“What?” Remi stepped closer, getting in his face. “You want her in the dark like I was?”
Bas dropped his head; his six-foot frame seemed to slump under the weight of guilt. He ran a hand through his dark curls, then looked up at Remi with wet, red eyes. “I guess I should tell her, huh?”
“Best it comes from you and not me.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay.”
He started toward the door but turned back. “I really do love Zoe. I would never hurt her on purpose.”
Remi raised her eyebrows. She believed him but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of him knowing that. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook—not yet. Not while her baby was hurting.
“You’d better tell Paloma. She has a right to know too. Or I will.”
“Okay,” he said, giving her a faint, nervous smile. “Thank you for not killing me.”
Remi didn’t smile back. “It’s not off the table.”
After Bas left, Remi and Bianca laughed.
“That poor boy probably wet his pants.”
“He needs to feel what Zoe’s feeling and share the responsibility. That’s some heavy stuff my baby is dealing with.”
“Agreed.” Bianca sipped her mineral water.
The sun had long dipped below the horizon, casting a deep indigo sky above the vineyard. Inside the house, Remi sat cross-legged on the living room floor surrounded by stacks of folders, envelopes, and Gerard’s brown leather laptop bag. A fire burned gently in the fireplace, creating flickering shadows against the walls. She was grateful for the quiet—everyone had opted for an afternoon nap that lasted long into the early evening.
Zoe startled her when she walked into the living room, cradling a mug in her hands. Her fingers trembled slightly. She sat on the sofa, curled her legs beneath her bottom. Remi sat across from her, silent, patient, her eyes steady but not pressing. She opened Gerard’s laptop and began trying to retrieve his password.
The silence stretched, thick but gentle.
Finally, Zoe exhaled. “I found out I was pregnant right before Thanksgiving break.”
Remi didn’t flinch. She only nodded slowly.
“I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Bas, at first. I couldn’t. It didn’t feel … real, at first. A real little one growing inside of me.” She paused, her voice catching. “I was so scared, Mom. Not just of being pregnant, but of what it would mean. It would change everything.”
Remi reached over, placed her hand lightly on Zoe’s leg.
“Then I told Bas I was pregnant. He was so happy. Such an idiot.” She smiled a bit, forcing the tears to restrain themselves.
Remi couldn’t help but smile too.
Zoe swallowed hard. “He kept saying it would be okay, we would figure it out, together. He said we’d get through it, that we needed to come up with a plan. I thought we had time to figure it out. But then I started bleeding … and suddenly the baby was gone. That was terrifying.”
Remi’s lips parted, but she didn’t speak.
“It happened so fast,” Zoe said, her voice barely above a whisper. “One day I was pregnant, and the next … I wasn’t. I didn’t tell anyone; I just went to the student health clinic and got checked out. Then I came back to my dorm like nothing happened. I didn’t even cry that day. Not really. I just felt empty.”
Remi moved to the couch next to Zoe, grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly.
“It was like this invisible loss,” Zoe continued. “Like no one would believe how much it hurt because it was over before anyone even knew. And Bas … he kept calling, texting, wanting to know what was going on with me. I just … I told him that I lost the baby, but then I shut him out. I didn’t know how to be with him anymore without falling apart.”
Tears finally welled in Zoe’s eyes. She blinked them away. “I didn’t know what to do … so, I just carried it alone. Told myself I was strong enough. But I wasn’t.”
Remi didn’t hesitate. She pulled Zoe into her arms and held her tightly; fiercely, like she was trying to protect her from every hurt she couldn’t undo. Her own eyes stung, her throat thick. The ache in her chest swelled.
“You should never have had to go through that alone,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I would’ve carried it with you. All of it.”