In a Book Club Far Away(84)

But Regina’s mind wasn’t on the page. She was thinking of her friends who she hadn’t seen in about a week, since the festival. During previous appointments, Sophie and Adelaide had been by her side, even at her first ultrasounds, filling exam rooms with banter and laughter. Her current surroundings were the complete opposite.

Adelaide had been right about priorities shifting, but Regina hadn’t realized that with it would come melancholy. Grief.

A tightening began on the underside of her belly, and Regina shifted in her seat. Braxton-Hicks, she was sure of it—she’d been having the false contractions for a couple of weeks but without any real pain. She was probably dehydrated, not to mention sleepy from insomnia that had kicked in full force.

The stomp of boots down the hallway snapped Regina out of her thoughts, and she looked up, a smile ready on her face for Logan. But instead of her husband, it was Lieutenant Gabby Cole, her current work-cubby mate, also in uniform.

“Hey!” she said. “Appointment, I see?”

“Yep, an ultrasound. How about you?”

She held up a green file folder in her hand. “Ophthalmologist. Yours is way more exciting than mine. You alone?”

“No, my husband will be here soon.”

“Ah, you sure?” An eyebrow raised.

Regina laughed at this. What an odd question to ask her. “Yeah.”

“Oh, I thought I saw him heading off post. Blue pickup truck, right?” She hiked a thumb above her shoulder, then her gaze dropped. “Or maybe it wasn’t him? Anyway, I’m actually late. See you at work. I hope things… work out well. In there. The ultrasound, I mean.”

She frowned at the other woman’s skittishness. “Thanks. I’ll see you when I get out of here.”

Regina stared back at her phone, faceup on the chair next to her. Not a single notification from her husband, despite her having reminded him of her appointment before he walked out the door that morning.

She sent another text: Hey, did you forget my appointment? In five minutes.

She bit her lip, unable to shake the odd vibe pricking her senses. She wished that with all the technology of these phones, there was a way to log into Logan’s phone to see exactly what he was doing.

She shook her head at her silliness. Doubts and suspicions were unlike her, though they were rearing their ugly heads. The other day, she glanced over at his phone when it buzzed in the middle of the night, and it ended up being his mother, which was not unusual. And then Regina had been on him about his schedule lately. She often wondered who exactly he was going out with.

She was being ridiculous, because Logan had also shown he was trying to change. He’d come home early from work when in the past he’d worked overtime. He’d checked in on her throughout her day, just to say hi. The other night, he’d scrubbed the house from top to bottom, and then run out to get groceries, and had insisted she sit when she was perfectly capable of taking out the garbage.

This was a new side to him, a softer side, a more thoughtful side. Was he overcompensating to make up for the drama? Yes, of course—she wasn’t a fool. But she believed him, though she was still bothered by whoever had turned against him. Was it someone in the neighborhood? Was it someone in the unit? She’d discounted Adelaide and Sophie. Sophie, who’d acted weird at the festival but who texted her often to ask about her pregnancy. And Adelaide, who texted her about great baby toys and organizational strategies. Regina, at least, knew that with them, she was safe.

The other two hadn’t brought up the rumors but Regina didn’t mind because she didn’t want to discuss them, either—it was humiliating, with everyone connected somehow. Her and Logan’s problems needed to remain theirs, solely.

But no matter what, these women were her sisters through it all.

The door squeaked opened across the way, and Ms. Samson, her midwife, walked out, wearing scrubs. Behind her was a couple: the pregnant woman was in uniform, the man in civilian clothes. She had a strip of ultrasound pictures in her hand, and her face was flushed with a definite glee. The mood was contagious and put a smile on Regina’s face.

“I’m ready for you in the other room, Lieutenant Castro. Is there anyone with you today?”

“Yes, my husband, but I think he’s just running late.”

“No problem. When he checks in at the front desk, they can bring him to this room. I’ll have the nurse hook you up to the monitors so we can check your baby’s heartbeat and check for contractions, and I’ll return and check you out.”

She texted this information to Logan, and while she removed her uniform top and draped it on the chair and sat down on the reclining examination table, she patiently waited for her husband to answer back. A nurse entered and took her vital signs, then motioned for her to lie down so she could get hooked up to the stress test machine.

Regina gripped her phone in her hand and took a deep breath as a puddle of warmth spilled on top of her belly. She shut her eyes for a brief moment and calmed herself. She had read that babies felt all the feelings of their mother, and Regina refused to pass on her suspicions to her child.

The nurse guided the transducer over her belly in search of the baby’s heartbeat.

“Is everything okay?” Regina asked.

“Absolutely.” She moved the transducer to the right side of Regina’s belly, and smiled. “Your baby’s active.” Then suddenly the heartbeat thudded on the monitor. “There he or she is. Did you find out the sex?”