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His heart jumped when the door opened, and he waited to see who came through.
It was Phyllis. And she didn’t look right.
“All ready?” he asked, trying to assess the seriousness of the situation by her expression. And failing completely.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding. Her eyes, when she smiled at him, were vacant. As vacant as the smile itself.
“You need to see anyone about paying?” he asked as she walked, very subdued, toward the door.
“No.” She shook her head. “They have my insurance information.”
Matt held the door for her, following her into the su
nshine. She walked silently to the car, her face blank, slid in and buckled her seat belt.
And then she sat, staring straight ahead, with apparently no interest in where they went next.
Matt was afraid to ask what she’d just found out. But he had to know how bad it was. Had to know if it was fixable.
“It’s after six. You want some dinner?” he asked, buying himself time.
“Okay.”
Other than that day in Tortilla Flat, a day that seemed so long ago now, they’d never actually sat at a table together to share a meal. But he knew exactly what she’d like.
Phyllis loved pasta. Of any kind. He drove to the Macaroni Grill.
But once he’d parked in the lot, he couldn’t go in. Not until she talked to him.
“So how bad is it?” He could have phrased that question a whole lot better if he hadn’t been just about ready to explode with tension. The silent drive from the doctor’s office had been the longest ten minutes he could remember in years.
Phyllis started, looked over at him. It took her a second, but her soft green eyes finally focused. “How bad is what?” she asked, gazing around. The place was decorated for Christmas. “The food here? It’s good. Really good. Haven’t you eaten here before?”
She released the buckle on her seat belt.
“Yes, I’ve eaten here before,” he said, studying her closely.
“So,” she said, turning to him again when he made no move to leave the car. “We going in?”
“As soon as you tell me what happened back there.”
She sighed. Looked a little scared. And then gave him a shaky smile. “There were two of them.”
He frowned. “Two of what?”
“Babies.”
She’d lost him completely. “Where?” There’d been no one in the waiting room when they’d come in. He’d assumed they were the only people at the clinic.
“Here,” she said, patting her belly.
Oh.
Oh.
Matt felt the blood drain from his face. Curses strung themselves together in his mind. “Two,” he said in a questioning tone—almost as though, if he gave her another chance, she’d change her mind.
“Mmm-hmm.”
