by Hannah Ford
Amongst everything else that fell out of her purse, was a small white bag with a blue bow around it—some sort of gift. It rolled down two or three stairs before Nicole was able to catch it.
Inside the bag was a champagne bottle. “What is this?”
“That’s nothing,” Kallie said.
But Nicole was struck dumb, staring at the logo on the side of the bag. Hampton’s Executive Flights, with a logo of a helicopter below the name. “Did you use this helicopter service tonight, Kallie?”
Kallie was flustered as she tried to pick up her things. “Yes. I did. I…I thought it might be fun.”
“So you weren’t just hanging out at a bar tonight. Who did you go on this helicopter ride with?” Nicole asked. “I mean, it sounds like a blast, but let’s be honest— you really can’t afford it. Who took you on a helicopter ride?”
“Just some guy I met, okay? It’s really not your business, Nicole. I’m an adult and you’re not my mother.” Kallie’s cheeks were scarlet, and she was scooping everything into her purse. “I’m going to the bathroom and when I come down I’ll get you whatever you need. But I’m not going to be interrogated about what I do on my day off.”
“I don’t need anything from you,” Nicole said, still holding the bag with the helicopter logo on it. “And I certainly don’t need you staying in my house, eating my food, taking my money, while you have an affair with my husband.”
Kallie’s jaw dropped. “Are you crazy, Nicole? Have you seriously lost your mind?”
Nicole wanted to slap her. She really did. How could this girl stand there and lie to her face after everything she’d done for her?
“I’m not crazy. And I’m not stupid, either,” she said.
“Well, I’m not listening to this,” Kallie said. “I’ll get my things together and then I’ll leave.”
Nicole was about to respond, when she heard the door open again. Footsteps came toward her from the main entrance, and then Red entered the foyer. He saw Nicole on the stairs and his eyes went wide. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay.” She stared down at him.
“What happened?”
“Tell me the truth,” she said. “Tell me where you went today.”
He stared up at her. “I was in a business—“
“Bullshit.” She tossed the bag down to him, and he caught it, his expression confused. “What’s this?”
“It fell out of Kallie’s purse. Now tell me why you were both on a helicopter ride together today. Better make it a good one.”
He shook his head. “Nicole, I don’t know what you’re talking about. If Kallie took a helicopter ride, it’s got nothing to do with me. I didn’t even use this place. There are dozens of helicopters coming and going from The Hamptons at any given moment.”
“I don’t believe you,” Nicole told him.
Kallie had already left, presumably to go to her room and pack her things. For the first time, Nicole was wondering if she’d actually gone crazy. She walked downstairs, slowly, and Red pulled out his cell phone. “Okay, I lied about the business trip. But it wasn’t because I was off on some secret helicopter ride with Kallie.”
Nicole was angry, and she was certain that he was about to lie in order to cover up whatever had gone on between them.
Red stood there looking at his phone, and he then spent a minute tapping and swiping and pressing the touch screen, which would have been comical if Nicole weren’t so upset.
Finally, he handed the phone over to her.
“This is where I was,” he said.
Nicole looked closely at the pictures he’d pulled up on his cell phone. There were dozens of pictures of one of the rooms in their Connecticut home. The room they’d talked about turning into a nursery. Of course, because of their superstitions, they’d agreed not to do any decorating or furnishing of the room until the baby was practically on its way.
But Red had apparently taken it upon himself to do go against their agreement and make it into a nursery anyhow.
The room results were simply incredible. There were pictures of the room in various stages of renovation. Red was in the pictures, along with some of the guys from work—even Kane and Danielle were there, helping out. In one picture, Kane was pretending to paint Danielle’s face with his brush, and she was backing away with a horrified look.
Nicole could see from the date and time stamps that the pictures were from earlier in the day.
“You did all of this in one day?” she asked, her eyes filling.
Red shrugged. “It took a lot of advance planning, but we managed to pull it off. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Each picture showed a different, wonderful detail they’d built into the room. The walls were painted a light shade of pink, and there was a beautiful white crib in one corner. Above the crib, a cute sign said “Fairy Princess Sleeps Here” in swirling script. In the middle of the room was a white changing table, and then to the left of that was a nursing chair with comfy pillows.
Nicole could already picture herself in that sweet room, quietly nursing their child and smiling peacefully. She looked up from the phone and Red was watching her.
His eyes were sad.
“I’m so sorry I doubted you,” she told him.
He hugged her and pulled her in tight. His hand stroked the back of her head as he kissed her lips softly.
Tears began streaming down her face and he brushed them away with his thumb. “Don’t cry, beautiful.”
“I’m such a jerk.”
“I lied to you and you were too smart to fall for it,” he said. “I should have known better.”
“I yelled at Kallie and accused her of having an affair with you. That’s practically as bad as what the other family did to her.”
“So go upstairs and tell Kallie you’re sorry, that you’ve been under a lot of stress. She’ll understand.”
“You think?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe she won’t.”
Nicole’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know what to do about this. I feel so unattractive, Red. I feel like you don’t want me the same way you used to want me.”
“It’s been hard for me to resist spanking you and tying you up,” he said. “But I just didn’t want to take any chances with the baby. I got a little gun shy, I suppose.”
“Red, you can’t hurt the baby by doing that stuff.”
“I know you’re right, and I’m not going to worry about it anymore.”
She kissed him then, and he kissed her back with passion she hadn’t felt in some time. He smiled at her. “Tell you what. Let’s you and I drive back to Connecticut tonight.”
“Now? It’s so late.”
“We’ll get home and then we can sleep and cuddle and lay in bed together—just you and me.”
“That sounds nice, actually.”
Red grabbed her hand. “I’ve been thinking about it. About you and me together. I thought about you all day today. I planned on doing a lot more than just surprising you with that nursery.”
“Really?”
He smiled and one of his hands moved down to her buttocks and gave a firm slap. “Yes, really.”
So it was decided. They were going back to the mansion for a getaway, just the two of them.
Red went to the master bedroom to pack some clothes and sundries, while Nicole went to Kallie’s room and knocked twice.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone right now,” Kallie called from inside.
“Please, Kallie. Can I just talk to you for one minute and apologize?”
There was a long pause and then footsteps. The door opened about six inches and Kallie stood there, watching her warily. “I don’t have anything to say to you right now.”
“I deserve your anger,” Nicole said. “And you totally didn’t deserve what I said to you tonight. I’m so sorry for insulting you and attacking you and mistrusting you.”
Kallie’s expression was stony. “I had a really st
range night tonight. I had some things happen…it would have been nice if I could have told you at some point, gotten your advice. But no. All you did was think about yourself, your own fears—you didn’t care whether or not it was fair to me.”
Nicole felt it like a blow. “Please stay, and let me make it up to you. I want to rebuild our trust.”
“I don’t know Nicole. Maybe I’ve outstayed my welcome here.”
“You haven’t done any such thing. We hit a bump in the road, but we can get past this. I really value your friendship, Kallie.”
Kallie shook her head. “I think I’m going to book a flight back to Ohio for tomorrow,” she said.
“Red and I are going away for the next day or two. Can you just take some time and think it over? You’ll have the place to yourself.”
“I don’t think so. I think I’ll probably be gone by the time you guys come back.” Kallie looked down at the floor. “I do accept your apology, and you’ve done so much to help me…I’ll always be thankful for that.”
Nicole apologized again, but it was no use. Kallie’s mind was made up.
***
Nicole was feeling sad on the ride home, even though she finally felt better about things between her and Red.
As Red pulled off the exit about fifteen minutes from their house, Nicole sighed in relief. She needed to get some sleep at this point—she was exhausted and getting back to her own bed would be nice.
Despite her exhaustion, she just couldn’t stop thinking about how quickly she’d rushed to judgment and mistrusted two of the closest people to her. “I understand why Kallie’s angry with me,” Nicole said. “What I don’t understand is how you aren’t angry with me even a little bit after the way I treated you.”
“You’ve been cooped up and it’s been very difficult,” Red told her, trying to alleviate her guilt. “The stress of being diagnosed with preeclampsia along with the history we had with the last pregnancy—who could blame you for having a short fuse?”
“I don’t know. I feel as though I let everyone down.”
“I’m fine, Nicole, and Kallie’s not your responsibility. She’s an adult, and she can handle it. And if she can’t—well—that’s not our problem.”
“I suppose.” Nicole looked out the window.
Red’s hand found hers and he squeezed. “I’m just looking forward to it finally being the two of us alone again.”
“Just us and Chef Roland.”
“Right, I forgot,” Red laughed.
Nicole felt a sudden cramping, painful sensation in her abdomen. She made a face and groaned a little.
“You okay?” Red asked, glancing at her nervously.
“I think so, yeah. Just some heartburn or something. Too much damn stress. I need to try and relax and breathe.” She laid her head back and focused on her breathing, but there was another pain in her stomach—worse this time.
“Ouch.”
“Are you having contractions?”
“I don’t think so.” She put a hand on her stomach. “Contractions are supposed to come on gradually, aren’t they? This is like a sharp pain.” The pain struck again and this time she really cramped up.
Red was alarmed now. “Tell me what’s going on, Nicole.”
“I’m fine—probably just need to get home and get into bed. I’ve been up way too long.”
They drove in silence for another minute or two and then Nicole got another painful contraction, and then a few rapid cramps right after that. She was sweating now, and her heart was galloping in her chest. “I think something’s wrong,” she gasped.
The pain was getting worse.
“Should I take you to the hospital?”
“No,” she told him, shaking her head. “It’s fine. It’ll go away.”
“I don’t know, Nicole. I think—“
“I’m fine, Red. Don’t make me scared.”
She was scared, but it wasn’t his fault. Nicole focused on relaxing, focused on her breath. Inhale and exhale and let go.
But then another painful cramp hit and she nearly doubled over.
“That’s it, we’re taking you to the hospital,” he growled, and the car suddenly speeded up and they were flying down the street.
Nicole didn’t care that he was speeding, because she was scared and feeling very strange indeed.
There was a wet sensation down there, and she looked down and saw a dark, red stain spreading across the lower front of her pants.
I’m bleeding, she thought. A feeling of unreality washed over her.
Why? Why is this happening again?
Luckily, they weren’t far from the hospital, and with Red’s driving and his car’s high-powered engine, they got there in record time.
Red parked right in front of the hospital by the Emergency Room entrance and helped Nicole out of the car. He started yelling to anyone who would listen that there was an emergency.
Soon, Nicole was surrounded by hospital staff asking questions, putting her in a wheelchair, and then there was more shouting and they were moving quickly down the hallway.
She was frightened, but she was also bleeding badly. The dark stain had spread quickly down her pant legs, and she was feeling rather faint.
Or maybe it was shock.
Red kept looking down at her, asking if she was okay. Telling her that he would take care of her, not to worry.
And then she was just hearing the high pitched buzzing sound in her ears again— a nightmare that was recurring—and snatches of conversation as more people joined the gathering party.
“…bleeding heavily…third trimester…Dr. Rosen…husband says she’s had a previous miscarriage…complained of cramping…preeclampsia…recommended bed rest…possible placental abruption…emergency C-section…”
Everything was jumbled together and Red was holding her hand and she was just thinking, please, let my baby be okay. Please. Please. Please.
***
Kallie was online looking at one-way flights back to Ohio (and thinking that soon it would be time call her parents and tell them) when she received a text from Red Jameson.
He’d never—despite what Nicole might have wanted to believe—texted her or called her.
What he’d written made Kallie’s heart skip a beat.
Nicole in emergency surgery. C-section. Waiting for news. Will update as soon as they tell me anything.
She actually felt sick to her stomach. How could Nicole be in emergency surgery so soon after leaving the The Hamptons to go back home to Connecticut? It had only been a few hours, and somehow in that short timespan something had gone terribly wrong.
Suddenly, Kallie had to face the truth. She’d been hurt that Nicole had accused her of such an awful thing as sleeping with Red, and that’s why she’d wanted to leave and go back to Ohio. Kallie realized she’d basically been throwing a temper tantrum to let Nicole know how much those comments had hurt.
But Nicole had taken Kallie in that horrible day when Brad had assaulted her, Nicole had responded to Kallie’s call for help, even though she had been a total stranger.
Nicole had treated Kallie like family. And Kallie truly felt as though they were sisters—and sisters should be able to get through something like this.
The bottom line was that Kallie was frightened. She couldn’t just sit there in the Hamptons and wait for text updates.
She googled a taxi service and then quickly made the call, explaining she needed to get a ride into Connecticut as soon as possible. Because of the length of the drive, they told her she’d have to pay a flat rate of three hundred dollars.
“That’s fine, just get here as soon as you can,” she told them.
She would have paid everything in her meager bank account to be there for Nicole when she needed her.
***
Darkness.
Swimming out of the darkness was like breaking the surface of a lake and finding that the sun was shining on your face. It was too bright.
It was too much.
Nicole closed her eyes and then opened them again, blinking. She didn’t really know where she was.
Am I in Connecticut? She thought. No, it didn’t feel right. She was somewhere else, but her brain couldn’t seem to put it together.
Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls. Her tongue was thick, and her head ached.
Then it all came back to her in a rush—the ride home, the sudden pains, and Red speeding all the way to hospital.
She was in a hospital bed, in a room and it was post surgery. Her baby was gone.
Where is she? Nicole asked.
A nurse came over and looked down at her, asking her how she was feeling.
Why won’t anyone tell me if my daughter’s alive? Why?
And then she realized that she hadn’t gotten the words out. It was a jumble, she was barely even conscious.
Her eyes fluttered closed, then open again. “Tell me where my baby is,” she rattled through numb lips.
The nurse smiled at her. “Your baby girl is healthy, Nicole. The surgery went very well, although you did lose a great deal of blood.”
“Where is she?”
“She needs special care right now, so she’s in the neonatal care unit—but she’s doing great.”
Nicole breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes again, drifting off.
***
“Nicole,” he said softly. “You awake?”
She was, as it turned out, although she’d been drifting again. Nicole opened her eyes and saw Red standing next to her hospital bed, his face radiant with joy. She’d never seen him this happy, she realized—and her heart leapt in her chest.
“How is she?” Nicole said, holding out her hand. Red took it and kissed her fingertips.
“She’s so beautiful,” he said, his eyes brimming with tears of pure joy. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw her. She looks like you—the spitting image.” “I want to see her,” Nicole said. “When can I see her?”