Page 111 of After We Fall

Standing in the ranch kitchen, stirring a pot of black-eyed peas on the stove, I smile to myself, remembering those pictures. My mother found beauty in everything. Not unlike a man I now know. A man I am now dating. A man I am falling in love with who reminded me of my mother’s words one day in a chapel five weeks ago.

The house alarm beeps in two quick successions, alerting me to someone’s entrance at the front door.

“Hello?” Meredith calls. “Penelope?”

“In the kitchen,” I call over my shoulder while I set the spoonula down on the counter. I check the oven timer—the chicken should be ready in a few minutes. My feeble attempt at making dinner will be rounded out with a salad and a cherry pie from the bakery.

Meredith and Harlan enter the room, and I turn, studying their demeanors. They’ve just returned from a visit to the ob-gyn. Harlan heads straight to the fridge and opens the door. Meredith offers me a small smile.

Because I walked into a hotel bathroom at exactly the wrong time—or the right time, depending on how I look at it—I’m privy to the most sensitive information in their lives right now. However, I’m aware that Meredith might not have wanted it that way. The exposure to their personal lives is so great, they are double exposed. Layers of her previous life behind her current one. Colors melding together the tragedy of her past and the questions swirling around her current pregnancy.

“Thank you for setting up that doctor’s appointment, Penelope,” Meredith says.

“Of course. I don’t want to pry, but please let me know if there’s anything I might be able to help with.”

Harlan grabs a bottled water out of the fridge, twists the cap off, and hands it to Meredith. “Dr. Gordon said in spite of it being a high-risk pregnancy, everything looks good. She’ll probably be on bed rest at some point.”

Meredith glances at me and shrugs with a resigned smile.

“He also wants to deliver early,” Harlan says. The lines around his eyes are filled with concern, but his stance widens and he places his hands on his hips as if he is commanding confidence into the room. “But overall, the doctor was very optimistic today.”

Meredith nods. “He also said I’m already asking a lot of my pants.”

“I believe his remark was that you were perfectly healthy,” Harlan says.

“He said I’ve already gained three pounds since my annual visit.”

Harlan walks to Meredith, takes her face in his hands, and gentles his voice. “He said there’s a strong possibility that you and the baby are going to be fine.” He leans his forehead against hers. “And that’s all that matters.”

“That’s all that matters,” Meredith whispers back.

Harlan and Meredith’s double exposure is also wrapped in beauty. One that takes my breath away as I watch them embrace, Meredith resting her cheek on her husband’s chest.

I look down, flicking a nonexistent particle off my pressed, dark-stained jeans.

Meredith pulls back, kisses Harlan on the cheek, then while still in his arms, turns to me and says, “And one other thing that matters is that I’m asking a lot of my pants.”

“Do you want to . . . go shopping?” I ask, cringing.

“Did that physically hurt to say those words?”

“Yes.”

Meredith takes a drink of her water. “Good news for you, I’m not a shopper. How about we forgo the girly activities like shopping and gossip, and you just cut to the chase and tell me what’s going on between you and Mr. Drum Set.”

“Mr. Drum Set?”

“Captain Cargo Pants,” she says with a sly smile. “Or I could just call him the man who delivered a hot kiss to you on the dance floor two nights ago.”

Heat floods my cheeks, and I have to look away from the gleam in her eyes.

“Where is Luke, anyway?” Harlan asks. “We saw Bianca on the way in, and she said he didn’t show for her drum lesson last night.”

He didn’t tell her he wasn’t showing for her drum lesson? That’s new information. I wonder if that’s why she stalked out of the house this morning.

The oven timer beeps, and I press the off button. I pull a trivet and hot pads out of a nearby drawer. “He had to fly to Arizona. One of his clients had an issue and insisted Luke be the one to go check it out.”

“Perfect,” Meredith says with a wink. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder.”