Page 91 of This Memory
Making my way to the lobby, I tried to think of all the reasons Denny might come to the police station to see me. None of them were good.
Denny looked up as I approached. Holding out my hand, I said, “Hey, man. What brings you here?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you at work, but I figured you’d be here writing up your end-of-day reports.”
I nodded, but before I could say anything, he added, “Can we speak somewhere in private?”
“Um, yeah, sure.”
I led him down the hall and into a conference room. After I shut the door, I immediately asked, “Is everything okay?”
He held up a hand. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“No worries,” I said, as I sat and motioned for him to do the same.
Once he sat down, he let out a long breath.
“What’s going on, Denny?”
He slowly shook his head. “It’s just been a long couple of months with the pregnancy…how Evelyn’s been dealing with it. And now the holidays are coming up.”
“I thought Evelyn was doing better?”
“She is. She really is. I think Brystol finally got through to her about backing off on things, and I’ve noticed it’s also reduced Evelyn’s stress.”
“That’s a good thing, then,” I said cautiously.
Denny nodded. “Yeah. The, um, the Winter Village Festival is this Sunday, and I know Evelyn and Brystol always look forward to that. Evelyn has a booth there this year.”
My brows shot up. “A booth? Like, for free legal advice?”
Laughing, Denny shook his head. “No, she’s been crafting a few months with some women she met through a group online. They’re all mothers who had to have a surrogate carry their babies. Anyway, I think they’ve helped her a lot as well, as far as backing off and leaving Brystol be.”
“Brystol doesn’t want Evelyn to back off, Denny. She needs her to stop demanding how she lives her life, but she very much wants her to experience as much as she can with the pregnancy.”
“Right. That’s what I mean. But…I know from what I’ve been reading that Brystol should be feeling the baby soon.”
I moved in my seat, wondering where he was going with this. “Around sixteen weeks is what I read.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “If she does feel the baby move, do you think she should tell Evelyn?”
Staring at him, I let his words sink in. “Are you saying youdon’twant her to tell Evelyn?”
Denny scrubbed his hands down his face. “Fuck, I don’t know, Gavin! This whole thing has thrown me for a fucking loop. Evelyn and I are fighting all the time.”
Surprised, I asked, “About what?”
“The baby. Brystol. How Evelyn needs to stop micromanaging a pregnancy she has no control over.”
“Damn, Denny. I hate to hear that you guys are arguing. But you have to know the end result is going to be the reward.”
He nodded. “I know, and please don’t think I don’t appreciate what Brystol is doing for us. I absolutely do. Evelyn does as well. But we should have listened to our doctor, who told us to use someone we didn’t know personally. Hesaid from the beginning that using Brystol might become problematic, but we didn’t listen. I mean, who better to carry our baby than our best friend?”
“I can see both sides.”
He dropped his head and sighed.
“Have you thought about doing something special for Evelyn?”
