She was laughing and shaking her head at herself, apparently assuming I’d known what the gesture meant. I wanted to tell her that she was, in fact, very good at hiding whatever this was, because I still had no idea. However, before I could say a word, she was already speaking again.
“Don’t tell anyone, okay. Especially, not Auggie. He shouldn’t find out before I have a chance to at least tell Matt first.”
It was like I’d been thrown into the middle of the ocean and suddenly expected to swim to land on my own. I didn’t even know which way was north, let alone which way I could find solid ground, and it was taking everything I had just to keep my head above water.
“Matt?” I asked, latching onto the one part of her sentence that made some sense.
Chantal’s eyes grew wide with shock for a moment, but then understanding seemed to strike her like lightning and her surprise turned into a long sigh.
“Oh, right, I haven’t told you, and I’m sure Auggie doesn’t talk about it.”
From around her neck, she pulled out a long chain that had been hidden under her shirt. Hanging on the delicate chain was a distinct diamond ring.
“Matt is my husband. I used to wear the ring on my hand, but since I work with a lot of chemicals and other hair productsevery day, it tarnished really quickly. Plus, it kept getting tangled in clients’ hair. So, I started wearing it on a chain. Now, it’s become such a habit that I wear it on the chain all the time, even when I’m not working.”
The diamond ring glinted in the light, sparkling like it was laughing at me.
Chantal was already married. Here I was, worrying about overstepping with her ex-husband and it turned out she already had another man. Part of me felt a little foolish, but mostly, I was just relieved. Any doubts I had about Auggie and Chantal’s relationship were immediately laid to rest.
Now, if only I could figure out the nature of my own relationship with the man.
“I know it’s a lot for me to ask you to keep secrets from Auggie,” Chantal said as she stored the ring on the chain back under her shirt. “But, please, don’t tell him I’m pregnant. I’ve only just found out, and I haven’t even had a chance to tell Matt yet. Matt isn’t the jealous type, but it would be really awkward if my ex-husband found out about my pregnancy before my husband did.”
Pregnant.
The word bounced around in my skull like my ears were using it to play tennis.
Chantal was pregnant.
Suddenly, the hand she’d placed on her stomach made a lot more sense. A baby was growing in there. It was small now, so small that her stomach was still completely flat, but one day, it would grow into an entirely new human being.
My gaze was drawn to Melody, who was happily doodling away, completely oblivious to the adult conversation taking place just a foot away. The little girl was soon going to be a big sister, and I was certain that Chantal would make just as good of a mother to her second child as she had to her first one.
I was also certain that Auggie would be involved in the new child’s life in some way. The child wasn’t his, but it would be his daughter’s sibling. I couldn’t imagine him neglecting Melody’s sibling just because the kid didn’t share his blood. No, he would happily take on the stepparent role and find a way to welcome a second child into his home.
Auggie’s family was expanding, and I needed to figure out my place in that family.
Was I just a temporary guest brushing past this family like a shadow, only to become an interesting story that they occasionally told to their kids?
Or was I here to stay, celebrating birthdays and holidays as time passed, and ultimately creating new stories that would leave my old story in the dust?
That was a question only I could answer, but either way, I was going to have to talk to Auggie as soon as possible.
Glancing at the clock on the café’s wall, I groaned when I realized the time. Auggie wouldn’t get off work for several more hours.
It was going to be an agonizing wait.
CHAPTER 26
Mia
The last bandagefell from my wrist and collapsed into a pile on the table. I stared at the skin that had been revealed underneath. It was pink and uneven, but not as sensitive as it had been in the past. The skin graft was finally strong enough to withstand regular touch and no longer in danger of breaking open or growing infected.
“There,” Auggie announced as he gathered up the used bandage. “That’s the last one. We’ll still have to keep applying the ointments for a while, but we won’t have to keep the burn scars covered anymore.”
He tossed the bandages away and fetched the ointment in question, completely absorbed in his task.
I pretended to stretch out my wrist, testing the strength of the newly healed skin there, when in reality, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Auggie took care of me. He talked about my wounds as if they belonged to both of us, saying things like ‘we need to do this’ or ‘we don’t have to do that.’ Such phrases cameso easily to him, as if it were a forgone conclusion that my pain was his responsibility as well. I hadn’t noticed it before, but it was something that he’d been doing ever since I first woke up.