“He moved to Europe,” she explained finally, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.“He got a job in Brussels and told me about it only after he’d accepted.I couldn’t believe it.I mean, we’d been talking about getting engaged!”
“Oh, honey.I’m so sorry.Sometimes people don’t really know what they want,” Ella said.
Laura’s eyes snapped with a sudden rush of rage.“He’ll never know what he left behind.”
What she said surprised Ella.Ella had never imagined her very chill, very cool daughter would demonize a man for a simple breakup, especially one that happened because he ran off to pursue his dreams.When Ella leaned back, searching her mind for what to say, Laura got up, put her hand over her mouth, and ran into the bathroom to throw up.She didn’t have time to close the door.
Only then did it hit Ella.
Laura was pregnant.
That was the reason for the long gazes across the Nantucket Sound.That was the reason for her anger.That was the reason she was so confused.
Ella’s heartbeat slowed so much that she felt as though she were underwater.She tiptoed to the doorway and peered into the dark bathroom, watching as Laura cleaned her face in the mirror.Ella remembered when she’d first gotten pregnant with Laura.She remembered the rush, the fear, and the exhilarated feeling that she was part of something bigger than herself.But Ella had had Will.Will had wanted their baby, and they’d been happy.
Laura was alone.
Suddenly, Laura turned on her heel, glared at Ella, and said, “I dropped out of grad school.”
Beyond anything, this surprised Ella.Laura had always been so academically driven.She’d read and studied and worked arduously, always with a goal in mind.She let the shock play out over her face for too long, then stepped back to allow Laura to exit the bathroom.Laura went back to her chair and stared at the space where the sofa had been.She was alone.
Suddenly, Ella’s phone rang.It was Will.
“Hey!I’m heading over to the restaurant,” he said.“You almost there?”
Ella looked down at her pitiable, brokenhearted daughter, alone in an apartment she probably couldn’t afford on her own.She recognized that this was where she needed to be, that contracts for big-time commercials with big-time billionaires were not essential in her life.
“Honey, I’m not going to make it.”Ella walked to the kitchen and put her hand on the cool of the fridge.There was still a note under a magnet that read “milk” in handwriting that had to be Vinny’s.She felt a wave of rage.Vinny should have at least had the decency to throw his note away, especially if he planned to leave his girlfriend and baby behind.
But he didn’t know about the baby.
Didn’t he have a right to know?
“Ella, Laura’s going to be fine,” Will said, exasperated.It was clear he’d parked the car somewhere and was heading to the restaurant on foot.Ella could hear traffic and the rushing of tires through puddles.“She’s twenty-one with the world at her feet.Maybe she was moody because she doesn’t want to go to class tomorrow?”
“No.”Ella closed her eyes.She felt her daughter’s pain, pressing hard on her chest.“That’s not it.”
Her husband sighed again.“All right.Well, I’ll tell Grayson you’re sorry you couldn’t make it.”
“Thanks,” Ella said.“I love you, Will.”She suddenly loved him so desperately at this moment, the man who’d helped her raise their children, the man who’d given her the world.“Call me when the meeting’s over.I can’t wait to hear how it goes.”
When Ella got off the phone, she went to the living room and ordered her daughter to put on some comfier clothes.“I’m going to make you some soup,” she declared.
Laura seemed too tired to protest.Slowly, she walked to the bedroom, where she put on a big sweatshirt and a pair of leggings and crawled under the covers.Ella made a simple soup and then took it to Laura, where Laura propped it up on her thighs.She patted the mattress beside her and said, “Get in, if you want.”
Ella realized that the television was gone, as well—presumably taken by Vinny—so she stacked a few books at the end of the bed and put Laura’s laptop on them so it was high enough for them to see it.Laura requested a comedy that Ella had never seen before, but she put it on, listening to her daughter’s strained laughter until Laura finished her soup and promptly fell asleep.
When she cleaned the soup bowl in the kitchen, feeling the scalding water on her hand, Ella found herself lost in a memory from many years ago: the day she’d learned of Stevie Franklin’s pregnancy.Something about Laura reminded Ella of that, although she couldn’t fully say why.Maybe it was just the fact that she’d heard from Stevie after so many years.
Back then, Ella and Will’s band was gaining traction, and Stevie was playing most nights at a jazz club, singing rock and jazz with a Stevie Nicks flair that kept people coming back.One night on stage, Stevie half collapsed, and Will and a few other guys hurried up to help her backstage.Ella pushed past with a cup of water and sat with Stevie until she stopped shaking.“It’s okay, honey,” she whispered.She figured that Stevie wasn’t eating enough.
“I got myself in trouble,” Stevie kept saying.It took Ella a little while to realize what Stevie meant.
“Who’s the father?”Ella had asked, finally, her voice wavering.
But Stevie had shaken her head over and over again.It was clear that she didn’t want to tell anyone.
Was that the last time Ella had ever seen Stevie in the flesh?Before anyone knew what was going on, Stevie was out of town, heading West.Months later, someone spotted her in Los Angeles and called NYC to say she was heavily pregnant.News traveled fast.But nobody could understand why she’d had to leave the city to “start over.”Stevie had friends in New York.She could have had a network, people like Ella, who would have helped her through the hardships.
