Page 10 of Chasing the Horizon

They also spoke about venues. Catherine was going back and forth, wondering if she should opt for a gorgeous Manhattan venue or her multimillion-dollar brownstone.

“Officially, my mother and mother-in-law are throwing me the party,” Catherine explained, throwing up air quotes. “But with something so important to me, I want it to be perfect.”

“I totally get that,” Valerie assured her.

They’d already been talking for two and a half hours, and Valerie’s head was swimming in recipes, party games, party favors, and names like Tiffany and Mallory. They’d long since eaten their scones and low-fat cream, but Catherine left Valerie with her notes for a second to refill the tea with hot water.

Valerie took a breath and touched her abdomen, wondering if she’d get the chance to have a baby shower, too. She knew she wouldn’t want to go all out like Catherine did. But she knew the emotion behind it would be the same. She’d want everything to be special.

Suddenly, there was a crash in the next room. Valerie rushed to her feet, hurrying down the hall to find Catherine hovering over the smashed teapot. Her eyes were glassy.

“Catherine! Are you all right?” Valerie hurried to draw Catherine away from the wreckage, noting that a bit of the kettle had lodged into Catherine’s lower thigh. Blood oozed down her pants.

“I’m sorry,” Catherine said, fixing her smile. She sat at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands.

“Are you dizzy?” Valerie asked, ready to run back to her phone to call the ambulance.

“Nothing like that,” Catherine said to the tabletop.

The emotion from their exciting baby shower planning had fallen away as though it had never been. Valerie struggled to know what to do first. Eventually, she went into the bathroom to find a bandage for Catherine’s cut. She helped her clean it up, watching Catherine’s face and waiting for an explanation. Maybe she hadn’t been sleeping well? Perhaps the pregnancy made her lightheaded? Maybe she hadn’t been sleeping enough?

When Catherine’s bandage was secure, Valerie swept up the shards and threw them away. It was then she saw that sunlight filled the back porch, beckoning.

“Why don’t we go outside for a second?” she asked Catherine, her voice soft.

Catherine blinked at her as though she hadn’t heard. “Oh? Um, sure.”

Valerie grabbed their coats and helped Catherine bundle up. She wanted to ask if she should call her mother or husband. Did this happen a lot? She wondered if mental health was at play here and worried deeply about Catherine’s approaching postpartum. Depression was a very real and present danger for many new moms. Valerie herself was frightened of it.

But as soon as Catherine and Valerie were comfortable in the sunlight on the back porch, Catherine fixed her smile. “I’m sorry. I get that way sometimes.”

Valerie’s heart sped up. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Catherine clicked her head to the left and the right. “It’s just that, you know, Max was supposed to be home this afternoon, and he just wrote to say he couldn’t make it.”

Max was Catherine’s husband, who was in Manhattan finishing up a few contracts before he planned to join Catherine for their final week or so in Nantucket.

“I asked him if he wanted me to come back to the city this week already,” Catherine said, her voice wavering. “But he said he wanted to come back to the island as soon as he could. He said he wanted to soak up every last bit of the island life until winter. What do I make of that?”

Valerie didn’t know what to say.

She thought he was probably just trying to get as much done before the baby as he could, but she didn’t want to overstep. She didn’t really know Catherine. She didn’t want to risk losing her baby shower gig.

But before Valerie could come up with some response that would somehow, someway mend the clear ache in Catherine’s heart, Catherine’s smile brightened.

“Look at me! Blubbering on when, really, I should be grateful. I should be happy at every moment!” She reached over and took Valerie’s hand again. “I’m pregnant, Valerie. I never thought that would happen. I thought Max would leave me before we managed it. It’s the most wonderful time of my life. And Max will join me when he can. He always does.”

Valerie sensed that pointing out the inconsistencies in what Catherine said would only work against them both, so she did her best to match Catherine’s smile and bided her time till she could get out of there.

As she drove away from the mansion, her heart shuddered with dread.

But she reminded herself,Don’t let yourself feel this way. Remember to be happy all the time—for the baby’s sake.

It was five thirty when Valerie pulled up to her mother’s place. She checked her phone to find ten messages from Alex, most of which involved his research for his documentary and links to new homes they could maybe, maybe buy if they got their act together. Valerie called him immediately, wanting to be comforted by his voice. He answered, and it was like being brought back to earth.

“It was a weird time with Catherine,” Valerie admitted, dropping her head against the headrest and gazing up at the home where she’d been raised. She explained what had happened, including the tea kettle and the fact that Catherine’s husband wasn’t coming home.

“He sounds like a bad guy,” Alex said thoughtfully.

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