The receptionist handed Brooke a card with the time written on it, but she waved it away. “Got it.” She flashed the fancy tablet and put it in one of the bags.
Brooke and Amandine walked into the elevator together. “I should call Gavin.” Amandine wanted to tell Brooke the news, but of course her husband should be first.
“Okay.” Brooke waited until they reached the lobby, then dialed his number and handed the phone to Amandine.
“You know you don’t have to do phone duty, right?” Amandine said, pressing the stylish gadget to her ear and walking toward her car.
“Gotta earn my keep.”
“I keep you plenty busy with more important things. Like organizing yet another charity function.” Amandine hated fundraisers, but it was something she realized she needed to do as Gavin’s wife. She wasn’t an art teacher anymore.
Gavin picked up on the fifth ring. “Hey sweetie,” he said.
“I have—”
“I’m in the middle of something. Is it urgent or can I call you back?” he asked, speaking fast.
Did her pregnancy qualify as “urgent?” It might be better to wait until he had some time to digest the news. “Later is fine. Call me.”
“’Kay, bye.”
She handed the phone back to Brooke with a sigh. “He’s busy.”
“He’s always busy. You should’ve told him you want to talk now.” Brooke peered at Amandine. “If you’re calling him, it must be important.”
“It’s okay.” She should’ve known better than to call during the workday.
Brooke took the driver’s seat of the pearly Mercedes coupe Gavin had bought for Amandine on her last birthday and put on a pair of oversized sunglasses. They were shaped like butterfly wings. “I’ll drive. You just relax.”
“Thanks,” Amandine said, shoving some more conservative shades onto her own face. Brooke was one of the best drivers she knew. That was the only reason she’d been able to convince Gavin not to hire a chauffeur.
“So what is it? Not cancer or anything, right?”
Amandine choked, then started coughing. “Of course not. Why would you even think—?”
“Don’t give me that. You looked totally shell-shocked coming out of the doctor’s office.” Brooke’s short but artfully manicured green fingernails tapped the steering wheel. “And you hardly ever call Gavin at work.”
Amandine hesitated, then blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
“Wow! Seriously? Congratulations! I didn’t know you guys were planning to start a family.”
“He wasn’t.” She’d been wanting a family, a couple of children at least to fill their huge mansion, but somehow it had never come up. “I mean, we weren’t.”
“Uh-huh.”
Amandine looked at the semi-congested road ahead and sighed. “I’m just a little worried is all. Gavin’s never said he wanted kids.”
“You should think about what you want, too. That’s what being a couple means, right?” Brooke made a deft turn onto a smaller street with fewer motorists and accelerated. “Anyway, it’ll probably work out.”
“How? Gavin hardly ever has time to spend with me anymore. How will he make time for a child?”
“He’ll figure it out. Children have a way of changing your priorities.” Brooke paused. “You know Sandy and Eugene?”
“Sure. They had a girl last year.” Amandine had sent a large basket of baby goods, with the help of her shopper, Josephine, who’d gone wild in various boutiques, selecting all sorts of cute little things. The woman knew quality, and Amandine had wanted the best for Brooke’s older sister’s first-born.
“Okay, you can’t tell anybody, but…they were thinking about separating.”
Shock shot through Amandine. “Are you serious? They seem so in love.”