Unexpected tears burned her eyes. “Because I’m pregnant. Sixteen weeks tomorrow.”
Valerie gasped. “I’m seventeen weeks tomorrow. Are we seriously only a week apart?”
“Yeah, uh, looks that way.”
With a grin, Valerie grabbed her hands with both of hers. “How exciting is that? Does Ken know? What did he say?”
“Daisy Ruiz?”
Silently thanking God for the reprieve, she pulled her hands free and grabbed her book as she stood. “That’s me. I’ll see you later.”
She went through the appointment with edgy nerves fluttering through her stomach and down her arms into her hands. Her fingertips felt ice cold. She could barely answer the doctor’s questions. Her mind focused on Valerie and how she could possibly explain everything.
The doctor checked the placenta on an ultrasound and made sure everything still looked good. The baby’s heartbeat filled her ears, sounding very fast and very loud.
“I don’t think the subchronic hematoma is going to give us any more problems.” She smiled and wiped the ultrasound gel off Daisy’s stomach. “If you start bleeding again, just go straight to the ER. But call here first.”
Daisy got dressed, then went to the appointment desk and made next month’s appointment. Once she fully checked out, she headed back out into the waiting room to leave. When she saw Valerie sitting in a chair by the door, she stopped short.
When Valerie saw her, she smiled and stood. “Hey, there. I thought we could have lunch. Are you free?”
With a heavy sigh, Daisy said, “I am free.”
Valerie raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “But you don’t want to be?”
Steeling herself for a conversation that needed to happen, she shook her head. “It’s okay. Let’s go.”
Soon, they sat across from each other in a little cafe. It was early still, only 11:15, so they had this corner of the dining room to themselves. Valerie squeezed lemon into her water and stirred it with the striped paper straw. Daisy tried to think of a way to start the conversation.
Valarie leaned toward her very slightly and, in a low voice, asked, “Does Ken know you’re pregnant?”
She guessed that she could start there as well as anywhere. “Yes.”
“Oh. He does.” Valerie sat back and laced her fingers together, placing them in her lap. She looked puzzled and thoughtful for a few seconds, then said, “I have a hard time reconciling the Ken I know with this situation. The Ken I know doesn’t abandon his girlfriend when she’s pregnant, no matter what kind of fight they had.”
She thought of a dozen things she could say. Most of them she’d practiced in the car on the way here. All of them sounded wrong. Finally, she said, “It’s not Ken’s baby.”
“Oh!” As Valerie assimilated that fact, all the puzzle pieces clicked into place then immediately tumbled into disorder again. She gasped and slapped her hand to her chest. “Oh, Daisy.”
She’d expected revulsion, not sympathy. Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes. “I’ve loved Ken forever. I really think I’ve loved him since the very first second I ever saw him. All through college, I thought about him. I’ve compared every man I have ever known to him. And then I started dating this guy I met at one of my fundraisers. He swept me off my feet, completely pulled the rug right out from under me.”
Valerie pulled a packet of tissues out of her purse and handed her one. She dabbed at the tears streaming down her face. “But?”
She took a long sip of ice water and finally blurted out, “But he was married. And when he found out I was pregnant, he made it clear how he felt about it.”
Her friend reached across the table and took her hand in both of hers. Her skin felt cool, smooth compared to her own hot and sweaty palms. “Listen, Daisy, I understand.”
She shook her head. “How can you understand?”
With intense, focused eyes, Valarie said, “Because when I lived in Savannah, I dated a married man. I even moved in with him.” Valerie pressed her lips together. “Let’s just say it ended badly.”
Daisy gasped. “Is he the one who—?
With a nod, Valerie said, “Who beat me for a year then threw me off a balcony? Yes. He was married, too.”
Suddenly, it occurred to her that Valerie would not condemn or judge. Valerie would listen and be her friend. “I don’t know how to get Ken back. I said something, and he reacted, and now we’re here.”
“What happened? What did you say?”
