Page 38 of Peach Cobbler Confessions

“The two of us?” Carlotta looks dumbfounded by the idea. Serves her right. I hope she drives off with a school bus for all the misery she’s putting me through.

Jade nods. “You should really drive one, too. And that way you can hold it up to other cars. And who knows? You might want one yourself. Are you the grandma-to-be?”

Carlotta nods absentmindedly, her face vacant as if she just realized that she’s just been caught in her own baby dragnet.

“Great,” Jade says. “Then you really might want a minivan for yourself. I mean, you’re probably going to babysit.”

Unlikely.

Jade shrugs. “And you could be toting around an entire group of your friends. This is a great transport vehicle. And there is tons of storage room. You could live in it if you had to.”

I lift a finger. “She’ll take one.”

Jade laughs. “Then let’s go for a test drive right away.”

The five of us pile into the nearest minivan, and upon Jade’s insistence, Carlotta takes the driver’s seat and I ride shotgun. Jade takes one for the team and nestles between Noah and Everett in the second row.

I can’t help but make a face at her.

Carlotta fires the engine up, and soon we’re circling the lot.

“Woo-hoo!” Carlotta belts it out with glee. “This thing moves like butter! I can’t believe how comfortable the seat is, too.” She bounces up and down.

Carlotta’s right. This seat feels as if I’m sitting on a cloud. And my back really appreciates the lumbar support—not to mention the heady perfume of new car scent. My goodness, why do these cacophony of chemicals get me every time?

“How about leather seats?” Everett asks, and Noah chuckles.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” Noah insists. “He was born with an affinity for the finer things in life.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jade says. “Our top-of-the-line model comes with every bell and whistle you could want. And the backup camera is standard on the entire fleet. But as far as leather seats go, you could go that route, but I always caution young parents against them. When they get hot, they can burn exposed skin. The cloth seats are made of top quality fabric and they repel stains just as good as leather.”

“I’m sold on cloth,” Noah offers. “No way do I want the baby touching hot leather.”

Everett takes a breath. “I agree. Cloth it is. Are you on board, Lemon?”

A soft laugh fills me. “You bet.” Something feels right about all of this, something warms me right down to my soul. And for a second, I can see me driving this steely beast as the soccer mom in question.

Carlotta gives up her post at the helm and I take it for a spin, enjoying how smooth of a ride it really is. The comfortable captain’s chair feels as if I’m driving while seated in a lounger, not to mention there are enough electric blue lights on the dashboard that make it feel as if I’m manning the space station.

“How do you like it, Lot?” Noah calls from behind.

“I don’t like it.” A strangled silence crops up around me. “I love it!” I squeal like a schoolgirl.

A raucous cheer breaks out, and I drive us back to where we began our soccer mom adventure.

We pile out and Jade starts in on the paperwork right away.

And while Noah and Everett do their best to get the numbers to land in the right direction, with the smaller number ending up on the left-hand side, I confer with Carlotta.

She picks up my hands and dances a little jig.

“I’ll get green—you get red, Lot. It’ll be like Christmas every time we park side by side.”

“Red? I don’t know. That seems a little flashy. I was thinking gray.”

“No way, Lot. When the fog rolls in, you’ll all but disappear on the road. You can’t have that. Think of Junior.”

“I’m thinking of you.” I pull her to the side, out of range of any roving ears. “Look where your little baby agenda landed us. We’re both going home with minivans!”