Chapter 1
Clicking on the email from her friend, Kanesha Green’s heart sunk when she saw virtual pink balloons floating on her desktop computer before an invitation to Yolanda’s baby shower popped up on the screen. A huge boulder took root in her heart, submerging it in a sea of bitterness, envy, and disappointment that filled her soul. This was the fourth baby shower invitation she had received this year. It seemed everyone she knew was either pregnant or a parent already. Every woman except her.
She squeezed her chestnut brown eyes with fingers, a deep sigh leaving her broad mouth. She hoped the released air would halt the sinking bitter pain in her chest. Next month, she was turning thirty-nine, the looming birthday a neon sign that her dreams of a family—a husband and children—were only that … a dream. Five years into her singleness and non-voluntary celibacy was a sure sign that marriage and babies were not going to happen for her.
Glancing at the invitation again, Kanesha wondered how she was going to survive smiling through the celebration. Though happy for her friend, the thought of pretending to be content with her singleness to her friends at the baby shower was unbearable. In her group of friends, she was the abnormal, single, childless one.
Her eyes gazed out of the large floor-to-ceiling window in her office at work that framed the magnificent dark blue Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge. Having this view of San Francisco was one of the perks of being the marketing manager for a large publishing company. Her manicured fingers lightly tapped her mouth as she took a deep breath. At least one area of her life had gone according to plan. She had her dream job, promoting authors who wrote novels people could lose themselves in for a few hours—leaving behind their humdrum lives for a moment to experience adventure, action, and love. Love. One thing that had eluded her, her whole life. She read the invitation again. A measure of pleasure rose in her when she read that it was a co-ed baby shower. That meant she could drag her best friend, Cody, to the dreaded event. Him being there would be the only thing making it tolerable. She knew he would bitch and moan the whole time, but he’d go because she’d asked him.
A knock sounded before Jessica peeked in, her blond hair falling across her shoulders and face before she brushed it behind her ear.
“Hey, Kanesha, do you have a minute? I want to discuss Tiffany’s book covers. I don’t think the new covers complement the marketing brand colors for the book series.”
Kanesha closed the email, along with Yolanda’s invitation, and smiled at Jessica, glad to have a distraction from of her negative thoughts. “Sure. Why don’t you come in and we’ll discuss it?”
