Mommy Tracked Read Online Free PDF Page A

them. She was young, maybe in her late twenties, and petite, with curly blonde bobbed hair, wide blue eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her snub nose. Upon closer examination, Grace realized with horror that she had been wrong earlier.
    She’s thinner than me. Oh, my God. She’s pregnant, and she’s still thinner than me . That’s it, I have got to go on a diet. Immediately . Self-revulsion curled through Grace, and she could practically feel the calories oozing out of the cookie and right onto her ass. This was such a disgusting image that, if it had been at all socially acceptable, Grace would have spit the cookie back out. Instead, she chewed and swallowed, then wrapped what was left of the cookie in a paper cocktail napkin and tossed it in the garbage can.
    “Chloe, hi, I’m glad you could make it. These are my friends Juliet Cole and Grace Weaver,” Anna said brightly. “This is Chloe Truman. She lives just down the street from me. I met her when Charlie and I were out walking Potato, and I told her all about how this group is a godsend for new mothers.”
    “It’s true,” Grace said. “Whenever someone in the group has a baby, we all take turns bringing dinner over for a few weeks. After I had my youngest, Natalie, the rest of my family probably would have starved if it hadn’t been for MCT.”
    “I’m trying to talk Chloe into joining,” Anna said.
    “You don’t have to talk me into it,” Chloe said, looking both shy and pleased. “I want to join.”
    “Yeah!” Grace enthused. She grinned at Chloe. “You’ve picked the perfect time to join MCT, if I do say so myself.”
    “Grace is the new president of the group,” Anna explained.
    “Wow,” Chloe said.
    “You’re looking at the power center of Orange Cove,” Grace joked. “Did you ever see The Godfather ? I’m basically the mom version of Don Corleone.”
    “You should get out while you still can,” Juliet said to Chloe. “Run. Run as fast as you can.”
    “Why?” Chloe asked.
    “Mothers’ groups are always boring. I’m only here because Grace threatened me with physical violence if I didn’t come.”
    “Don’t listen to her. Juliet’s a malcontent,” Anna said.
    “I am not. I’m a contrarian. It’s different.”
    “How old is your baby?” Chloe asked Grace.
    “Three months. That’s why I still look pregnant,” Grace said, feeling the need to explain away her still-swollen stomach, although she immediately regretted it when she noticed Chloe’s eye flick down in that direction. “And I also have two other daughters. A five-year-old, Molly, and a three-year-old, Hannah.”
    “Wow. Three under the age of six?” Chloe looked shocked. “I can’t imagine. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to manage one.” She rested a hand on her round belly.
    “It’s not so bad, especially once you’ve gotten over the loss of your sanity,” Grace assured her.
    Anna nudged Grace and nodded toward the front of the room. “Grace, who is that woman, and why does she have a bag full of dildos?”
    Grace turned and saw a tall, shapely redhead, dressed chastely in a gray skirt suit and lilac silk blouse. She was pulling handfuls of dildos out of a preppy L. L. Bean tote bag and lining them up on the table like an army of plastic penises.
    “Oh, good,” Grace said, relieved. “Our speaker’s here. I was starting to worry she wasn’t going to show up.”
    “Who is she?” Juliet asked.
    “Melinda Gibbons. She’s a sexpert. She’s here to teach us how to give better blow jobs,” Grace explained.
    “Did you say ‘better blow jobs ’?” Anna asked, frowning. Three lines appeared on her forehead, just between her eyes.
    “You shouldn’t frown like that. It’ll give you wrinkles, and then you’ll have to get Botox, and you’ll end up with one of those scary, waxlike faces. And you don’t want that,” Grace said.
    Anna rolled her eyes. “Grace? The dildos?”
    “I told you, I want to spice the meetings up a