“Working at the fertility clinic is actually what inspired me to start fostering kids,” Libby added in a softer voice. She withdrew her hand, a soft smile playing on her lips. “All those happy families coming together…the miracle of life.”
Charlotte’s heart missed a beat as she considered her next words carefully.
Was she finally ready to bring it up?
Charlotte took a deep breath and glanced away. “What about the surrogates? Have you dealt with a lot of them? Did they seem happy?”
Libby nodded, and her smile grew wider. “Absolutely. They’re some of the bravest and happiest women I know.”
Charlotte glanced back at Libby, a tiny burst of hope and joy taking root inside of her and making her feel warm and tingly in every corner of her body.
Savannah’s words were still ringing in her head as she sat there, taking it all in.
She knew there was a lot more she had to learn about being a surrogate, but she didn’t want her inexperience to get in the way. On the contrary, she could suddenly picture herself as one of the women Libby mentioned, full of life and hope and purpose.
By the time Libby got up to leave, Charlotte was more sure than ever that it was what she wanted to do.
Chapter Nine
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and drummed her fingers against the desk. When she glanced up and saw that no other patients were coming in, Libby placed both arms on the table and brought her head to rest against the cool wood. Her laptop screen was still frozen on the same webpage.
Why had she installed that stupid update anyway? All it had done was change the interface and reorganize the order of things. A lot of her apps had been misplaced when she woke up this morning, and one app in particular was no longer there. Without the tracker app, Libby had no way of keeping tabs on Annie.
No way of knowing she was safe or what kind of trouble she was in.
Her heart hadn’t stopped hammering since she discovered the app was gone two hours ago. Since then, she’d almost burned her hand making coffee, held up the line at Decadent Treats,and arrived ten minutes later than she should’ve to work. Luckily, no one else was around to witness her humiliation, with the doctors coming in later in the day.
Her laptop screen flashed, and Libby jolted. She pushed her chair closer to the desk and held her breath. Then, she reachedfor the mouse and tried to ignore the tremor in her hands. When the web page loaded and she was able to move the cursor around, she breathed another sigh of relief.
Now that her laptop wasn’t acting up, she had a chance to find answers online.
“Please let me find what I need,” Libby muttered under her breath. “Come on, it can’t be that hard.”
Every minute that went by was another minute Annie was in danger.
Libby was filled with the urge to pick up her phone and bang it repeatedly against her desk, at least until it brought the app back.
The web page froze again, and Libby buried her face in her hands. She groaned and began to rub her temples in slow, circular motions.
“Bad day?”
Libby froze and hastily dropped her hands. She glanced up and did a double take when she found herself looking into Charlotte Hamilton Ricker’s familiar heart-shaped face and clear, almond-shaped, green eyes. Charlotte said something, and Libby blinked, the blood still roaring in her ears.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Charlotte shifted from one foot to the other and clutched her purse tighter. “I don’t think you heard me come in.”
Libby gave a slight shake of her head, and one corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. “Yeah, sorry, technical difficulties. You know how annoying that can get.”
Charlotte nodded, and her expression softened. “Yeah, I hate being such a slave to technology, but what are you going to do?”
Libby pushed her chair back and stood up. “Yeah, true. Um, do you have an appointment, or is this just a walk-in?”
Charlotte glanced over Libby’s shoulder and then back at her face. “I have a consult with Dr. Reese.”
Libby nodded and checked the schedule she had printed and pinned to the desk. “Yes, Dr. Reese is running a little late, but she’ll be here soon.”
Charlotte licked her dry lips, and her hands fluttered at her sides. “You’ve worked with her for a while, right? Is she nice? Is a consult painful?”
Libby stepped out from behind her desk and led Charlotte to the water cooler in the corner. Next to it, there was a foldable table set up with two boxes of tea and an assortment of Styrofoam cups. In silence, she filled up the kettle and pushed the button. When she spun around to face Charlotte, the drama teacher’s shoulders were hunched.
