A noise from outside the office startles me, and the ring slips from my fingers. Unfortunately, it lands on its side and starts to roll. It rolls all the way across the desk, onto the floor, and before I can stop it, it has rolled under the leather sofa.

Great. Just my luck.

I get down on my knees and elbows on the floor. The base of the sofa is low to the floor, with less than an inch of space between them. It’s also pushed up against the wall. I squint underneath, but everything is dark. I can’t even tell where my ring might have gone under there.

My purse is on the desk, so I grab my phone from inside and turn on the flashlight function. I can see a bit, but mostly dust bunnies. I don’t see any sign of a ring reflecting the light from my phone.

Damn it.

I try to reach underneath the couch, but there isn’t enough space down there. I can get my hand underneath about to my wrist, and then it will go no farther.

I straighten up, realizing too late that I should have taken the white cashmere sweater off before getting down on my elbows. I do my best to brush off the dust, then I consider my options.

There’s no way I’m going to reach that ring without moving the couch. I could attempt to move it on my own but I don’t know if it’s a good idea while I’m pregnant. I’ve heard you’re not supposed to do a lot of heavy lifting.

That leaves one option. I have to get Ethan to help me move it.

He’s probably still upstairs working. Or the sound that startled me was him coming down for dinner. Either way, he’ll be happy to help me with the couch. He loves doing stuff like that. Damsel in distress, etc., etc.

When I come out of Dr. Hale’s office, the first floor is silent. Ethan isn’t down here. I don’t hear anyone down here. He must still be working upstairs.

And then I hear a creaking sound from upstairs. And then something that almost sounds like a door slamming shut.

That must’ve been Ethan. I already know he’s working up there. He probably went to the bathroom or something. There’s no reason to worry.

I mount the spiral staircase, irritated that the hall light is off upstairs. There are too many light switches in this house. Of course, Ethan would argue that’s something easy to fix. We could put in a switch downstairs that could control the upstairs hall light. Or we could have a sensor that would turn it on automatically as we walk up the stairs.