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Temptation and weakness. Betrayal. A controlling outside force.
What was it supposed to mean?
Right then, I didn’t have a clue.
Chapter 11
DISTANT THUNDER
While we had a decent number of patrons that morning and through the lunch hour, I didn’t feel the slightest pang as Chloe set the “be back at” sign in the window and locked the front door a few minutes before two.
She, on the other hand, seemed to have some doubts. “I can always come back and open up for an hour or so later this afternoon,” she told me as she deposited the key in the cash register. “I don’t think the meeting with Mr. Scurlock is going to take much more than an hour.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But it could go long, and you and your parents are probably going to have plenty to talk about even after the meeting’s over. It’s fine.”
Another hesitation, but then she seemed to guess from my expression that I wasn’t going to budge on that point.
And I wouldn’t. Going over strategies for defending yourself in a murder investigation was a lot more important than a couple of hundred bucks in sales, if that. While business was a bit more brisk than it would have been if I weren’t running a half-price sale this week, I’d noticed that it had begun to trail off as the week wore on, telling me the early bargain-hunters had already come and gone. Having the shop closed for a few extra hours wasn’t going to make much of a difference.
So Chloe got in her VW and drove off to the Best Western, where Leland Price, the manager, had offered her and her family the meeting room for their talk with Alec Scurlock, and I climbed into my Renegade and navigated the half-mile or so to the OB/GYN’s office.
This close to the big day, the check-up was mostly about discussing how I was feeling and taking a few readings to make sure the baby’s heart was still beating just fine and that I didn’t seem to be in any imminent danger of giving birth on the floor next to one of the bookcases in my shop.
“Everything sounds great,” Dr. Carlisle informed me. I’d been expecting exactly that evaluation, but even so, it felt good to hear it coming directly from her lips. “Looks like we’re right on schedule.”
It was good to know that all the recent hubbub didn’t seem to have affected the baby, but I also knew I needed to bring up that little episode the other day, when something that felt dangerously like a contraction had shuddered through my body.
After I described it, though, Dr. Carlisle only shook her head.
“That’s perfectly normal,” she said. “I know it can be scary, but it’s nothing to worry about, especially since it only happened one time.” She paused there, gaze sharpening a little. “Are you doing your best to keep off your feet?”
“Mostly,” I said with a wry smile, thinking of how long I’d been standing in the living room of the Airbnb while Chloe set her protection spell on the house.
“Well, try to make it more than ‘mostly,’” the doctor said. “And you’re still planning to close the shop after this week?”
“Not anymore,” I replied, then added quickly, “My younger sister is in town, and she’s going to keep an eye on things for me while I’m on leave.”
I knew all this would be news to Dr. Carlisle, because she was one of those “strictly business” types of people who tended to focus on patient care and not gossip. Very likely, she’d heard nothing about Jack Speros’s murder, or the way my long-lost half-sister had appeared in Globe only a few days before the tragedy. We had a local paper, but it only came out once a week, and wasn’t due to land on people’s doorsteps and driveways for a few more days.
The doctor’s expression brightened. “That’s good to hear. It’s wonderful when family can pitch in after the baby arrives. Then I won’t give you my speech about taking sufficient time off both before and after your due date.”
“No worries,” I assured her. “I’m already planning to be home for at least six months.”
“Perfect,” she said. “I know not everyone has the luxury to take so much time off work, but if you do, you should take advantage of it.”
We ended the appointment with her telling me I really shouldn’t drive after this week, and to call the second I had contractions around five minutes apart. Afterward, I went out to my Jeep and climbed in. It felt as though I had even less room between my belly and the steering wheel than I had the day before, even though I had the seat pushed as far back as I reasonably could and still reach the brake and gas pedal.
Well, that was probably why Dr. Carlisle wanted me to stop driving. And I would; after this week, Calvin would be off work, too, and he could play chauffeur while we waited for the baby to arrive.
As I was driving down Bridge Street, I spied Victoria’s red Mercedes SUV approaching from the other direction and lifted my hand to wave. We’d been sort of missing each other the past few days, with me zigging while she was zagging, so it was good to catch even a glimpse of her.
But you’ll see her Saturday at brunch, I reminded myself.
Thinking of that rapidly approaching event, I wondered if I should reach out to Heather to see if she might want to delay her and Jordan’s departure by a day so she could attend our girls’ get-together as well. My mother had already shown that she was fine with hosting Heather Fairfield at her house, and I knew she wouldn’t mind if I added another guest to the roster.
Or maybe that would be weird. I could tell things were still sort of awkward with my bio-dad and his wife, and asking her to a baby shower when she’d only met me a few days earlier might seem strange. Not that it was a true baby shower — I’d told everyone I didn’t want any gifts — but still.
No, probably better to let it go. It wasn’t as if Jordan had been in my life while I was growing up, and I barely knew Heather at all. The baby I was carrying was his grandchild, true, but I didn’t see the point in forcing things when we really didn’t have a relationship.
