask her first. It was hard to admit that she had an old-fashioned side, so she’d kept it to herself.

“Thanks, but don’t ask Nick just yet,” she said. They’d paused in front of the Gap Kid’s store, and she peered through the window at the child-sized mannequins. “Let’s go in here.”

“What for?” Stacy said, eyeing her curiously.

“Maybe I’ll see something for Annie.”

Stacy sighed. “Don’t you think you’re getting a bit carried away over a stranger’s child?”

“Hudson’s sister isn’t a stranger…not exactly.”

Punching her hands on her hips, Stacy said, “Oh, really. What’s her name, then?”

“Um…” Kelsey racked her brain, trying to remember if he’d said it. She couldn’t recall, probably because she’d been going gaga over Annie.

“You don’t know it,” Stacy said.

“Who cares? I’d be buying a gift for his niece, not his sister!”

“Fine, but I’m giving you a time limit of fifteen minutes. After that, we move on to another store.”

“Deal.”

They went inside the store, and Kelsey made a beeline to the baby section. She stopped at a display table with an assortment of onesies and coordinating leggings.

“Ohmigod. These are so tiny,” she said, holding up a pair of leggings with watermelons printed on them. Then she picked up a pair with the saying Do these make my butt look big? and laughed out loud.

A clerk approached her and said, “Can I help you find something?”

“I’m looking for a gift for a three-month-old girl.”

“You’re in luck. Everything on this table is thirty percent off.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and if you spend fifty dollars, you get a free teddy bear.”

Kelsey glanced at Stacy, who held up her arm and tapped her watch.

“Thanks. I’ll keep looking,” she said.

After the clerk walked away, she began pairing tops and bottoms while adding the prices in her head.