He returned to the bedroom. As he shrugged out of his jacket, he heard something crinkle and remembered the envelope. He pulled it out and opened it. Then his heart stopped for a moment as a black-and-white print showed a little dot.
On the side it showed the date of the sonogram and weeks and days of…
Gavin’s fingers shook.
Amandine was pregnant.
Gavin picked up the bourbon he’d poured earlier and downed it. His heart hammered, and his gut burned. Amandine had known she was pregnant at least a day before their anniversary. Why hadn’t she said anything about it?
Maybe she wasn’t in the mood after you stood her up.
It didn’t matter. A baby changed everything. It was the most precious thing he could ever create with Amandine, and it gave him hope. He could win her back. Whatever had made her say yes to his proposal couldn’t be completely gone. If he’d somehow messed up so bad he’d lost her love, he’d find a way to get it back.
He called her.
“’Lo?” came her sleep-slurred voice.
“Where are you?”
“Gavin?”
He could hear something shuffle in the background. Where was she?
“You know what time it is?” she said, her voice low but forceful. “It’s one. Most people sleep at this hour.”
“If you didn’t want to talk about our baby at one in the morning, you should’ve said something earlier.”
A pause.
“Hello?” Had she hung up on him?
“It’s not important,” she said finally.
“A baby is definitely important.”
“Gavin—”
“You acted like we were through, like there’s nothing worth fighting for in our marriage. Well, a baby is not nothing.” It was a miracle, something he’d longed for but hadn’t been sure if Amandine had wanted. Which was why he’d never broached the subject.
There was a pause. “Meet me at Wong Lotus tomorrow at eight if you want to talk. Don’t be late. I won’t wait for you, and I won’t reschedule.” She hung up.
* * *
In Brooke’s apartment, Amandine sat up and stared unseeing in the dark. The thin cotton sheet on Brooke’s bed was nothing like the silken ones she’d shared with Gavin, but it was comforting to hold onto as she tried to process what had just happened.
How in the world had Gavin found out she was pregnant?
Brooke stirred next to her. “Who was that?”
“No one,” Amandine said.
Brooke mumbled something unintelligible and turned over, burying her face in her pillow.
Amandine focused on breathing. She could barely remember what had been said. Everything had been a blur once he’d spoken of the baby.
“Our baby.” Those had been Gavin’s words. Was he planning to use her pregnancy as some kind of a bargaining chip?
And Wong Lotus at eight. Why had she picked a restaurant so close by? She didn’t want Gavin to know where she was staying.