Page 17

Sucking in a stabilizing breath through my nostrils, I said, “I'll figure something out. Something without Ben, so stop talking to him about me.”

“You promise to win Pappy over, I'll promise to avoid Ben.”

“Fine, great, I promise.”

“Thank you, Maya.” She sounded like she meant it. “I'll see you at the end of the week.”

“Okay. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too. Take care of yourself.”

She ended the call. I dropped my hands to my hips, pushing the back of my head into the wall behind me. What the hell did I just agree to?

My stomach growled. I looked over at the box of cupcakes on my desk. Take care of one problem at a time. Food first, solving your mom's drama next.

Opening the box on my desk, I plucked out one of the cupcakes inside. It was heavy in my hand, weighed down by the swirl of pink frosting. Some of it smeared on my thumb; I licked it off, closing my eyes in bliss from the sweet, tart explosion of flavor. Unable to hold back, I bit into the cupcake, taking a mouthful. Chewing on the soft crumbs, vanilla and cherry mixing on my tongue, I thought about how I was going to fix the mess I was in.

I didn't want my mom to lose her inheritance. But I couldn't possibly use her idea of getting back with my ex, especially after seeing him today. The memory of his fists made me cringe.

How the hell was I going to prove to my grandfather that I was serious about having a family without actually committing to marriage, to babies, of all things? And how could I do it in a week?

Popping the rest of the cupcake into my mouth, I sighed around the tender bits of cake. I had to thank Aubrey again for these. I hadn't wanted them earlier, but now, they were cheering me up. Vanilla Jubilee was my favorite flavor in the whole world. I sucked a stray piece of fresh cherry off my finger.

I froze.

Cherry.

The cupcake had given me an idea. A clever, risky, potentially terrible idea. But... when insanity is all you've got... you have to embrace it.

I opened the RingMe app.