I thought about calling Stone, but I knew he had too much to deal with today. His mind was on other things. I could handle Geraldine. He needed less to worry about and this was all I could do to help him.
“Mona! Where are my riding pants? How can I hunt without them? Good Lord this is a mess!” Geraldine was yelling and she never yelled. Not even during a spell. Today was not a good day for her. I worried that she was getting worse.
“I’ll look for them,” I called back before she came running around the staircase upstairs looking for Mona.
While she went around upstairs looking for things from her past, I went back to the kitchen and worked on breakfast. Hopefully, she’d come back to me soon and I could feed her. The one thing about Geraldine being completely out of it since I had arrived was that it had gotten my mind off of me. Off of my problems.
Touching my stomach, I looked out the window and thought again about my doctor’s appointment tomorrow. I’d originally made the appointment to get a prescription for birth control. Now? Now, I would be taking a pregnancy test. I would find out if I was already carrying Stone’s child. Our child. A child that I would love and adore, but one that I knew he couldn’t focus on right now.
The child inside me wouldn’t ever face a life with the man who Stone hated the most. This child would have me always. He or she wouldn’t have need for love because they would have it unconditionally.
Wills needed Stone and I wouldn’t pull Stone in two directions. I wasn’t sure of the right thing to do. Not telling him was wrong and he deserved to know.
Telling him right now when he needed his complete focus and attention on fighting his father was unfair too. I don’t know how long I stood there silently lost in my thoughts. My thoughts swirled regarding I would do if I was pregnant. What I should do. What I needed to do.
“I don’t even want to know why I was wearing that God-awful gown. It smelled of moth balls and I think I have a rash under my pits from the scratchy fabric,” Geraldine said as she sauntered past me into the kitchen. I jumped at the sound of her voice. I hadn’t heard her come back down the stairs.
She frowned at me. “Lord, girl. Are you okay?”
I smiled. “I didn’t hear you come downstairs.”
“I bet you smelled me though.” She scrunched up her nose. “I must have been in the attic at some point this morning. That dress hasn’t seen daylight in decades.”
“It has held up well.” I imagined the dress had been the height of fashion once.
She shrugged with her left shoulder only. “Perhaps, but now it is the height of ancient.” She chuckled. “I’m a sight. You never know what you’re going to walk into around here.”
The smile that tugged on my lips this time was real. Not forced. Geraldine’s spirit was always cheerful. Being near her made life seem easier. I was glad she was back from her spell. I needed her peaceful presence today.
“What’s for breakfast?” She rubbed her hands together as she walked over to the coffee pot. I’d made coffee earlier hoping to coax her out of her memories.
I repeated the proposed menu.
“Oh, yum. I love that. It’s my favorite. And my tomatoes are exceptional this year. I think it’s the beer I used on them. I read about it on Pinterest. Do you ever go on Pinterest? It’ll suck you in with its brilliant ideas.”
I’d heard of Pinterest but couldn’t say I’d browsed through the photos and ideas there. “No, but I know it’s popular.”
“It’s bloody brilliant,” she repeated with enthusiasm. “I bet you could find great ideas for cleaning, recipes, and the like. We should pull out my computer today and look at it together.”
“Okay.” I was grateful for something else to occupy my mind. I was desperate for anything.
“My friend, Beatrice, brought me some peppermint tea that I love. It can only be bought in England. I’ve tried a million different kinds here, but nothing compares. I even ordered some offline but it’s not the same. This tea”—she held up a mesh bag of tea leaves—“is perfection. Something about the motherland I guess. The British know their tea. We just know our Starbucks.” She sounded a bit disappointed. I knew she missed England. I thought it was because of her fond memories of her British friends that were gone from this world and of England that her mind always wandered back to that period.
“Do you want me to make you some tea to go with your breakfast?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Oh no. This is for tea time. It’s British, darling. We need to have it at three.”
She was teasing me, but then she was also serious. I poured her a cup of coffee instead. She had French coffee. As she swore by British tea, she also swore that the French were the coffee experts. I had to agree the coffee she had was amazing. There was nothing like it anywhere else.
“Where is my boy today? Haven’t seen him in week.” She changed the subject ever-so-subtly.
“He’s dealing with work issues.” I didn’t know how much she knew about Wills. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her the story. It was Stone’s to tell.
Geraldine took the cup of coffee I handed her and her lips pursed slightly. “He’s going to fight him, isn’t he?”
I wasn’t sure what to say here. I remained silent.
She let out a breath and tapped her fingertip on the counter. “I guess it’s time. That child can’t last the way Stone did. He’s not as tough.”
She walked toward the doors leading to the patio and said nothing more. I wondered what she knew. And if he had told her about Wills or she had just figured it out herself.
Again, I glanced down at my stomach and worried she may figure out my secret. What would I do if she did?
Stone
I MADE IT HOME BEFORE Beulah.
Relieved after not seeing her car parked, I took my time getting my paperwork together and made my way toward the entrance of the building. I didn’t want her to arrive home without me here again today. She seemed vulnerable last night and I wasn’t sure why. It felt like she was going to bolt at any moment but couldn’t make herself. With everything I had going on, I needed to make sure I found time for her too. I couldn’t always expect her to be there for me and not reciprocate.
A car pulled up as I was unlocking the front door of my building and I turned to see it was a white Lexus. Whoever it was parked directly in front of me. I knew that Lexus didn’t belong to anyone who lived here. Lifting my hand, I shaded my eyes from the sun to see who it was. Unfortunately, the tint on the windows hindered my view.
The driver’s door swung open and Hilda stepped out of the car. Hope, dread, and anxiety rushed through me at the sight of her. I wasn’t dumb enough to think she had a complete change of heart after I had left her in Chicago yesterday. Her showing up here meant something though. I wanted to believe it was to help her son. I knew I was setting myself up for disappointment.