“I haven’t even started it,” Yasmine admitted.
“Oh, well, you’ve been busy; you’re forgiven,” Brenda said with a wave of her hand. She turned a gimlet eye to the rest of the room. “What about you slackers?”
“You know I did,” Cassidy said with an eyeroll. As usual, she had her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a plain maroon shirt. She was the epitome of the All-American white girl next door. “We listened to the audiobook together, remember?”
“Of course, I remember. I’m not going senile.” Brenda sniffed. “I was talking to everyone else.”
“Not only did I read it, but I’m now down a Jane Henry rabbit hole,” Karen said gleefully, rubbing her hands together. “I love it when an author has a ton of books for me to binge through.”
“I read it.” Audrey raised her hand as though she was in class. Like Yasmine, she liked to dress up and always had her makeup and hair perfectly styled, though she preferred a pin-up look that complemented her curves. Today, she was wearing a green-and-white polka-dot sundress with a matching green-and-white polka-dot headband to hold her red locks away from her face. Winged black eyeliner emphasized her green eyes and pale complexion, which was somewhat brightened by the pink on her cheeks. “I loved it. I’ve already started book two.”
“Same,” Jennifer said, leaning back against the chair she was sitting in, shifting slightly so she could draw her long braids over her shoulder rather than trapping them between her and the chair. Those were new since the last time Yasmine had seen her. Little beads threaded through the ends clicked together as she settled them on her chest. During the work week, she was always in cute outfits at the office. Today, she was wearing black leggings and an oversized purple t-shirt that showed off one shoulder and a lacy black bra strap. “Claudia didn’t read it, though.”
The look Claudia shot Jennifer was pure dominatrix. Claudia was not intimidated easily, but she did seem to step more cautiously around the trio of older ladies, even though she wasn’t like that when it was just Brenda.
“I read a few pages.” She shrugged. “I can already tell where it’s going. That guy is going to deserve a hell of a spanking, but she’s the one who is going to get it. Can’t we choose a book where the woman is in charge for once?”
“It’s your turn to choose next month,” Audrey reminded her. “You can definitely choose one then.”
Karen made a face. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’ve never read a book like that before.”
“It’s just for one month. Suck it up,” Angela told her. “I want to see what Claudia comes up with. If I can read about hucows and lactation, you can read about a woman being in charge for once. I like the idea.”
“Of course you do,” Karen muttered.
“It’s really good though; you should finish reading it,” Cassidy said to Claudia.
“I will, I just didn’t think we had to be totally done by today.” Claudia scowled at Brenda. “We’re supposed to have more time to read.”
“It’s so good, you shouldn’t need more time.” Brenda waved her hand in front of her face, fanning herself. “I got some good inspiration from that book.”
Audrey groaned, putting her hand over her eyes. “Please, say no more. I swear to God, if you say anything about doing anything we read about with Mick…”
“What about you, Naomi?” Yasmine said hastily. Asking Brenda not to talk about something was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Something Audrey and David both seemed incapable of learning, even though she was their grandmother and they’d spent the most time with her. Brenda knew how to get under their skin.
“I finished it.” Naomi’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she looked more tired than usual. Yasmine’s heart went out to her. Naomi and Drew had been trying to conceive for a while, and it was taking its toll on Naomi’s body and heart. She yawned, as if proving Yasmine’s thoughts. “Sorry. I liked it a lot. I’m just tired.”
“Have you been home alone a lot?” Cassidy asked, frowning. “David said Drew is always the first one in at the office and the last one to leave. Even on days when he doesn’t have to be there.”
“He has been working a lot.” Naomi covered up another yawn. “I think he’s freaking out about the idea of someone else getting hurt on his watch. I know he took it hard when David got shot.”
“He was the one to get hurt more recently,” Claudia pointed out.
“Which he also took hard.” Noami grimaced, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. “I get why he’s working so much. It’s not so bad. I always have things I need to do at the shelter, so now we’re just both working a lot.”
As much as Yasmine wanted to ask if they were still trying for a baby, this was not the time. She didn’t want to throw Naomi’s business out in front of everyone, and she also wasn’t sure if Naomi would want to talk about it at all right now. Usually, when she wanted to say something, she would bring it up herself.
Brenda leaned over and patted the top of Naomi’s knee.
“Don’t work too much, dear. No one’s last words have ever been ‘man, I wish I had worked more’.”
Both Karen and Angela snorted, but they were nodding their heads in agreement.
“I’d rather be working than sitting at home by myself,” Naomi retorted.
“Valid,” Jennifer muttered in a way that had everyone looking at her. Her complexion was too dark to show a blush, but Yasmine had the feeling that’s exactly what she was doing as everyone’s head swung in her direction.
“Something you want to tell us?” Audrey asked, amused.