In a Book Club Far Away(86)

She just wished it was her turn.

And tomorrow, it would be. There were only a few spouses left who were expecting their loved ones, which meant a small formation, an informal drop-off. A bummer for her husband, who liked a little bit of fanfare. Who didn’t, when they hadn’t seen their family in months?

She had finally cracked open The Sky Is Everywhere for book club at Sophie’s next week. At the moment, snuggled into her couch with a blanket over her legs, with Scout lying over the covers at her feet, she’d rounded out the first twenty pages. The book’s content was heavy; it was about death, and offered a sharp contrast to what she was feeling. But she was connecting with the seventeen-year-old main character, Lennie, who lost her sister. She empathized that changing tides always brought a little bit of grief.

This was why she loved book club—it required her to read books she wouldn’t have picked herself. This year, she and her friends had read seven books together, exceeding her expectations. She might not have a child but she had book club. That was her baby. Her offspring, and she would forever hold that as her legacy.

The doorbell rang, and she frowned as she put down her book. In the front foyer, where she had a mirror hanging, she checked her hair and her lipstick, puckering and then wiping the lipstick from under her lip. She opened the door and stuck her head out. Through the grate was Sophie.

“Hey!” Adelaide pressed the buzzer.

Sophie was free of children.

“Where are my babies? Are they okay?”

“With their father.” She grinned.

Adelaide pressed her palm to her forehead. “I keep forgetting!”

“Isn’t it weird? Honestly, I almost took them with me and then remembered that I can rely on someone else.”

“Well, don’t just stand there.” She opened the door, wide. “What’s up?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“The hospital.” Sophie’s face fell. “You haven’t seen the text traffic?”

“What?” Adelaide rushed to where her phone was plugged in and realized that she’d left it on silent. Her fingers couldn’t seem to work fast enough on the buttons. “Damn wine.”

“Forget the phone. Regina’s water broke. C’mon.”

“Oh my God!” Adelaide rushed to her boots next to her hallway tree. “Are we allowed in? Did she say?”

“She texted that she can’t find Logan. So it’s going to have to be us until he gets there.”

Once both her feet were snuggly in her shoes, she looked at Sophie, and for a moment they both didn’t speak. Understanding passed between them. Matt had continued to be tight-lipped despite Adelaide’s curiosity, but it was becoming more evident there was some truth to her suspicions.

In the car, finally, Sophie spoke up, though her voice shook. Her face was wrinkled into a disturbed expression. “I’ve got something to admit. I don’t know who to talk to. And everyone I trust is involved somehow,” she began.

“This doesn’t sound good.”

Sophie shook her head.

“Christ on a cracker.” Adelaide leaned back in her seat. Maybe she should have had more wine.

“I witnessed something. Something that could be innocent, or… not. Something that I might have had suspicions of but did not believe until I saw it with my very own eyes. I don’t want to name names, Adelaide.”

“Okay. But what did you see?” Adelaide asked. “But before you start, put on your seat belt.” She was stalling, because whatever Sophie had to say was ultimately in confidence. Then again, there were ethics involved. Friendship ethics, Army ethics, and the fact that secrets never remained so.

Sophie put on her seatbelt, then started the car. She backed out of the space. “I saw one of our friends’ spouses in an intimate conversation with another woman.”

“Oh God.”

“I saw it.” Sophie clutched the steering wheel. “At the festival, while waiting in line for the bathroom. The husband was there, with another woman. They were arguing, about ending things. About not wanting to end things. I wanted to tell him that what he did was wrong, because his wife was already… in a state. I went up to the couple, and they were jumpy. The guy was shaking like a leaf. He knew I saw. Then, the wife arrived.”

“Oh my God.”

“But by then the other woman was gone.”

Finally, all the pieces came together for Adelaide in an undeniable fit. Why Logan was home early, and why Matt refused to talk about the situation. The swirl of rumors that followed Logan at redeployment. How Regina had pulled away, just ever so slightly.

“Here’s my question,” Sophie continued. “Do I tell this woman, my friend, first? Do I tell her and be the person to ruin their marriage? Would I want her to find out from someone else? Because this thing, this indiscretion, is all made worse by the fact that…”

Adelaide read her mind. “It’s not over between them.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sophie said.

Adelaide’s foot tapped of its own accord as anger built inside her. How could Logan? How could he do this to his pregnant wife? Did he know how lucky they were to be starting a family? “Well, we can’t just sit by and…”