Be My Baby Tonight Read Online Free

ball is out here.
    No, it’s not. Yes, it is.
    No, it’s not. What happened?
     
    — Phil Rizzuto
    Yankees announcer
     
     
    Tim snagged two more beers from the bar and
walked over to the table in the corner, where Suzanna waited for
him. He put down the beers, sat, and grinned across the table at
her.
    “This has been great, Suze. It’s been
forever. I’m getting a real kick out of hearing about all the guys.
And the girls, of course.”
    “Of course. You never came back for either of
the high school reunions,” she said, using her tongue to swipe some
foam from her upper lip. “Last one was this past May. Ten-year
reunion, if you can believe that. It should have been last year,
but you know Bobby Freedman. Late for everything. Why we ever
elected him class president is still a mystery.”
    “He gave everybody gum in exchange for votes,
as I remember.”
    “Yeah, that’s right. But you should have been
there. This one was fun. And Mindy Frett was fat.”
    Then she sat back, her eyes wide. “Oh, I
shouldn’t have said that. That’s it, no more beer for me. Three’s
my limit, obviously.”
    Tim. laughed. “No, no, I want to hear this.
Mindy’s fat? What happened?”
    Suzanna lifted her frosted mug, using its wet
bottom to make rings on the tabletop. “She took over her dad’s
pizza place. Guess maybe it’s all the mozzarella?”
    “Biggest attraction Mindy had, her dad’s
pizza place,” Tim said, half lost in memories. “She used to sneak
me into the back room, and I’d gorge myself on pepperoni. I was
crazy about her pepperoni.”
    “I thought you were crazy about her—her, well
never mind. That’s the beer talking again.”
    Tim’s grin was evil, and he knew it. “She had
quite a set, didn’t she?”
    Suzanna took another sip of beer. “A lot you
know. She stuffed.”
    Tim collapsed against the back of the chair,
goggling at her. Man, he was loving this trip down memory lane.
“No. Mindy stuffed?”
    “Trust me. I took gym with her sixth period
for two years, remember. If I’d had the money, I’d have bought some
Kimberly–Clark stock, for all the Kleenex she used.” Suzanna put
down her beer. “Guess the rumors were wrong then, Tim. You never
got to second base with Mindy?”
    Tim grabbed his beer, took several deep
swallows. “Don’t tell anybody, okay? I’ve got my killer reputation
to protect.”
    * * *
    Was Tim even more handsome than he’d been at
eighteen, or was she looking at him through rose-colored
glasses?
    Okay, beer-bottle-colored glasses.
    “... and then, just when Jack is about to
slit his own throat, the doorbell rings, and there stands this
woman, this interior decorator our Aunt Sadie hired because Jack
may have bought the house, but he hadn’t planned to be living in it
so soon.”
    “Because he didn’t know his rotator cuff was
going to be shot,” Suzanna said, her chin balanced on her hand as
she tried to count the golden flecks in Tim’s eyes. “Then
what?”
    “Hey, you know Jack. He’s got my cousin
Cecily’s baby in the kitchen, and a female at the front door. Baby,
female. Female, baby. He grabs the female, takes her to the baby.
Ah, they match. Perfect.”
    “They match?”
    “Sure,” Tim said. “Females, babies, diapers,
throw up, midnight feedings. A perfect match.”
    Suzanna watched him down the last of what had
to be his, what, sixth glass of beer? That would mean she was on
her fifth, because she’d turned down one, but she hadn’t turned
down two. Or was it her sixth, his fifth? Oh, well, they were small
glasses. What time was it anyway?
    “So Jack married this woman because she could
change diapers?”
    Tim held up his hands, shook his head. “No.
No way. Jack’s nuts about Keely, and she’s crazy about him.
Although it was pretty hairy there for a while. But Cecily signed
Candy over to them, all nice and legal, and now Keely’s pregnant.
If my big brother got any more domestic, he’d scare me. Hell, he
does scare me.”
    As