Page 61 of The Glass Dolphin

“I came to see the baby,” Robin said, her eyebrows lifted. “Have you guys all seen her?”

“Yes.” Alice got to her feet. “I have to get back to work.” She looked at Jean, who nodded. She picked up AJ’s bag, but Kristen shouldered it. The three of them left—again, without a good-bye—and Robin didn’t know what to make of the splintering happening literally in front of her face.

“She’s my ride,” Clara said quietly. “I’ll call you later, Robin.”

“Okay,” she said numbly as one more of their party departed. Julia and Laurel looked at Robin like she’d know what to do, but she didn’t. She cleared her throat and got to her feet. “I’m going to go see little Daphne.”

She looked from Julia to Laurel. “Will you come with me?”

Laurel’s smile appeared, but it stayed small. She lifted her baby boy, and Robin took him so she could stand. “I’ll come in with you.”

“Me too,” Julia said in a quiet voice. “Maddy wants the growth too, because it’s our jobs…”

“I know that,” Robin said. “I’m not for or against. I think there’s a lot of middle ground to cover.” She turned away from the conversation and headed for the big door. She pressed a button, gave Kelli’s name, and prayed she’d be let back into the patient rooms.

She had to get away from this place, where so much tension had lived. Where she could barely breathe.

Thankfully, the door swung open, and she led the way back to Kelli’s room. She lay in the bed with the most perfect baby asleep in her arms, and all of the negativity flowed right out of Robin.

“Oh,” fell from her lips as her friend looked up. She wore exhaustion in her eyes, but the pure joy masked it perfectly.

“I’ll take James,” Laurel murmured, and Robin barely turned to give the little boy back to his mother.

“Can I?” she whispered as she approached Kelli. She transferred the baby to Robin, who gazed at her like she’d hung the moon. “She’s perfect.”

“We named her Daphne,” Kelli said, apparently thinking that Robin didn’t read the group texts. She did, almost obsessively.

“You did great,” Robin said, finally looking away from the little girl. Her heart filled with love for Kelli, who’d had such a long, twisted road to get to where she was. They all had, but Robin just knew more of Kelli’s hairpins and potholes. “You’re the best, Kel.”

Kelli smiled and reached out to touch Robin’s forearm. “Thanks for coming, Robin.”

She didn’t tell her that everyone else had left, and she exchanged a glance with Laurel and then Julia before focusing back on the baby again. She couldn’t ignore the rift between her friends forever, but for right now…she could.

ChapterTwenty-Two

Eloise simply didn’t have mental energy to debate opinions. She left the hospital behind AJ, the other woman’s blonde hair flowing behind her as she strode with purpose toward the exit. El walked with the same clip, but she had no purpose.

She’d come to see Kelli’s baby, and she hadn’t even done that. As she pushed out into the wind, the sky the color of steel and the ocean waves crashing angrily from down the block, El realized what she’d said.

I don’t want to be here either.

She couldn’t remember a time in the past few years since they’d all returned to Five Island Cove that she didn’t want to see any of them. Of course they hadn’t agreed on everything. They’d had a pretty big split when Laurel had been investigating a drug case. She’d had to look at everyone as suspects, and that included El herself.

She had, in fact, almost been a victim of the drug network moving their wares through her inn. “We survived that,” she muttered to herself.

But could they weather this?

Eloise felt like she was splitting apart at the seams. It boggled her mind that she could experience so much happiness, so much good, enjoy so many things in her life, and then also have to endure the opposite. Life, she’d been learning, was like an intricate piece of music, a symphony composed of soaring crescendos and dissonant chords, punctuated by silent moments of quiet introspection. Each note, no matter how sweet or jarring, contributed to the exquisite complexity of the melody, a testament to the beauty found in contrast and the enduring resonance of the human spirit.

She didn’t want the dissonant chords. She didn’t want to go through the devastating loss of a miscarriage. And yet, her body was bleeding.

A sob broke free from her throat, and Eloise looked around the parking lot outside the hospital, completely lost. She didn’t have her car here, as she’d taken a RideShare with Julia and Clara.

She needed a name for the feelings streaming through her, and they weren’t necessarily sadness or horror, though she was both. She could still recall yesterday morning when she’d first seen the spotting. She’d stared, horror snaking through her like a frozen snake, ready to strike with venomous fangs.

Her phone buzzed, but she didn’t check it. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, not even Aaron. He’d wanted to go to the hospital, but Eloise honestly couldn’t see the point. What were they going to do? They couldn’t give her the hormones her body needed to keep the baby.

“It’s already lost,” she said. She had to deal with the pain of that on so many levels, and she didn’t even realize Alice stood in front of her until the brunette drew her into a hug.

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