“Stephen?”

“I’m here,” he said. “Oh, God, Dorie. A baby? When?”

“February. I’m almost four months pregnant.”

“Wow. Just … I don’t know what to say, Dorie. I mean, you call me up and yell at me because I didn’t tell you about my dad, and now you just casually blurt out the news about this baby?”

Dorie tried to laugh, but it wasn’t funny. “Not so casual. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you for weeks and weeks. I even rehearsed what I’d say. Somehow, it didn’t go as well as I’d planned. I’m sorry I yelled at you. And I’m really so sorry about Henry. The sweetest, dearest man … I wish he could have known about the baby.”

“A baby,” Stephen repeated. “And you’re four months already? You couldn’t have told me sooner?”

“No,” she said simply. “I found out right around the same time we found out about your dad’s cancer. I felt guilty, giving you something else to worry about. So I kept waiting for the right time, when you weren’t so upset about your dad. And then you were acting so weird and withdrawn, and then, well, Fourth of July happened.”

“I see.”

Her palms were sweaty. She switched the phone to her right hand, which was trembling. “Well, what do you think?”

“About the baby? I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet. What do you think? I mean, it’s not something we’d talked about. And now…”

“I’m happy,” Dorie said simply. “Despite everything that’s happened, I am so happy and excited about this baby. I’ve got a lot to figure out, but for right now, I am going to concentrate on this child I am carrying. And I am going to be a good mother. I swear, I won’t be anything like Phyllis.”

“You’re nothing like your mother. But do I get any say in any of this?” Stephen asked.

“If you want,” she said carefully. “But I think we both know the marriage is over.”

“Is it?”

She shook her head. Was he really this dense?

“Yeah. It really is over,” she said. “Stick a fork in us. We’re done.”

His breath slowed, and now she wondered if he was having a stroke instead of a heart attack. “I still love you, you know.”

She put her right hand over her belly, and wondered if the baby could hear what he’d just told her. “Do you really?”

“Yeah,” he said sadly. “It kinda sucks, doesn’t it?”

“And what about Matt?”

He sighed. “What can I tell you? You want me to lie and say there’s nothing there? That it was all a big mistake? I can’t tell you that, Dorie. No more lies. When my dad got sick, when I flew out there to see him that last time, I knew I probably wouldn’t see him again. And I realized it was time. Time to quit lying to myself about who I was and what I wanted.”

“It would have been good if you could have told me who you were and what you wanted,” she said quietly.

“I didn’t know how,” Stephen said. “I was scared. And ashamed. God help me.”

“Oh, Stephen,” Dorie said, reaching for the sheet to wipe her eyes again. By the time they were done talking, she’d have to change the bed. “What are we gonna do now?”

“I guess we better start figuring that out,” he said. “What about school? Have you told Sister? About us? Or the baby?”

“No,” she said. “I haven’t told anybody else, besides you and the girls. But I’ve got a contract, and I intend to work just as long as I can. How about you? Have you told anybody … that we’ve split up?”

“No,” Stephen said. “I thought we should talk first. Figure out the next step.”

She rolled her eyes. This was how it was going to be. Stephen was never going to be the person to take the first step. He was going to avoid the reality just as long as possible.

“Ellis’s brother Baylor has a friend who’s a divorce lawyer,” Dorie said briskly. “I’m going to talk to him about getting the paperwork started as soon as possible. We’ll have to sell the house, I think.”

“Why?” Stephen said. “You love that house.”

“But I can’t afford to live there on just my paycheck. And neither can you.” She pointedly did not ask him where he intended to live.

“Dad left me a little money,” he started.

“Enough to pay off the mortgage?”

“No, nothing like that,” he said hurriedly.

“I rest my case,” Dorie said. “Look. I’m going to talk to Baylor’s friend. I think you’d better find a lawyer too. And a real estate agent, so we can get the house listed. I’ll call you when I find out how we file the papers and everything.”

“I don’t want a lawyer,” he said dully. “You can have everything, Dorie. I want our baby to have a home. And this is all my fault. I did this to you. I hate fighting with you. And I hate the idea of a divorce.”

“I hate it too. But you don’t want to be married to me anymore. It looks like you want to be with Matt,” she reminded him. “You can’t have it both ways, Stephen. I don’t want to fight with you either, and I have no intention of taking you to the cleaners. I just want half the proceeds from the house. And I’ll need child support, of course.”

“Dorie?” Stephen sounded urgent. “About the baby. When do you think it happened? I mean, I thought you were taking precautions.”

“May,” she said, closing her eyes, trying to shut out the memory of that night. “The night before graduation. The end-of-the-year faculty party at Kristin and Bruce’s house. We’d both had too much to drink, remember? So instead of driving home, we stayed in their guest room. And … you’d been so distant, but that night, you were so being so sweet and silly. It was like when we first met. So … we ended up making a baby.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I guess we did. And … I guess, despite the rotten timing, I’m glad too. Are you feeling okay? Taking care of yourself?”

“It was a little rocky at first, but the nausea’s finally subsided and I’m feeling great now,” Dorie said, smiling for the first time. “The girls are totally pampering me.”

“Good,” Stephen said. “Look, I really have to go now. Will you call me as soon as you get back to town? I really need to see you.”

“I will,” she promised. “But I’m warning you, I’ll be a blimp. See you then.”

24

It was the first hot, sunny day in nearly a week. Right after breakfast Julia had set up their camp—the quilt, the chairs, the cooler—on their favorite stretch of beach. Then she’d gone for a jog. Julia hated running, but with all the eating and drinking she’d indulged in since arriving in Nags Head, her inner disciplinarian had finally kicked in. Despite what she’d told Booker, eventually, when this month was over, she’d have to find work again. And nobody was going to hire her for a modeling assignment if she showed up looking like the Pillsbury Doughboy. She’d even reverted to her old regime: black coffee and a hard-boiled egg—without the yolk—for breakfast.

And now she was pounding down Virginia Dare Trail when she spotted a familiar figure on a silver beach cruiser pedaling along in front of her. Julia sped up until she came up beside the bicyclist.

“Madison, hi,” she called.

Madison looked over, startled. The bike swerved off the pavement and onto the shoulder of the road, and the cool blonde tumbled headfirst over the handlebars.

“Oof.” She was sprawled out on her back, in a patch of sandspurs.

“Oh my God,” Julia cried. She ran over and squatted down beside the fallen woman. “Are you all right?”

Sand clung to Madison’s arms and bare legs and the right side of her face. Blood oozed from a scrape on her elbow.

“Fine,” she said, glaring at Julia. “You startled me.”

“Sorry,” Julia said, offering her a hand up and looking away from the blood, the sight of which was already making her feel light-headed.

Reluctantly, Madison took the hand and hauled herself to a standing position. She looked down at the bike, which had landed hard on the pavement. The front wheel rim was bent. “Damn it,” she muttered.

She picked the bike up and grabbed the rim, grimacing as she tried, ineffectively, to straighten it out. Then she set the bike upright and tried to wheel it away, but it wobbled crazily.