Page 101 of Traitor

It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but I’d woken up the morning after and thrown away the ovulation predictors. And today, I left the house and went to a grocery store, where I saw six babies and only teared up twice.

It was progress.

I turned the mixer on high, sending bits of yellow batter flying from the bowl, before hurriedly lowering the speed and wiping down the counter.

Okay, so I still had some areas to improve upon in the kitchen.

But still. Progress.

I managed to get the batter poured into a cake pan and into the oven to bake without another mishap and I was just debating whether or not to watch aYouTubevideo on cake frosting when there was a knock at the door.

Elizabeth stood on the porch, juggling several boxes in her arms.

“Hey, stranger.” I smiled and took one of them from her hands. “What do you have here?”

She grinned. “Just a few things that we thought your husband might need for his birthday.”

I looked down into the box and deadpanned, “But, I don’t see the stripper.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Seriously, Lauren? Stripper-grams are delivered separately. Mmm…are you baking?”

Did she have a bionic nose all of a sudden?

“You’re good—I just put a cake in the oven.”

Her smile faded and she immediately held the back of her hand up to my forehead in mock seriousness. “Are you okay? Feeling feverish?”

I slapped her hand away. “Stop it. I can bake!”

She arched an eyebrow before heading into the kitchen. “This I’ve gotta see.” She cracked the oven door and peeked in. “Lauren, this looks really good!”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a child—I told you I can bake.The Pioneer Ladydoes it all the time on her show.”

“Woman,” Elizabeth corrected. “The Pioneer Woman.”

“Whatever. This cake is going to be delicious.”

She glanced around the kitchen. “The house looks amazing. I can’t believe how much it’s changed in just the last couple of months. And now you’re baking too? You’re a regular Suzy Homemaker.”

“Don’t say that. I’m just baking a cake—that’s it. Sometimes, it’s nice to try and break up the monotony of just going to the gym and the gun range. It makes me miss having a full-time job. Speaking of— why aren’t you at work on a Thursday?”

Once the event center saw her creative side, they’d snatched her up immediately. She was now an official wedding coordinator, which kept her schedule pretty busy.

Elizabeth pulled a barstool out and sat down at the island. “I am—just took the morning off to run some errands and I haven’t talked to you in forever. I thought it might be nice to catch up.”

I hadn’t meant to avoid her calls, but everything had just become a little too overwhelming to deal with. Just the thought of having to make small talk with another person exhausted me.

“I know—I’m sorry. It’s just that life gets so hectic—” I stood up and walked over to the Keurig. I needed to tell her, if for no other reason than to get it off my chest. Maybe she knew of a doctor I could see. “Do you want a coffee?”

She shook her head vigorously and sighed. “No, thank you. God, I really thought it would be better the second time around with the food aversions, you know?”

I froze with my hand resting on a coffee mug as I reeled from the news. “You’re—you’re pregnant?”

My vision blurred as I stared into the cabinet, refusing to turn around and face her. I was a complete coward.

“Yeah. Mike didn’t tell you? David said he told him on your birthday—and here I was, starting to wonder why you hadn’t said anything! Stupid pregnancy hormones making me overthink every little thing.” If she suspected I was anything other than happy for her, her voice didn’t give her away.

Of course Mike hadn’t told me. He knew exactly what that would’ve done to me and after everything we’d been through together, he wasn’t going to be the one to inflict that wound.

---