Bailey let go of her hand.“I’m going to order some food.”
“Nothing too heavy.”One hand pressed to her stomach, Chloe grimaced.“Just in case it comes back up again.”
“Wonton soup?”
“Perfect,” Chloe sighed.
“I’m on it,” Bailey assured her.“Why don’t you take a nice long shower, and it’ll be here when you get out.”
“I think I will.Thanks.”
“No problem,” Bailey said, and waited until she could hear the water running behind the closed bathroom door before she turned to Gwen.“You okay?”
“Fine,” Gwen said and lifted her coffee to her lips.“Where are you ordering from?”
Bailey just looked at her, waiting, and Gwen lowered the cup with a sigh.“Fuck.Did Chloe notice?”
“I don’t think so.”Bailey watched Gwen sag with relief.“What’s going on, Gwennie?You change your mind on this issue since it came up last?”
“What?No.”Gwen shook her head.“No, I absolutely believe in the right of choice.That’s not it.”
“Then?”
“I don’t know.”Gwen looked down, her mouth pursed in thought.“It just hit me weird, I guess.”
“Do you want to go?”Bailey asked quietly.“I can tell Chloe you had to go back to work.”
“No, I— Shit, work.”Gwen dug her phone out of the pocket of her slacks.“I left Jamie in charge.”
“What’d you tell the aunts?”Bailey asked.Chloe’s aunts, Mo and Carrie, owned The Wild Orchid, and if Gwen had told them she was sick or in trouble—
“They’re both off tonight,” Gwen told her, looking at her phone screen.“They had tickets to see Taylor Swift in Chicago.”
Bailley blinked.“Mo and Carrie are Swifties?”
“Strangely, yes.”Gwen looked up.“No frantic texts, but I should go down and check.”
“It’s fine,” Bailey began.
“I’m coming back, Bails.”Gwen stood and tucked the phone back in her pocket.“I can put the weirdness away.”
“If you need to talk about it…”
Gratitude flickered over Gwen’s face.“I know.Thanks.”
“Okay,” Bailey said, and left it at that.“What do you want to eat?”
“The usual, but get extra potstickers.You guys always eat them all.”Gwen started to pass, then paused.“Was it hard?”
Bailey didn’t have to ask what she was talking about, and looked her calmly in the eye when she answered.“No, it wasn’t.”
Gwen nodded.“I’m going to check in downstairs.Buzz me when the food gets here.”
“Will do,” Bailey said, and watched her go.
Then she took out her phone and ordered extra potstickers.
* * * *