Page 41 of Stone Vows

I hold up my hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Baylor gathers up her things and we hug before she walks away. I watch her walk through the doors, grateful that people such as her exist in this world.

Chapter Nineteen

I wheel the ultrasound machine down the hallway and find it hard to contain my smile. It’s the best part of Elizabeth’s day. Those few moments when she can see her baby. Every time we do a sonogram it’s like the first one she’s ever seen. She gets all teary-eyed.

Every time.

And it’s become a joke about her not wanting to see what may or may not be between the baby’s legs. Although that’s not what we’re looking for, we’re looking closely at the placenta. But I still take a few extra minutes and show her a hand or a foot. Yesterday, the baby looked to be sucking her thumb.

It’s the only time Elizabeth talks about the baby. It makes me wonder if she’s scared about becoming a mom. Or maybe she’s scared about what’s waiting out there for her when she leaves the hospital. An old apartment with broken-down appliances perhaps. Or maybe it’s drafty in the winter. Hell, maybe it isn’t even heated, although I’m pretty sure that’s against the law. But slumlords these days don’t really give a shit what squalor their tenants have to live in as long as they’re making a buck.

Damn it. I wish she would let me help her.

I see someone walking around Elizabeth’s room as I make my approach. It’s Skylar Mitchell. I park the ultrasound machine outside the doorway and lean against the door jam, quietly observing them before I go in.

Elizabeth takes a bite of something from a Mitchell’s To Go container. She rolls her eyes to the heavens. “Oh, my gosh, this is the best lasagna I’ve ever tasted. It’s my favorite homemade meal, you know.”

“Really?” Skylar says with a huge smile, winking at me when she sees me in the doorway. “Imagine that.”

“Imagine what?” Elizabeth says, shoveling another huge bite into her mouth.

“Nothing. Now that I know you love lasagna, I’ll have to bring by some more next week. If that’s okay with you.”

“Can you bring your chef, too?” Elizabeth asks. “I’d like to keep him. Hospital food sucks.”

“Speaking of hospital food, what’s with all the Jell-O?” Skylar asks, pointing to her side table.

Elizabeth laughs. “Nothing. Just a game I’m hoping to play later.”

“A game? With Jell-O?” Skylar puts her hand up to stop Elizabeth from speaking. “Wait! I don’t want to know. Sounds kinky. But somehow I think I like you even more now.”

“It’s not like that.” Elizabeth giggles and damn it if the sound doesn’t make my heart skip a beat like a teenage girl at a rock concert.

She’s hoping to play the game with me? But shehatesthe game. It seems like every time, I either get too personal or bring up something painful.

She pushes the lasagna away. “I’m stuffed,” she says. “I wish I could eat more. It’s a shame to let it go to waste. I’ll bet if Kyle were here, he’d box it up and take it to some homeless person around the corner.”

Skylar looks up at me and smiles. “I bet he would.”

They are talking about me. I feel like I should enter the room, but at the same time, I think Elizabeth is more open with the girls than she is me, and I don’t want to miss an opportunity to learn something about her.

“He did that with some Chinese food he brought me the other night.”

“That’s Kyle. He wants to feed the world. And cure it of disease.”

Elizabeth starts chewing on her pinky nail again. She only does that when she’s nervous.

“Is he . . . a good guy?” she asks hesitantly. “I mean, he’s a doctor, so that probably means that inherently he’s good, wanting to help people and all. But is he good? Like deep down?”

Skylar puts her hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “You’d be hard pressed to find a better man anywhere.”

Elizabeth nods.

Skylar stands up and grabs her purse. “I’m off to get my hair done. Griffin is coming back in town after being gone for a week on a photo shoot. I want to look my very best.”

“I love your hair,” Elizabeth tells her.

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