Chapter 2 - THE OTHER PREGNANCY
Nobody moved.
Not James.
Not Carol.
Not me.
Martin Bennett had reached the walkway but stopped when he heard Ava.
James found his voice first.
“Ava.”
She turned toward him.
“You said you were going to tell her.”
Carol sighed.
“This is not the sidewalk conversation I planned.”
I looked at James.
“How far along?”
He closed his eyes.
“Eleanor.”
“How far?”
Ava answered.
“Twenty-one weeks.”
Five weeks ahead of me.
That did the math for me.
The affair had not started after our current pregnancy.
James had been sleeping with her while we were still trying to conceive.
I stepped aside.
“Come in.”
James stared.
“What?”
“All of you.”
Carol’s expression relaxed.
She probably thought calm meant weakness.
It had always comforted her when women behaved correctly.
Martin entered last.
He handed me a small insulated case without comment.
Carol noticed.
“What’s that?”
“My lawyer brought paperwork.”
Martin smiled politely.
“Morning, Carol.”
She knew him.
That bothered her.
“Martin.”
James looked at me.
“Why is he here?”
“I called him.”
“For what?”
“Family business.”
His own phrase.
He had used it for years whenever he wanted me to stop asking about Carol.
Something moved behind his eyes.
Ava sat in the armchair.
Carol remained standing.
James paced once.
Then stopped.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“After your mother fed me?”
Carol snapped, “Fed you what?”
I looked at her.
“Soup.”
Her eyes stayed on mine.
Martin spoke casually.
“Eleanor, why don’t I put that paperwork in the kitchen?”
He followed me.
The moment we were out of sight, I opened the freezer.
His expression changed when he saw the container.
“You didn’t eat it?”
“Almost none.”
“Any symptoms?”
“No.”
“Headache? Dizziness? Bleeding?”
“No.”
“Good.”
He placed the sealed container inside an evidence bag, photographed it where it sat, then logged the time.
I had seen him do this once with my father’s disputed documents.
Never soup.
“Police?” I whispered.
“Maybe immediately. But first I want you medically evaluated.”
“I’m pregnant, not dying.”
“Eleanor.”
I looked at him.
He lowered his voice.
“If somebody put an unknown substance in food intended for a pregnant woman, you do not guess about risk.”
I nodded.
“James might know.”
“We do not know that yet.”
“I saw him standing there.”
“That proves he was standing there.”
I hated him for being careful.
I needed him to be.
When we returned to the living room, Ava was crying.
James sat across from her.
Carol looked irritated by everyone.
I sat beside Martin.
“Start at the beginning.”
James rubbed his face.
“Ava works with Parker Meridian.”
“I know.”
She was communications director.
I had met her twice at holiday events.
Both times she wore gardenia perfume.
Of course.
“How long?”
James stared at the floor.
“Seven months.”
Ava whispered, “Nine.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You kissed me in February.”
“That wasn’t—”
“It counted to me.”
I laughed once.
James winced.
“Eleanor.”
“No. Please. Define adultery carefully. This seems like a useful morning.”
Carol interrupted.
“The affair is terrible.”
I stared at her.
“Thank you, Carol.”
“But there is a child now.”
“A child?”
“A grandson.”
There it was.
Ava touched her stomach.
I looked at her.
“You know it’s a boy?”
She nodded.
Carol smiled.
The smile made my skin crawl.
James said, “Mom, stop.”
“What?”
“Stop making this worse.”
“Worse than what? You have two pregnant women in one room.”
I looked at him.
“Did you call Ava yesterday?”
He froze.
Ava looked up.
James answered too slowly.
“Yes.”
“Our little treasure?”
His face drained.
Carol’s eyes moved toward the hydrangea vase.
Not directly.
Close.
I noticed.
“You recorded me?”
I smiled.
“Why would you ask that?”
James stood.
“Eleanor.”
Martin stood too.
Not threatening.
Just present.
James stopped.
Ava whispered, “He told me you two were basically separated.”
I looked at her.
“We share a bed.”
She closed her eyes.
“He said it was for appearances.”
I turned to James.
He said, “Our marriage has been bad for years.”
“That’s interesting.”
“It’s true.”
“You kissed my stomach yesterday.”
He looked away.
Ava did too.
Carol spoke.
“This is exactly why we need to stop pretending.”
I looked at her.
“What do you want?”
“For everybody to accept reality.”
“Which reality?”
“That James has an heir coming.”
Ava stiffened.
“Carol.”
“And Eleanor deserves a fresh start.”
My hand moved protectively over my stomach.
“With my baby?”
Carol’s expression changed.
“Of course.”
Martin watched her.
I saw him catch it too.
That tiny hesitation.
He stood.
“We should go.”
James frowned.
“Where?”
“Eleanor has an appointment.”
“I’ll drive.”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked at him.
“I want space.”
He glanced toward the insulated evidence case.
Then back at me.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Paperwork.”
He did not believe me.
Good.
As Martin and I reached the door, Ava stood.
“Eleanor.”
I turned.
She looked at James.
Then Carol.
Then back at me.
“There’s something you should know.”
James snapped, “Ava.”
She flinched.
I waited.
Ava’s hand tightened around her coat.
“When I told James the baby was a boy, he didn’t tell me first.”
“What?”
“He called his mother.”
Carol’s face hardened.
Ava continued.
“I was standing beside him.”
James whispered, “Stop.”
“He said, ‘She finally got what she wanted.’”
I looked at Carol.
“What did you want?”
Carol smiled.
“A healthy grandchild.”
Ava shook her head.
“That isn’t what you said.”
Carol’s expression vanished.
May you like
Ava looked at me.
“She told James, ‘Now we only have to deal with Eleanor’s.’”
