Page 81 of The Wedding Hoax

Good.

I was running late, anyway. I didn’t have time to make small talk with the nurse, and I could always catch up with my mom later.

I ran outside the house, and a few moments later, I was sitting in the back of a cab and heading to Dr. Carlson’s office. I checked my phone as I held a breath, realizing that I was already ten minutes late.

Didn’t Dr. Carlson’s office consider appointments a no-show if they were fifteen minutes late?

When I finally arrived at her office, I rushed through the doors, only stopping when I bumped into the front desk.

“Appointment! I have an appointment! Dr. Carlson. At 9:15 a.m.”

“Of course.” The woman behind the desk gave me a wide smile. “Mrs. O’Donnell, yes? Your husband already checked in for the both of you. He’s waiting for you in room three.”

My husband?

“My husband?” I repeated the thought out loud. “My husband’s here?”

“Is there a problem?” The woman’s face fell. Her eyes went wide, and she lowered her voice. “Do you feel unsafe with him, ma’am? If you’re not safe, we have options for you—”

“No! No.” I shook my head. “It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting him to come to this appointment. He’s usually too busy to make these things.”

“Well, it looks like he’s making time for you today.” She beamed. “Have a good day, Mrs. O’Donnell.”

“You, too.” I headed toward the back of the doctor’s office, my stomach feeling like it was stuck in my throat.

A part of me was hoping that the woman at the front desk was mistaken, that once I walked through the exam room door, there’d be a different man waiting there–some guy who’d made a mistake and wandered into the wrong room.

But of course, as soon as I pushed open the door, Harry was right there, sitting in one of the guest chairs.

Double crap.

“What are you doing here, Harry?” I asked as I took a seat beside him. “Did you follow me here or something?”

“I don’t have to follow you anywhere, Simone. I run one of the biggest magazines in the country.” He scoffed. “I have investigative journalists I can call at the drop of a hat.”

“And what? They were able to figure out where I was going? In, like, less than five minutes?”

“I think it took them around ten, but I had a head start by already being in the car. I just needed to know where to go,” he replied. “Although, I feel like the better question is what are you doing here, Simone?”

“Are you saying I can’t go to the doctor without permission?”

“No. I’m saying it’s weird that you didn’t tell me about it.”

“Sorry? But I didn’t think I needed to tell you about what I’m doing every minute of the day.”

“Are you sick?” he pressed, concern lining his voice. “Were you hiding it because you thought we needed to focus on your mom? Because I don’t have a problem with multitasking, Simone, and if you’re sick, you need to tell me—”

“I’m not sick, Harry.”

“Oh.” He softened as he relaxed into his chair. “Is this just for a routine appointment, then? Because if that’s the case, you’re right. I don’t need to be here. And I definitely owe you an apology for freaking out over nothing—”

“I’m not here for a routine appointment, either.” My eyes welled with tears as I looked over at Harry. I knew that I should’ve told him the truth so much earlier, and now, I had no idea how he was going to respond.

And I was terrified of losing him.

“Simone?” Harry’s voice was low. “Is everything all right?”

“I’m pregnant.”

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