Lovestruck Forever (29 page)

Just
concentrate on your sister
,
I told myself as I entered the room.
You’re
hosting this shower, and there’s plenty to keep your mind busy.

“Lizzie!”
my mother called, catching sight of me from across the room. She was
standing next to a distant relative whose name I couldn’t
place, probably wanting me to show off the ring. Something about the
easy, familiar smile on her face seemed to pierce the numbness,
making me want to cry, to fall into her arms. I stumbled a little,
the desire so strong I was tempted to give in.
You
can’t do that
, I
told myself firmly.
If
you start that, you won’t be able to stop.

So
I plastered a smile on my face, straightened my shoulders, and went
over to fulfill my duties as hostess.

I’m
not sure how I got through the entire day. The shower seemed to go on
for hours. We ate the food, played ridiculous baby games that I
prayed would be out of style if I ever had kids, and oohed and aahed
while Laura opened her gifts. Somehow, I managed to keep my mind on
the here and now. This was an important day for my sister, and for my
mother. There was no time to think about other issues. Not even the
fact that people all over the world, maybe at this very moment, were
reading about how my fiancé had been unfaithful—

Stop
,
I ordered myself.
You
have to stop thinking like that
.

After
the shower, I helped my dad and brothers load all the gifts up. There
were so many that we would need several vehicles to transfer them to
Laura and Frank’s house. As we worked, Samuel kept giving me
strange looks, and I found myself getting paranoid that he’d
seen the news already.

“You
okay, sis?” he asked quietly as we worked together to fill my
SUV.

“I’m
fine,” I said automatically. “It’s nothing, Sammy.
This is just how the stupid media is.”

“Sure.”
But I could tell he didn’t really believe me.

When
my dad announced we’d all be having dinner back at Laura’s
house, I was sure I was going to scream. I couldn’t imagine
getting through the entire night with so many people. And if Samuel
knew about the rumors, it was only a matter of time before the rest
of them heard the news as well.

I’ll
just drop off the gifts and make some excuse
,
I told myself as I climbed into my SUV. Before I started the engine,
I stared at my purse, not sure if I desperately wanted to turn my
phone on, or if I never wanted to hear it ring again. Finally the
curiosity won out, and I pulled it from my purse and powered it on.

There
were seven missed calls. Two from Heidi, which I ignored, and two
from Thomas, who hadn’t left a message. The others were from
numbers I didn’t recognize, and I immediately worried that they
were reporters. How had the press gotten ahold of my cell phone
number?

Before
I could try Thomas and attempt to get to the bottom of everything, my
phone rang in my hand. Callie.

“Hey,
Cal.”

“Lizzie,
are you okay?”

I
sighed, putting the car into gear. I may as well get to the house so
I could drop the gifts off and leave as soon as possible. “I’m
fine. Kind of numb, to be honest.”

“Have
you talked to him?”

“No.
I was at the shower. He called a few times but didn’t leave a
message.”

She
was quiet for a minute. “The pictures are bad, Lizzie. I’m
sorry, I wish I could just be indignant at the press on your behalf,
but—the pictures are bad.”

“He
didn’t do anything, Callie.”

“I’m
not saying he did,” she said quickly. “I’m just
saying, if I was a reporter…well, it looks like there’s
truth to it. There’s a theory that he didn’t announce
your engagement because he didn’t want
her
to know about it.”

Some
of the numbness seemed to edge away a bit, a shot of fear threatening
to get in. Thomas had been so reluctant to make an announcement, had
been so upset when the news leaked. Could that be because…
Stop
it!

“What
are you going to do?”

“What
can I do? I’m going to wait until I can talk to him and see
what’s going on.”

“You
sound remarkably calm about all of this.”

I
didn’t tell her how close I was to a full out freak out.
“There’s no point in getting worked up over something
when I have no way of knowing the facts,” I said, much more
reasonably than I felt.

“Good
girl. Look, if anything
is
going on—”

“It’s
not.”

“Okay,
okay, it’s not. But if it were—I just want you to know
that I have your back, okay? Me being with Charlie has no effect on
which way my loyalties lie.”

I
was torn between feeling touched at her assurances and annoyed that
she seemed to be taking the allegations seriously enough that she
thought they were warranted.

“Thanks,
Cal,” I told her, for lack of anything else to say.

“Will
you call me later? After you’ve talked to him?”

“Of
course.”

We
hung up just as I neared my sister’s house. I was surprised to
see that I was the first car to arrive. Carlos was usually the lead
foot in our family. I got to work unloading the presents in the
garage, happy for the solitude. It was much easier to keep the scary
thoughts at bay when I didn’t have to try and explain myself to
anyone.

My
peace and quiet was short lived. I had only unloaded half of the
gifts when Laura and Sam pulled up in the driveway, our parents,
Maria, and Sofie’s mom and dad following closely behind. I was
surprised to see Sofie pull up right behind her folks, having thought
she’d get out of dodge as soon as her obligation to Laura was
fulfilled.

“Lizzie!”
Laura cried, pulling her awkward pregnant self from the car. “What’s
going on? Why didn’t you tell us?”

I
stared at her blankly, not following her, until I saw Sofie from the
corner of my eye. I turned to glare at her, but she looked back,
unabashed. “I didn’t tell them.”

“That,
uh, was me,” Samuel admitted, joining us in the driveway. The
rest of the family was slowly exiting their vehicles and walking
toward me. So they all knew. Perfect.

“Are
you okay?” Laura asked, clearly concerned. I felt a momentary
rush of panic. I did not want to have to talk to them about this, not
without talking to Thomas first.

“Listen,”
I said loudly, holding my hands up. “This is just a stupid
rumor. Thomas didn’t do anything wrong. This kind of crap
happens all the time with celebrities, okay?”

Not
one of them looked convinced. I glanced at my mother, and my heart
dropped. She looked absolutely horrified, as if someone had mortally
wounded me. My dad’s face, on the other hand, was a rigid mask
of anger.

“I
mean it,” I said, my voice shaking. I was too close to losing
it, too close to completely breaking down. “If you’re all
going to act weird around me, I’m going home right now.”

For
once, Maria came to my rescue. “Of course we won’t act
weird.” She alone looked calm. “Let’s go in and
eat. It’s been a long day for everyone.”

As
if to confirm, Laura let out a little moan and rubbed her belly.
Every eye swung from me to her. “I’m fine,” she
said quickly. “Just a little cramp. Come on, let’s go
eat.”

Everyone
filed into the house, and I hung back to catch Sofie. “I’m
sorry,” she said once we were out of earshot. “I swear I
didn’t tell them.”

“I
know. Sam must have read it online or something. I could tell he knew
as soon as he got to the church.”

Sofie
stopped before we reached the porch and turned to me, her eyes
flickering across my face as if she was trying to read something
there. “Do you really think this is a misunderstanding? Do you
really trust him?”

That
was the real crux of it, wasn’t it? Did I trust Thomas? Did I
trust him enough to ignore all the rumors, to explain away the
pictures? To think the worst of Franny, a woman I had never met?

Do
you really trust him?

“Yes,”
I said firmly. “Of course I do.”

She
merely nodded. “Okay. Then I do, too.”

I
felt a rush of gratitude to her, for not pressing it, for having my
back. Just the fact that she was here, that she hadn’t gone
straight home after the shower even though she was still
uncomfortable around the family.

“Thank
you.”

She
made a move as if to hug me and I flinched, knowing I would lose it
if she did. She must have realized it, because she reached out to
squeeze my hand instead. “Let’s go in.”

We
ate pizza off of paper plates in the living room and talked about the
shower. There was plenty of family gossip to be shared and
conversation flowed freely. I didn’t really participate, and
every once in a while, I noticed that someone’s gaze would
linger on me, but I tried to ignore it. I felt awkward and out of
place, on the verge of tears. All I wanted was to talk to Thomas. I
sent him a text, asking him to please call me. There was no response.

After
a while, I began to notice that I wasn’t the only quiet one in
the group. Laura had barely said a word since we’d started
eating. And she hadn’t had much of her pizza, either, a marked
change from her enormous appetite earlier. As I watched, the color
seemed to drain from her face and I saw her grimace.

“What’s
wrong?” I asked, not noticing that I was interrupting my
mother’s recount of Cousin Christina’s new living room
remodel.

“Nothing,”
Laura said quickly, but she set her plate on the side table and moved
to stand. As she did so, her entire body swayed and she let out a
little cry of pain.

“Laura!”
Sam cried, quickly moving to her side. He grabbed her arm to steady
her as she continued to sway, looking like she might pass out any
minute.

“I
just need…bathroom,” she muttered. As she took a step
aside, the chair she’d been sitting in came into full view.
There was blood on the seat.

I
gasped, jumping up. “You’re bleeding!”

“What?”
she tried to turn in a confused circle, but the motion only made her
unsteadiness worse and she stumbled.

The
room descended into chaos. Laura started crying, moaning that it
hurt, while Sam and Matias both tried to push her back into the
chair. Sofie ran to the kitchen to get towels for the mess while my
parents hovered around Laura’s chair. “What’s
wrong?” my dad kept asking. “What hurts, baby? How do you
feel?”

“Everyone
stop!” Maria shouted loudly. Immediately the room silenced,
save for Laura’s continued whimpering. Maria leaned down in
front of her younger sister. “Laura, tell me what hurts and how
long it’s been.”

“My
stomach,” Laura moaned. “For the past twenty minutes.”

“You’re
dizzy?”

Laura
nodded.

“We’re
going to the hospital,” Maria said briskly. “Lizzie, grab
some towels for the car. Sammy and Matias, help her walk.”

“But,
Frank…” Laura whispered, face pale. Her husband was out
of town on business for the weekend, not expected back until the next
evening.

“We
can call Frank on the way,” Maria told her. She turned to look
at us, her voice transitioning from soothing to commanding. “What
are you waiting for?” Everyone moved under her orders. Maria
grabbed Laura’s purse. “Is your phone in here, Laura?”

Laura
nodded, wincing as Sam pulled her into a standing position. “Good,”
Maria said. “We’ll call your doctor on the way. Come on,
Sam, Matias. Let’s move.”

I
rushed out ahead of them to spread towels on Laura’s seat. I
caught her eye as she was helped from the house—she looked
absolutely terrified. “Hey, you’re fine,” I told
her, reaching for her hand as they helped her into the front
passenger seat.

“Will
you stay with me, Lizzie?” she asked.

“Of
course,” I replied, not even thinking to argue.

“Maria,
too, please.”

We
both piled into the back seat. Sam barely waiting for us to secure
our seatbelts before he pulled out down the driveway, nearly knocking
Matias over in his hurry. “What about Mama?” Laura
moaned.

“They’ll
meet us there,” Maria assured her, her voice entirely calm and
controlled as she reached into Laura’s purse to get her phone.
“What’s your doctor’s name, Laura.”

“Romero.”

“Give
me your phone, Lizzie,” Maria demanded, holding out her hand.

“Shit,”
I muttered. “I left it inside.”

“It’s
fine,” Maria said, pulling her own phone from her purse and
handing it to me. “It’s the weekend,” she
explained, seeing my questioning look as she searched Laura’s
contacts list for Romero. “The doctor’s office should
have an after-hours number to call on their answering machine. I’m
going to read it to you, and you punch it into my phone.”

I
barely had time to marvel at her cool head before she was barking
numbers at me. I dutifully typed them in and handed the phone back to
her. She hung up Laura’s phone before bringing her own cell
phone to her ear. I shook my head, my mind spinning. I had barely had
the presence of mind to put the towels in the car, and here was
Maria, completely in control of the situation.

I
listened as she explained what was happening to the nurse. “Okay.
We will. Thanks.” She hung up the phone. “Your doctor’s
already on call at the hospital, Laura, so he’ll meet us
there.”

“It
hurts, Maria,” she moaned.

“I
know, sweetie. Everything will be fine though. Here, hold my hand.”
She reached over the seat so Laura could grip her hand. “Good
girl. See how strong you are? Nothing to worry about.”

But
I was worried. Was this just labor? She wasn’t due for another
four weeks. It had all seemed to happen so fast. And the blood—was
there usually that much blood when a woman went into labor? Was the
dizziness normal? I wished I had any frame of reference for this kind
of thing. I tried to take comfort in the fact that Maria, who had
given birth twice, seemed totally calm. But when she turned slightly
to better grip Laura’s hand I caught sight of her eyes. My
heart started to thud faster. No matter how in control she seemed,
Maria was scared. And that scared
me
more than anything else.