Turn up the Heat

for more perfect comfort food than a steaming bowl of pasta, and this one was outstanding. I breathed in the aroma and sighed before twirling my fork in the spaghetti and scooping up a generous bite of lobster meat.
    “Let me see your ring again,” I said to Adrianna. She proudly held out her hand to show a beautifully simple silver ring with a pale olive stone.
    “It’s the baby’s birthstone,” she said with a grin. “It’s called peridot.”
    “I know.” I smiled at her. She had told me the same thing about forty times in the past twenty-four hours. “It’s just beautiful.”
    Adrianna was happier with the inexpensive ring than she’d have been with the one that Owen had had in mind. One of the reasons that my dear deluded friend had bought a truck for his new fish-delivery job had been to increase his commission: he’d wanted to be able to make payments on a pricey diamond solitaire engagement ring. Adrianna had now convinced him to sell his truck when the police returned it and to use one of the company’s instead. But I’d also learned that Leandra had, in fact, known about Owen’s four-wheel purchase, and she had been taunting him her last night at Simmer simply because she was, as Belita and others had put it, a bitch.
    “I wish I could give you the ring you deserve, but I guess this will do for now,” Owen said sadly. “I’m sorry about everything. I really apologize to both of you for acting like such a jackass. I just want to be able to take care of you and the baby, Ade, and I thought you’d feel better if you thought I had a lot of big restaurant accounts. It’s just taking longer than I thought it would to build up business. Do you know how much this baby is going to cost? When Ade stays home next year, I’ll be the only person supporting us, and I guess the stress got to me.”
    I hadn’t told either of my good friends that I’d suspected Owen of being involved with Leandra. The notion was so stupendously dumb! And I’d sworn Josh to secrecy. I took Owen’s hand. “Wipe that sheepish look off your face. We understand why you lied. And Adrianna let you have it pretty good. So, you probably learned a lesson, right?” Owen’s eyes widened. “Our child is going to learn quickly not to mess with Mommy, that’s for sure!”
    Adrianna took his other hand. “Honey, we’ll work it out. Plenty of people have babies when only one parent is working. Besides, do you know day care would be over a thousand dollars a month? That is crazy. And it would eat up my income anyhow. Plus, I want to be home for a while with the little guy. He’s going to need me.” She gave me a knowing look.
    Little guy? I nearly jumped out of my seat. “It’s a boy?” They both flashed huge smiles, and Ade said, “I couldn’t wait any longer, so I called up my ob-gyn and told her we’d changed our minds, and she told us we are having a healthy baby boy.”
    “Actually,” Owen spoke proudly, “what the doctor said was that there was no question that it was a boy because his manhood was quite visible! That’s my boy!”
    Ade and I rolled our eyes.
    Josh and Snacker came to the table, and Josh placed yet another dish on the table. This one was a deep bowl piled high with clams and mussels. Aromatic steam rose from the top. The chefs sat down, and I was happy to see no overt displays of malice from either Owen or Snacker.
    “Chloe, are you getting enough to eat?” Josh asked with concern.
    I looked at my boyfriend with disbelief. “More food? Josh, seriously, you have to stop hovering over me! I promise you that I am fine. I’ve eaten enough for me, Ade, and her baby. But thank you. Everything is as good as ever.”
    Josh scooted his chair close to me and draped his arm over my shoulder. “Just making sure. Here, try this. It’s clams and mussels cooked with a spicy orange bouillon. A chef I went to school with stole my idea for this and put it on his menu, but this is the original dish. And a better one.” He spoon-fed me some of the broth. “I brought enough for all of you, obviously.”
    “Josh isn’t going to stop feeding you until you puke,” Snacker added indelicately.
    The bouillon was liquid heaven. I pulled some clams and mussels from their shells and dunked them into the broth. Perfect!
    Wade sauntered through the front door. I was convinced that his hair had grown an inch higher in the past few days. Blythe saw him come in, too, and hurried over to our table. “He just came