“Know what?”she asked.
Paige’s furtive glance at her husband only served to cause the panic building in Aurelie’s chest to flood her system.Owen’s eyes were lined with the same moisture, an altogether unnerving sight.
“About Jackie,” Paige said, as a feral keen as wild and raw as anything Aurelie had ever heard reverberated against the walls in the kitchen.
Oh, God, Aurelie prayed.Not their friend.No.
She had just started to get to know Sophie’s best friend in the past year, since she’d married Brad’s best friend, Steve.Jackie was the life of the party and the love of Steve’s life.The idea that something could have happened to her caused Aurelie’s stomach to roll, her chest to seize.
“What about her?”Aurelie asked, her voice quivering along with the rest of her body.She could barely hold on to Paige, her hands trembled with such ferocity.
“I think we should all sit,” Owen said.The commanding nature of his words, his tone, was yet another reminder of his military service.The room obeyed, Aurelie included.Only Paige stopped on her way to the couch to retrieve her daughter from Jace, who also handed her a mug of steaming coffee.
“Thank you,” she whispered.“This is a cute setup you’ve got here,” she added, a tight smile gracing her lips for a fraction of a second before more tears fell.She pressed Maddie to her chest, heaving.
Jace smiled back, nodded, but remained otherwise silent.
Good God, what had happened?
Aurelie wanted to know, and didn’t at the same time.Everything would be different after hearing the news.Jace, and her feelings for him, slipped to the back of Aurelie’s mind.
When they were all seated, Owen took the lead.Paige nuzzled her daughter, and Brad just held Sophie while she sobbed, a look of agony settling in his eyes.
“We got a call from Steve this morning,” Owen began, his voice strained.He swallowed hard and cleared his throat before continuing.“Um, Jackie was hit by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the interstate between here and Bozeman and is on life support.”Sophie cried out as if she’d been slapped.
Aurelie let out a chest full of air she didn’t realize she’d been holding in.It was bad.Devastating.
“Will she—”
“They don’t think she’ll make it if she doesn’t get surgery right away.We went to see Steve on our way home.It’s why we’re so late.”
“Oh, God,” Aurelie whispered.Poor Steve.They’d been so in love and full of hope, and now their whole future was at risk.He must be reeling.“She’s in surgery now?”
“She isn’t.There’s a complication.”
“What can I do to help?Do Paige and I need to talk to her surgeon?”
Aurelie did better with a mission, with something driving her forward.This was no exception.She’d throw herself into helping Steve and Jackie like she’d thrown herself into saving Banberry.Before she’d gotten so tired, that was.God, why did she feel a yawn coming on, even now with all the adrenaline coursing through her system?
There was the look again.A knowing glance passed between the two couples that saidwe know something you don’t know.It was that little piece of the puzzle, the missing bit of information that explained the fear etched in the lines of their eyes that belied more than simple grief.The game changer.
Aurelie saw it in patients all the time.
“Tell me,” Aurelie demanded, crossing her arms in a feeble attempt to steel herself.
Jace’s hand landed on her leg, and for the first time since they’d met, nothing happened.She had no reaction.Good.Her priorities were back in sync with what was good for her.
When he rubbed circles on her skin, though, a flood of heat turned into moisture at the apex of her thighs.Crap.
“She’s pregnant,” Paige said.Her voice was as light as a soft ocean breeze, but the words crashed against Aurelie with the force of a hurricane.“They didn’t tell us about her, um,situationuntil now because they wanted her to be safely in the third trimester after her last loss.”
Aurelie’s heart beat wildly against her chest.The news landed like an anvil in her stomach, full of meaning.Yes, Jackie had lost a baby at the end of her second trimester, and it had been soul-crushing.But to hide this behind—now that Aurelie recalled the last six months—baggy sweats and winter sweaters was irresponsible.Especially now.Because everyone in that room, save Jace, knew what this meant.
“Is the baby—” Jace began.Against her better judgment, Aurelie loved him for asking.It was part of why he was so damn irresistible.Jace seemed to be an unflinching optimist.In a different life, he could be good for her.In a life where he wanted what she did.
“The baby is okay, and they think she can be safely delivered in a week or two.”
“Good.So they’ll both be able to heal together,” Jace said.For a man who didn’t want kids or a spouse, he was sure attentive to a family’s needs.Any family but Steve’s that was.
