he was definitely pissed. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she returned to the kitchen, but wondered if he was talking to Heidi.
Trace appeared a few minutes later and he looked completely at ease. Had she not heard his argument, she would never have believed he had just had one.
The question tumbled from her mouth. “What took you so long?”
Something passed over his face. “I needed to make a quick call. Can I help you?”
“Is something wrong? Is it Heidi?”
Surprise swept his face. “Why do you ask that?”
“Just something Charles said to me.”
“What did he say?”
“He warned me that Heidi was trouble, so I just assumed that she was up to something.”
“Charles warned you about Heidi?” Trace asked, genuinely surprised.
“Yeah, why?”
“I wasn’t aware he knew her.”
“Is it Heidi?”
He looked her right in the eyes. “No, Ember.”
Her heart sank. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she had seen him with Heidi, but the words just wouldn’t come. She knew whatever was going on, he was trying to protect her from it. The fact that he had to lie to her to do that was something she had to overlook. “Okay.”
He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “What can I do?”
Ember woke in the morning to an empty bed. She quietly looked through the apartment, but Trace was not home. Chelsea was in the living room eating cereal and watching television.
“Good morning, Chelsea.”
“Hi, Ember. Look, I made my own breakfast.”
“Where’s Trace?”
“He left a while ago. Said he had things to do before his fight tonight.” Trace was an amateur fighter and, though he didn’t fight as often as he used to, he still liked getting into the ring a few times a month.
“Oh, okay. I’m going to make some coffee.”
“I want some.”
“You bet.”
She started for the kitchen when a wave of nausea hit out of nowhere. She hurried down the hall and just made it to the toilet. After she puked she went to the sink to splash some water on her face and caught the ghostly reflection looking back at her in the mirror. How long had it been since she’d had her period? When realization dawned, excitement almost made her call Trace immediately, but she decided it would be better to know for sure before she said anything. She called a drugstore and made arrangements to have several pregnancy tests delivered to the apartment. An hour later, she was looking at three positive results. She didn’t trust it, though. She wanted to be absolutely certain, so she called her doctor.
She was lucky to get an appointment later that same day and she battled excitement as she sat in the waiting room. The sound of her name brought her to her feet and she followed the nurse to the scale where she was weighed. She was handed a paper robe.
“Undress, opening in front. Dr. Cole will be with you in a moment.”
A few minutes after she’d climbed up onto the table, Dr. Cole entered. She’d been Ember’s gynecologist for years.
“Ember, you look wonderful. Married life certainly agrees with you. So, you think you’re pregnant. Let’s take a look.”
Ember’s heart lodged into her throat because if she wasn’t pregnant the disappointment that followed was going to be tough.
She lay back on the examination table as the doctor squeezed some cold goo onto Ember’s stomach.
“Okay, let’s see what we see. Normally we’d used a vaginal probe, but to confirm pregnancy, the old way works just as well and isn’t as uncomfortable.”
Dr. Cole moved the probe, but Ember’s focus was completely on the screen. She couldn’t tell what she was looking at until she saw a small little point that was fluttering. She pointed to it and asked, “Oh my God, is that the heart?”
“Sure is. Based on the size I would say you are about seven weeks along. It’s important that you start taking prenatal vitamins. I’ll prescribe them before you leave.”
Ember was surprised that she was that far along, but then, her period had never been regular, so tracking her cycle was always a challenge. By the way Dr. Cole was looking at her, Ember realized that she was awaiting an answer. She quickly replied, “Okay.”
Dr. Cole started moving the probe around again, but Ember’s thoughts were already on Trace and telling him he was going to be a father. She knew at first it was going to terrify him—the thought that he could end up like his father—but he really wanted children. She was so