“How are you?”
In shock. Complete and utter shock.
“Okay then. I’ll give you a second to process that. But it’s as conclusive as you can get without a blood test or an ultrasound. Would you like me to call my family doctor? He’s on retainer, so he could be there within the hour.”
“I’m not imagining things, am I? Because I’ve dreamed of seeing that so many times, I’m sure it isn’t real.” This is just a horrible nightmare that I’m going to wake up screaming from.
“You’re not dreaming.”
It has to be a dream. “Winnie, it can’t be.”
“But it is. Are we happy about this or are we sad?”
How do I feel? “I don’t know.”
“That’s a valid feeling. You’ve been through a lot. Take a moment to just let yourself process everything. If you want, I can come over, and we can have lunch. Talking about it might help…or we can talk about everything else. Like our upcoming trip.” Winnie babbles on for a while. She isn’t one to babble.
This is her trying to give me a chance to calm down. “I’m not ready to tell everyone else yet.”
“That’s fine. We can keep it quiet until you’re ready.”
Winnie will bring a secret with her to her grave. “How’s your sister?”
“Amazing. I’m going to visit her for a few weeks right after our group trip.”
Winnie’s taking two vacations? “How are you going to handle not working for that long?”
“Who said anything about not working? I’m going to work remotely. My staff can keep the day-to-day going without me micromanaging them.” That’s so Winnie. We have to pry her away from her computer during every trip.
“Greer, are you in there?” Darrel shouts.
“He’s home. What do I do?” I whisper into the phone.
“What do you want to do?” Winnie asks.
Sit here on the floor for a few more hours…maybe weeks, and wait for life to make sense. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t need to tell him right now.”
“Greer?” Darrel sounds tense.
“Gotta go.”
“Call me back and tell me what happens.”
“Will do…And thank you, Winnie.”
“Anytime.”
As I stand up, I take one of the tests with me, holding it behind my back. “You’re home early.”
Where is he? And why is his suitcase on the bed? “There wasn’t a business trip on your calendar.”
Darrel steps out with a handful of suits and a garment bag. “That’s because I don’t have one scheduled.”
“Then why are you packing?”
He stops and stares at me for a long moment. “I’m leaving you, Greer. You might as well hear it from me first. I’m marrying Sophia.”
