“What?” she asked, as blood raced to her cheeks.
He swept his palm over his face. “Oh, man. You’re talking about the paint chips, aren’t you?”
She dropped her forehead onto the steering wheel, then forced a short laugh. He was joking, of course. There was no way Kevin could know …
“Oh, God,” he said. “My wife will divorce me if she finds out I told you.”
Maddie raised her head, her eyes shooting toward him with horror. “Taylor knows?” she blurted out. “But … but how …?”
He blinked again. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Friday night. At the restaurant. She … well, she said she could tell by looking at you.”
Maddie dropped her gaze to the small mound of her belly.
“Taylor’s an EMT,” he continued. “She spots all kinds of things.”
Oh, God, Maddie thought. How many others had noticed? She wanted to gulp, but her throat had constricted.
“I haven’t told anyone.” He spoke fast. “Honest. I promised Taylor I wouldn’t. And she won’t tell anyone, either.”
Kevin was such a good man. But right then he sounded like a ten-year-old caught stealing a cookie from Chilmark General Store.
“It’s okay, Kevin. I only just found out myself.”
“So … Rex doesn’t know yet? He’s the father, right?” His cheeks flamed with embarrassment, as if wishing he could snatch back each word as fast as he’d said it.
Maddie decided to save him further humiliation. “Yes, Rex is the father.” It felt good to admit it, but also strange that Kevin was the first person she actually told. “And I sure can’t tell him right now.”
He lowered his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Maddie. Hopefully, he’ll be home soon. And I bet he’ll be wicked excited.”
At least Kevin hadn’t hinted that his sister, Annie-the-screenwriter-in-California, might get in the way of that.
“Meanwhile,” he added with a slightly mortified grin, “you have big doings on Chappy today? Other than trying to find me?”
She decided not to share further details of her currently confusing life. “I thought I’d stop by the Inn to see if Francine has recuperated from the weekend.”
“Sorry. She brought the kids to the library, then she was going to go shopping.”
Maddie laughed. “You know everyone’s comings and goings off Chappy?”
He shrugged. “Only when I’m driving the ferry. If youwant, you can back up. I won’t have to charge you if we don’t cross.”
So Maddie put her car in reverse and headed back to Menemsha.
Though she was almost home, Maddie decided to ask Francine the name of her ob-gyn right then, before she forgot. Because her car was old and she hadn’t updated the Bluetooth connection, communications weren’t always reliable, so she pulled into a lot adjacent to the Chilmark Town Hall, fished her phone from her purse, and scrolled to Francine’s number, hoping it would be one less thing to have to think about. But the call went straight to voicemail.
“Francine,” Maddie said, “I keep meaning to ask the name of your ob-gyn. I’m overdue for a mammogram, and I need a good women’s doc. Please call or text. Thanks!” She tried to sound cheerful, which was not always easy when she was trying to lie. She supposed it wasn’t an honest-to-goodness, full-blown lie, as sooner or later she would need a mammogram.
As she pulled out onto the road, she dropped her phone back in her purse … and instantly heard the ear-splitting blast of a horn … followed by a sharp jolt, a crunch of metal-on-metal, and a loud crack of glass. A white pillow-like thing blew up in front of her, her face brushing its middle. A caustic odor of what smelled like jet fuel filled her nostrils and maybe her lungs.
Then … silence.
She might have blacked out for a minute.
The next thing Maddie heard was someone knocking on her side window.
“Lady? Lady?Are you okay, okay?” The words rushed at her like water from a burst pipe.
She shook her head to try and clear the blur, then turnedher face away from the pillow. Her neck swiveled toward the sound. She was greeted by a pair of dark, frightened eyes.
