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“She’s going to be okay,” she told him. “She is. I’ll make sure of it.”
“We both will.”
“I’m going to head back home. Do a little bit of work and head over to the studio for some yoga.”
“See? You can be a good patient when you want to be.”
Harper laughed. “I guess we’ll see about that.” She inclined her head to meet his eyes. “Goodbye, James.”
“I’ll call you later. We can arrange a time to take your blood pressure tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” She lifted her hand in goodbye, then turned on her heel and headed to the glass doors. It was only when she walked out into the open air that she realized they hadn’t talked about last weekend at all. He’d put no pressure on her to discuss Alice, or how she was feeling about the situation.
And she was grateful for that. Because right now she needed to concentrate on growing this baby, and keeping her safe until the time was right to give birth.
* * *
Rich looked surprised when he opened his door to James that night. “What’s up?” he asked, his head tipping to the side as he scrutinized his friend. “Oh, hey, you wanna come in?”
“Only if I’m not disturbing you.”
Rich shrugged. “Mi casa es su casa, my friend. And if by disturbing you mean dragging me away from deciding on whether to order Chinese food or pizza, yeah, you’re a big distraction.” He grinned. “Come on in, we can order for two.”
James followed Rich into his living room. He lived in an apartment three blocks from the beach. The floor-to-ceiling windows of his tenth floor home overlooked the ocean, framing the view like it was a moving picture. The television was on, but muted, a sportscaster opening and closing his mouth as no doubt he imparted the details of that day’s sporting news.
“You want a drink?” Rich asked, taking a sip from his half-full bottle of beer.
“Just a soda. I’m driving.”
Rich pulled a can from the refrigerator and threw it to James. “I’d wait a minute before you open it.” He winked. “You want me to order you some food? I think I’ve decided on Chinese.”
“I’m good.” James wasn’t feeling all that hungry; hadn’t been all day. After the appointment, he’d spent the afternoon meeting with patients, trying – and failing – to put Harper and the baby out of his mind.
“How’s Harper?” Rich asked, as though he was clairvoyant.
“Not great. We had an appointment with Ellie today. Her blood pressure is elevated. We’re having to check it daily.”
God, he’d wanted to turn back the clock to last week. Call Alice and her parents and tell them about Harper, invite them to meet her, even. He’d made so many mistakes and it was killing him to think he’d caused Harper more stress. Because all he wanted to do was put his arms around her and protect her.
He popped the tab of the soda and lifted it to his mouth to drink the bubbling overspill. “I’ve messed everything up,” he said as he swallowed. “But that’s the story of my life, isn’t it?”
Rich looked up from where he was ordering on his phone. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t tell Sara’s family about Harper. And when they came to visit on Saturday they discovered her in the basement.”
Rich’s lips twitched, as though he couldn’t quite decide between amusement and horror. “Oh shit. What did Harper do?” He put his phone down on the table, leaning forward to listen to James as he recounted the events of that day.
“So you two are in some kind of relationship?” Rich clarified.
“We were, but I don’t think we are anymore.” James took a sip of soda, but it tasted like ashes in his mouth. “I don’t know really.”
“And you haven’t talked about it?” Rich asked.
“We were supposed to talk today, but then this stuff about her blood pressure came up.” James swallowed. “What if it’s my fault? I’m the one causing all the stress. I can’t put her or the baby in danger because I want to know where I stand with her.”
Rich pressed his lips together. “I can see that. So what are you going to do? Wait until her blood pressure’s back to normal? What if it spikes again? Or will you keep your mouth shut until she’s given birth?” He looked at James intently. “Jesus, don’t tell me you’re never going to say anything. That would be crazy.”
“I’m going to take my lead from her.”
