Seeing Red(36)

Seth perked up noticeably in a way he never did when Meg mentioned cooking. “Picnic? What’d you pack?”

Curt squatted next to his wife and balanced his elbows on his thighs. “You were just over for dinner last night. You certainly can’t be starved already.”

Starved? Last night? Was that why he’d stumbled into the condo at ten o’clock smelling of Latin spices and refusing dinner leftovers?

“No, not at all. Just curious. Is it leftovers?”

He sounded like a kid on Christmas Eve, dying to know if that big box beneath the tree contained some great toy, or if it was just clothes.

“I’ve got some leftovers for you,” Meg cooed, leaning forward and patting his knee.

“Really?”

“Mm-hmm. You missed dinner last night.”

Erica cringed.

Good.

Seth opened his mouth to say something, but Toby cut him off.

“They’re calling people up to the stage! Come on!” He pulled Seth to his feet, who aided the process along probably with a great deal of zeal.

“I gotta see this up close,” Curt said, following in their wakes.

“That makes two of us,” Mom said. She handed Meg her ice-cream stick and called back, “Watch my purse.”

Dad sighed and scrambled to his feet next, his camera at the ready. “Your brother never believes me when I tell him about this stuff. I want proof this time.”

They were swallowed by the crowd in front of the stage, and Erica eased onto the blanket, sitting cross-legged with a sigh.

“I think I’ve got a couple of years on you,” Meg said drily. “Your joints should be in better shape than mine.”

The brunette chuckled and rolled her shoulders back. “Everything hurts. Back. Joints. Head. I’ve felt awful since Bermuda, but I’ve been putting up a good front in front of Curt so he doesn’t ask too many questions.”

Annoyance at Erica’s dinner-guest poaching temporarily forgotten, Meg asked, “Why would he ask questions?”

Erica pulled back the lid on the picnic basket and withdrew a bottle of water. “We don’t keep secrets anymore, me and Curt, but we’ve had a rough year.”

Meg hadn’t heard that. Last she knew, their marriage was airtight. Solid as a rock. They were very different people but just suited each other in a way many couples didn’t. Yin and yang.

Erica must have noticed the confusion on Meg’s face, because she put up her hands and said, “Not like that.” She took a long draught of her bottled water and screwed the cap back on. “Nobody knows. I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me, you know? Thought the first couple of times were just flukes, and then after the third one Curt didn’t want to try again. I think he took it worse than I did.”

“Try again… You mean…” The realization smacked Meg like a cold fish in the face.

Erica nodded and held up three fingers. “Three in a row, and Doc couldn’t figure out why. Said there was probably nothing wrong and that maybe fifty percent of pregnancies aren’t viable. We just happened to be on the losing end of the odds.”

“You’re afraid to get his hopes up again.”

Erica nodded and looked down at the thumbs she twirled around each other. “He thinks I’ve just been burning the candle at both ends. I go straight to bed after work.”

Meg had no words…at least, none that seemed suitable. She’d actually hidden her pregnancy with Toby until about halfway in at Spike’s behest. He’d made her feel like being pregnant was shameful—like it’d been all her fault, and he was just an innocent bystander of the process. But the truth was, even as she hid it from her closest friends and family, she bonded with that little ball of cells from the moment the little line on the pee stick turned blue. She couldn’t imagine having that glimmer of hope, only for it to be dashed so quickly afterward. Couldn’t imagine plotting out the kid’s future and starting to make plans, only for them to never come to fruition.

“So…are you okay this time, or…” It seemed crass to ask, but Erica had shared that much already, so maybe she’d been yearning to tell someone.

Erica made a waffling gesture with her hand. “So far so good. I’m around ten weeks and everything looks okay so far. Decided not to say anything to Curt until I passed the thirteen-week mark.”

“That’s grueling, having to keep that secret when it’s such a good one.”

Erica nodded and rolled her head from side to side, groaning at the kinks. “I’m sure it’ll all be worth it in the end, huh? Sometimes we have to walk through fire to get to things that seem to fall easily into other peoples’ laps.”