Not Quite Perfect (Not Quite Series Book 5) Read Free

at three.” Mary felt her face contorting to mimic her friend’s. “You look miserable.”
    Dakota huffed out a breath and pushed off the stool. “I am. And I need to pee. Again!”
    Mary chucked as Dakota heaved her pregnant belly, along with the rest of her, off the stool and rounded the corner. The sound of her friend walking up the stairs had Mary shouting, “You have a bathroom downstairs.”
    “This is the only exercise I’m getting these days.”
    Mary opened her mouth to argue and snapped it closed.
    With the squeak of the floor above her for company, Mary moved around the kitchen island to look out at the backyard. It looked a lot like hers, only with more flowers. It was a postage stamp, like most of those in Orange County. Add the fact that they were in a townhouse condominium development, and that yard became even smaller, bumped up to the attached condo on one side. Mary knew it was only a matter of time before Dakota and Walt . . . along with Junior, moved to a bigger place.
    Just the thought of her best friend moving away left her empty inside.
    She allowed herself a half second of self-pity before shaking away the cloud that had started to form over her head.
    Hearing the sound of a toilet flushing, Mary forced herself to smile. If Dakota saw her staring out the back window with poor me written all over her face, she’d put her friend in an awkward place. The last thing Mary wanted was to dampen Dakota’s joy at being a new wife and soon-to-be mom.
    “You know, Mary . . .” Dakota called from the stairs.
    Mary started to move around the dividing wall from the kitchen to the living room when Dakota yelled.
    “Son of a—”
    A horrendous thud followed Dakota cussing and had Mary running toward her friend.
    Dakota sat crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on her belly, the other on her leg.
    “What the heck?”
    “Oh, damn. Oh . . .” Dakota started to rock back and forth, her eyes closed and her face squished in pain.
    Mary managed to put her cup on the floor as she knelt down beside her. “What hurts? Did you fall?” Stupid question, but Dakota didn’t call her on it.
    “Slipped,” she said, gritting her teeth.
    Mary glanced at the stairs, noticed liquid on the surface of the polished wood.
    “Did you spill something?”
    Dakota finally opened her eyes and pulled up the edge of her pants on her right leg. It was already turning red.
    “Damn . . . just, son of a bitch!”
    “Are you okay?”
    “No. I think I broke it.”
    Mary’s heart leapt in her chest. “Really?” She peered closer.
    “Oh, damn.”
    Mary swept back her hair and tried to catch Dakota’s eyes. “Should I call an ambulance?”
    Dakota shook her head.
    “I’ll call Walt.”
    “No . . .”
    “What?”
    “Yes. Oh, God it hurts!”
    “Your leg?” Mary glanced down again.
    “No.”
    “Your leg doesn’t hurt?”
    “It. All. Hurts!”
    Mary stood quick enough to feel a little dizzy. “I’m calling an ambulance.”
    “No, Mary . . . Walt will freak.”
    Mary didn’t listen and found the cordless receiver sitting on the counter in the kitchen. She dialed 911 and hurried back to her friend.
    “Mary, I’m okaaay.” Dakota winced as she said it and closed her eyes.
    “Nine one one, what’s your emergency?” The operator sounded bored.
    “Yeah, my friend fell down the stairs.”
    “Is your friend awake?”
    Dakota started to pound her fist on the floor beside her. At first Mary thought maybe it was a tactic to end the phone call, then she noticed the grimace on her face.
    “She’s awake.”
    “Any visible injuries?”
    “Her leg. But she says everything hurts.”
    It took Dakota moving her hand from her leg to her belly for Mary to report the obvious. “She’s pregnant. Nine months pregnant.”
    “Is she in labor?”
    “No . . . uhm.” Once again the liquid on the stairs had her pause. “Dakota?”
    “What?” Her friend bit the question out.
    “Did your water