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Is she going back to her house? he wondered aloud. I didn t think the police had
released it yet.
At the street she should have turned to get to her old house, she went straight.
Straight to his house. She pulled up in the driveway and parked. He sat four houses back
hoping she wouldn t notice him.
She got out of the car, waggling her finger. She said something to Monty before
shutting the car. She took several weary steps then straightened her shoulders and walked
the length of the sidewalk up to Jack s door.
He could see her ringing the bell. No one s home.
She rang it two more times, then her shoulders slumped and she returned to the car.
Jack followed her for an hour, just driving around the city.
What was he doing? His stomach clenched. If he were going to rectify things with
her, then would have been a brilliant time to try. But he d held back, couldn t bring
himself to get out of the car and talk to her. Tell her he d been wrong.
Instead, he sat in his car, lusted after her like a freaking horny teenager, content to
trail her hidden in shadows not the best way to make things work with Elyse Cabot. As
if she d have him.
www.samhainpublishing.com 185
Denise Belinda McDonald
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The day started off sluggish and didn t improve much. Elyse couldn t shake the bug
she d picked up at work from Debbie earlier that week. She d dragged around the store
all morning, tired, grumpy. If it weren t for her mother s party, she probably wouldn t
have left her room for the rest of Friday afternoon. But she d worked an early shift at the
store so she could help her sisters get ready for their mother s sixty-fifth birthday bash.
Halfway through hanging the banners her brother-in-law had printed, she got dizzy,
followed by a rough bout of nausea from the scent of the crab dip for the party. She
excused herself to lie down in her room for a bit before the guests started to arrive.
Elyse groaned when someone knocked on her door. Come in, she said with her
face squished into her pillow. She quickly lifted her head to see who it was.
Hey, brat, you still under the weather? Cara came through the door.
Not too bad, she lied. I just had a busy week at work. What do you need, sis?
What makes you think I need something? Can t a big sister come in and talk
without having an ulterior motive?
Elyse raised an eyebrow and looked at her sister.
I need a feminine product. Do you have any?
No, sorry. Elyse scrunched her forehead. She couldn t remember the last time
she d bought any. She rubbed her temple.
Oh. I just thought since you were living here now you d have some.
186 www.samhainpublishing.com
Trading Faces
No, I& The last time she bought any was after Halloween. She hadn t needed any
since& Oh God! No, I, ah, just ran out and haven t made it to the store yet.
Okay. I ll just run home real quick. Tell the others I stepped out. Cara rose from
the bed and walked to the door. You know, if you re still feeling lousy from the cold
you caught, you should go to the doctor.
Doctor, yeah, I ll do that. It ll just have to be an OB/GYN. She waved lazily to her
sister. The minute the door shut, she bounded from the bed and went to the closet to dig
through the boxes of things from her rental house.
Looking for her day planner, she cursed the mess of her boxes. She d packed in such
haste she d neglected to write on the boxes what they contained. After ten minutes, she
finally located it in a box of shoes.
She flipped through the pages looking for the date of her last period. Since she was
twelve, she d always kept a log of her menstrual cycle. The only time in twenty years that
she d forgotten to keep track was the summer she went to camp when she was sixteen.
She d left her calendar at home. The entire summer she walked around with a pad in her
pocket afraid of being caught unaware.
Crouched on the floor of her closet, she held her breath and flipped to October. She
scanned the page and found the date of her period. Releasing a breath she turned the page
and looked for the little star she used to indicate the start of her cycle.
Two notes about birthdays sat above the little star two and a half weeks before
Thanksgiving. Two and a half weeks before she and Jack made love. She turned the page
again and read over December. Dread and excitement filled her simultaneously. There
was not one single notation.
It could, of course, just be the flu, stress, anything of a hundred things. But she didn t
think so.
With a shaky hand, she pressed her palm to her stomach. Why hadn t she paid better
attention? Because she d been so intent on pouting about losing Jack. Jack. She d have to
tell him. First, she needed to see a doctor.
www.samhainpublishing.com 187
Denise Belinda McDonald
Standing, she searched for her shoes. Thank goodness her cousin, Melody, was a
doctor. She could get in today, no questions asked.
Elyse didn t want to go to the doctor alone. She tried to decide which one of her
sisters could keep a secret best. Not a one of them. She thought about her sister-in-law.
The only person Amber would tell would be Lance. She couldn t keep a secret from him.
Unfortunately, like the Zweller women, he was a blabbermouth. That left her with only
one alternative.
Mom, she screamed when she slid her feet into the tan loafers by her desk.
Congratulations, Aunt Diane, Melody said from the other side of her desk. Looks
like you re going to have busy year with two daughters expecting.
They all stood and did a round of hugs.
Can we just keep this between us for a bit? Elyse hoped her voice didn t sound as
desperate to her cousin s ears as it did her own.
Melody promised to keep the secret and said she d see them both at the party later.
Diane s smile grew wider. She squeezed Elyse s hand and didn t let go until they
reached the parking lot.
Back in the car, the pair stared at the black and white sonogram print. You couldn t
see much of anything, not unless you knew what you were looking at. It was, however,
the absolute most wonderful, if not almost as frightening, picture she d ever held.
Her mom hadn t asked one single question the entire time they were with Melody,
which scared Elyse as much as her impending motherhood. Her mother must be going
crazy with her silence. When they buckled up, her mother released a heavy sigh.
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| Cytat |
Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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