Chapter 8 - THE SECRET I HAD NOT TOLD MY HUSBAND
Grant stared at me.
“Claire.”
I looked toward Elizabeth.
Not here.
Not in front of her.
I asked Hannah to take her for coffee.
Once the door closed, Grant said:
“Are you pregnant?”
“No.”
His expression shifted between relief and confusion.
Then I said:
“I was.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Three months ago.”
He stopped breathing.
“I miscarried at nine weeks.”
His face emptied.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You never told me.”
I almost laughed.
The irony hurt.
“You were in Napa with Savannah.”
He went pale.
“I told you I was at a client retreat.”
“I know.”
He sat down.
“Claire…”
“I found out I was pregnant two days before you left.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to surprise you when you came home.”
My voice cracked.
“I had an appointment while you were gone.”
He looked destroyed.
“There was no heartbeat.”
I swallowed.
“I drove myself home.”
“Claire.”
“You called that night.”
He closed his eyes.
I remembered it perfectly.
Grant had sounded distracted.
I had said I wasn’t feeling well.
He told me he had an early meeting and would call tomorrow.
He did not.
Savannah later posted a photograph from the same vineyard hotel.
“I almost told you,” I said.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I realized I didn’t know which version of you would answer.”
That hurt him.
Good.
Not because I wanted pain.
Because truth should land.
“The booties?”
“My coworker Maya is pregnant.”
I looked away.
“I picked them up and thought maybe I could handle buying them.”
I couldn’t.
Then I had heard Grant laugh.
The universe had terrible timing.
He sat with his head lowered.
“I don’t have words.”
“I don’t need them.”
“I should have been there.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
For once, he did not ask for forgiveness.
That helped.
Then Rebecca called.
Savannah had filed something.
“What?”
“A paternity acknowledgment.”
Grant frowned.
“For the baby?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t signed one.”
“That’s the problem.”
The document bore his electronic signature.
My stomach dropped.
“Another forgery?”
Rebecca said:
“Possibly.”
Grant looked furious.
Then she continued.
“The acknowledgment was filed six weeks ago.”
Before Grant proposed.
Before the boutique.
Before Savannah announced the wedding date.
And it contained a clause authorizing access to Cross family medical records.
Grant stopped.
“Why would she need that?”
Rebecca answered:
“Because she’s seeking prenatal testing tied to an inherited condition.”
Grant frowned.
“What condition?”
Silence.
Then Rebecca said:
“Huntington’s disease.”
Grant stared.
“No one in my family has Huntington’s.”
Rebecca’s voice became careful.
“William Cross did.”
Grant stopped breathing.
May you like
His father had hidden one more thing.
And if William had the gene, Grant had a fifty-percent chance of carrying it too.
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