Page 9 of The Logic of Loyalty

Blinking away the useless tears of disappointment, I gather the test and the wrapper. Two lines.

“What?” I gasp quietly, afraid to break the spell I must be under.

I hold it up with shaking hands to see it more closely. To make sure my teary eyes didn’t blur my vision. That my yearning didn’t make me see things that aren’t truly there. Still two lines.

We did it.

My son starts knocking on the bathroom door, and I panic, nearly dropping the test onto the floor. “Mom, are you going to get that? Your phone is ringing again.”

Again? “Shit, uh—shoot.” Jacob laughs, delighted at my cursing. “Just a second, honey!”

My caller ID says Josh, so I answer it cautiously. “Josh, is everything okay?”

“Hey. Sorry, I know it’s early, but have you heard from Carri today?” His voice is frantic, and I can hear Cassian screaming in the background.

“Sorry, no. Not today.” Honestly, not ever. She is never the one who reaches out, except with our initial contact.

“Okay. Well, do you—shit, sorry. Do you have any clue where she might be? Shh. Shh,” He hushes his baby, but I don’t hear a discernible change in Cassian’s wails.

“Uh, no. I’m sorry. I really don’t have any idea.” I rack my brain for anything, but I have nothing to go off of.

“Okay. Alright. Okay.” He sighs, the sound out of place against Cassian’s screams. I have to drop Jacob off at camp, wait for him to finish, then go to work, but the sound is tugging at my heart. “Do you need me to come in early?”

“Yes! God, yes, please. That would be incredible.”

“I’ll have to leave either with Cass, or leave him with you to pick up Jacob⁠—”

“Literally anything you need. Thank you so much.” Josh hangs up, and I’m already planning the rest of the day with these changes. It’ll mean a longer workday for me. He won’t need me to come in early all the time, will he?

I carefully place my positive test in my pocket and dispose of the rest of the garbage. Whatever else today brings, I know it is going to be a good day.

“Bethany, you’ll never guess what happened today.” The moment Jacob is sucked into some show about demons with catchy music, I call my sweet sister-in-law, Bethany Whitaker.

Bethany is my girl. She and her family have stilted relationships that nobody seems to be able to explain, but she’s always been a supporter of our relationship and our sweet baby boy.

“What happened?” Her voice sounds odd, but I have to spit this out before I explode.

“Carri left. She’s gone.”

“Who?”

“Caroline Bright? Josh’s wife and the mother of the tiny baby I watch?”

“Holy shit.”

“I know.”

“Holy shit!”

“I know!” I whisper-shout, unwilling to give Jacob any hint that my conversation is interesting.

“Does anyone else know?”

“Honestly, I have no idea.” I put my phone down and grab an earbud instead of trying to play this shoulder balance game. I currently have someone else’s baby strapped to my chest, while mine is growing in my belly, and I’m doing someone else’s dishes as I dish out some juicy gossip with my sister-in-law. I need two hands for this. “Can you still hear me?”

“Yep.” She pops the p, then remains quiet. Bethany is not a pushy person, but she loves gossip as much as the next person.

“What’s up, Beth?”