Page 91 of While You're There
“Ohhh, Fielding…” Lia sing-songed, sitting up a little straighter as she yanked on the large steering wheel of her old truck to make a sharp turn.
Tori took the bait. “What about him?” She braced herself as she waited for what she was sure would be a less-than-positive response.
“Nothing.” Lia shrugged as she pulled into a parking spot right outside the smoothie shop. “I just think he has a goofy name.”
Tori burst out laughing. Out of everything her best friend could have said, that wasnotwhat she was expecting.
“And here I was thinking I was about to get a famous Lia Lecture.”“Nope. Fielding’s a-okay in my mind these days.”
“Seriously?” Tori gaped.
“Yeah, seriously. Jake and I had a little chitchat about him a few weeks ago. I don’t think I waswrongin my initial assessment of Fielding and his intentions, but I see now that he’s been a good friend to you and to Jake over the last few months. So yeah. He’s cool.”
All she could do was stare. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine Lia would come to accept, and maybe even like, Fielding.
“Jake seems to be all about that boy these days,” Lia added with a salacious smile.
“Right?!” Tori exclaimed. “I thought the same thing! But I asked Jake about that a few weeks ago. There’s nothing going on between them according to him. Just bro love.”
“Speaking of bro love… how’s that husband of yours?” Tori didn’t miss the concern in her best friend’s voice. The irony was Lia didn’t even know about Chandler and the miscarriage. Her concern stemmed solely from all the apparent tension between their friends that whistled like a tea kettle whenever Rhett was around.
“He’s good, or as good as can be. So much changed so quickly. Neither one of us feels settled yet, and this long distance is harder than anything we faced when he was at school.”
“Is he coming home for your procedure?”
“Yes, for sure. He’ll come home tomorrow and then go with me on Friday morning. Our plan is to freeze embryos, not just eggs, so he has to be here.”
Lia’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Wow. Yikes. Why does that feel like way too much information?”
“Maybe it is,” Tori admitted, stifling a laugh. “Sorry. This whole thing is so clinical, I sometimes forget what we’re even talking about. It’s just a means to an end for now. I’ll be relieved when this is all over and I can just focus on my hysterectomy.”
They were both quiet then, so Tori reached for the door handle.
“I didn’t think you even wanted kids,” Lia mused, holding her in place with her words.
“I don’t. I mean, I didn’t think it would ever be an option, so I never let myself even think about it. We aren’t trying to have kids anytime soon.”
Tori swallowed past the lump that formed in her throat as she thought about Rhett, about his baby. The recentness of his loss made the emotions of this experience feel like they were playing in high definition.
“We decided to go for the embryo freezing so if we do ever decide we want kids, we have the option. This whole procedure is aboutnotrushing into anything, if that makes sense. We just have to do it now, before I have my surgeries and the choice isn’t available to us anymore.”
Lia nodded thoughtfully but didn’t press her any further.
“Any more questions? Or can I buy you a smoothie now?”
“Yes, bitch. And I’m getting an extra large,” Lia declared.
“Of course you are. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Rhett’s assistant said he had left the office more than an hour ago, but he still wasn’t answering her calls. She knew he didn’t have a business lunch—Quinn would have mentioned that. She hit her husband’s name on the screen again, hoping the FaceTime video would finally connect.
When “Call Unavailable” popped up for the third time in less than an hour, she gave up. Frustrated and feeling extra cranky from the hormones, she shot off a text instead.
V: I tried calling a few times but can’t get ahold of you. Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to tell you about my appointment this morning. Doc says everything looks good. The egg retrieval is officially scheduled for Friday at 8 am. Just one more shot tonight… This weekend can’t come soon enough.
She set down her phone and putzed around her room. It had turned out to be a gorgeous summer day: sunny and eighty-two degrees with not so much as a hint of humidity in the air. She would have loved to take Penny on a long walk or to swim laps in the Wheelers’ pool. Neither of those were an option based on how she was feeling and the doctor’s orders to take it easy for the next few days.
She had read about all the side effects of the egg retrieval process, but nothing could have prepared her for how she felt right now. In addition to her stomach being achy from injections and hyper-sensitive to the touch, she was so bloated she couldn’t put real pants on. Thankfully she had a collection of flowy dresses in her closet. Otherwise she didn’t know how’d she even be able to get dressed and leave the house.
