Her stomach lurched again and what was left of the penne all’arrabbiata she’d eaten began churning. She jumped up and lifted the toilet lid, vomiting the remainder of her lunch. The stench of the digested onions and peppers made her grip her sides. Surely, she didn’t have food poisoning again. That had been the sickest she’d ever gotten.
Scarlett flushed and rinsed her mouth thoroughly—and stopped.
“No,” she said aloud. “It can’t be.”
She collapsed onto the floor, tears welling in her eyes, remembering how sick she’d been from eating the bad shrimp cocktail. How many times she’d thrown up. A good forty-eight hours or more.
Her birth control pills.
She’d taken one the morning she’d become ill. She was close to the end of the pill pack and hadn’t taken the last two because she couldn’t keep anything down. Then the placebo week came and after it ended, she started back up.
Immediately, she whipped out her phone and began Googling. What she read didn’t put her mind at ease.
She might be pregnant.
She and Wynn had sex the night of Rhett’s casino party, two weeks after she’d been ill. She’d assured Wynn she was on the pill. No other precautions were taken. Had she had another period since then?
No.
She hadn’t thought anything of it. With all the stress surrounding Rhett being shot, it hadn’t surprised her that she skipped a month. When she was under tremendous stress twice before, the same thing had happened. She’d missed her period and then started back up with the next cycle once things in her life calmed down.
Her gut screamed this time was different.
Scarlett gingerly put a hand to her stomach. Was she really pregnant? She tamped down the elation that threatened to bubble up. She needed to find out for sure.
Rising, she retrieved her purse and went to the kitchen for a bottle of cold water. She downed the entire thing and felt better. Glancing at the microwave, she saw it was time to leave to pick up Cadence and Harper. They had dance on Thursdays after school. Dash would get the boys since they had their karate lessons at the same time.
She left the house without seeing anyone and paused at the Spitfire, feeling guilty to be driving it. Wynn had given it to her on a whim. She needed to see it returned to him. They hadn’t done anything official, such as redo the paperwork to place the title in her name, so it would be easy to turn the sports car back over. She’d do it first thing tomorrow.
Scarlett headed to the school and joined the line of cars. The bell sounded and kids began streaming from the building. She caught sight of Kyle and Drew, both in their karate uniforms, huge grins on their faces. The boys went to Dash’s SUV, several cars ahead of her, and she watched him pull out.
Cadence and Harper arrived and greeted her, both flinging their backpacks onto the floorboard and climbing into the back seat. They buckled their seatbelts and chattered the entire way to the dance studio. Scarlett walked them inside and waited outside the restroom while they changed into their leotards and tap shoes. They emerged with ballet shoes in one hand and their backpacks in the other. She took the backpacks and said she’d be waiting for them.
“You’re going to watch us, right?” Cadence asked.
“I sure will,” she replied, although she wouldn’t the entire time. She had an errand to run.
The girls giggled and, holding hands, ran into class. Scarlett saw the usual crowd of moms had already gathered, some standing in front of the two-way mirror to observe the session and others seated, playing with their phone or reading from a Kindle.
Leaving the studio, she locked the backpacks in the car and walked a quarter-mile south and ducked into a CVS. She found the section with tampons and condoms and cut down that aisle. It took her a moment before she spotted the home pregnancy test kits. She picked up a few, reading the instructions, and decided on one. She paid the cashier and then put the sack inside her purse before returning to watch the rest of the dance lesson.
The girls came out half an hour later, excited about being with their friends as much as learning a new dance routine. Scarlett drove Harper home and then went back to Rhett’s. Dash would drop Kyle off when his class ended. Cassie was seated in the kitchen, a snack waiting for Cadence. She begged to take it into the den and eat while she read and her mom said okay.
As casually as she could, Scarlett said, “I’ve got a few things I need to do at home. Get the mail. Check on—”
“Go,” Cassie ordered, not even letting Scarlett finish. “You’ve been so sweet to stay with us. I know you have a life. You’ve got to get back to work full-time, too. We’re fine here, Scarlett. I appreciate everything you—and Wynn—have done this past month.”
Cassie hugged her. “Go home and stay home. You’re welcome to come over as much as you like.” Her eyes twinkled. “I know, though, you’d appreciate getting some time alone. And having time to be with Wynn. Rhett and I think the world of him. He’s been so good for you.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. Quickly, she wiped them away.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. We just wanted you to know how much we appreciate you and how much we like Wynn. We couldn’t have gotten by these past few weeks without either of you.”
“Thank you,” Scarlett managed. “I think I’ll go
