“Is it anything that won’t keep until later?”

“No,” she said with a sigh that sounded an awful lot like surrender to him. “It’ll keep.”

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Laura sat on the exam table, fidgeting as she waited for Victoria. She could hear her talking to other patients, her infectious laughter echoing in the hallway. While she waited, Laura became more and more anxious about the trip tomorrow, about Owen’s withdrawal as the departure drew closer and  about what would become of him—of them—if his father somehow walked away without being convicted.

The thought of that last possibility made her shudder with fear.

Since Owen had decided to go surfing, she’d left Holden with Sarah while she was at the clinic. Laura glanced at her watch to see that Victoria was running thirty minutes late, and with everything Laura still had to do to get ready to leave for a week, she hoped it wouldn’t be much longer.

As she waited, the anxiety that had been with her for days now seemed to peak in a maelstrom of worries that involved her health, that of her unborn babies, Owen’s well-being, the pending trial and the impact it might have on him and his mother, leaving the hotel in the hands of Shane and the summer staff as well as Stephanie and Abby, who’d offered to help while they were away, the dreadful way she felt most of the day and how would she ever get through the traveling, let alone the strain of the trial, without adding to Owen’s worries?

By the time a tap on the door preceded Victoria into the room, Laura was about to spontaneously combust. “Hey, there! Sorry to keep you waiting. Things are crazy today.” Victoria took a closer look at Laura. “Feeling okay?”

“Nauseated twenty-four-seven, but other than that, not so bad.”

“Ugh,” Victoria said. “All day every day?”

“Pretty much so in the last week, and we’re leaving tomorrow for Virginia, and I need something to make it stop, if only for the week that we’re gone.”

“I thought you were dead set against medication for the nausea?”

“I was. I am. But there’s no way I can go with Owen on this trip feeling the way I do now, and not going isn’t an option. Desperate times…”

“Gotcha. I’d like to do a quick exam first, just to make sure everything is okay with the babies, and then we can talk about your options for combatting the nausea.”

“Why did I know you were going to say that?” Laura asked as Victoria handed her a gown.

“I’m nothing if not thorough. Since you’re wearing a dress, everything off but the bra.”

When Laura stood up to comply with Victoria’s instructions, the entire room seemed to swim before her eyes. She reached for the exam table to keep from falling.