Page 115 of Pipe Dreams
Lauren ate the rest of her roll in about two seconds flat. The waitress came back to ask if she’d like the gazpacho that she hadn’t gotten around to serving her before.
“No, thank you,” Lauren said, uncertain about eatingsomething so savory. “But if you wouldn’t mind, I’d love another roll.”
“And, miss?” Becca added before the young woman turned to go. “Do you have any saltines in their packages?”
“Of course. I’ll bring some.”
Lauren leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. She felt much better now, but she didn’t trust it. When would the nausea strike again?
Another roll was delivered, and the flight attendant put a small pile of saltines in front of Becca. “Can I bring anyone a drink?” she inquired. “Mr. Kattenberger, we have several single-malt Scotches on board this evening.”
He shook his head. “Just a Diet Coke, please.”
“I’ll have one, too,” Lauren said suddenly. The bubbles were just what she needed.
Nate leaned forward in his seat. “Excuse me?”
“What?”
“You never drink Diet Coke. You called it vile, and made of chemicals.”
“I ordered it to amuse you,” she said, closing her eyes again. At this rate, her little secret would last two more days, tops. Nate was very observant, even if he did not have a clue what the early stages of pregnancy looked like.
When her diet soda arrived, Lauren took a deep pull. The flavor wasn’t to her liking, but the effervescence was nice. She ate the other roll slowly, and continued to feel better. “Should we finish up our work?” she asked her boss.
He frowned at her. “You should probably go sit in a reclining chair and try to sleep. How else are you going to kick that bug?”
Lauren shook her head. “You seriously can’t stand the thought of passing a file folder back and forth, right? You think I’m toxic. Be honest.”
“No. It’s... we just don’t need to finish it right now.”
Becca tried and failed to hide a smile.
“Nate, I’m not sick, okay?” She might as well just spill her secrets now, in relative privacy. “This is a bug you can never catch.”
He squinted at her, confused.
“Omigod,” Becca laughed. “It’s good to know he’s thick about afewthings.” She pushed the little pile of saltines toward Lauren. “These are for you. Keep them in your bag for emergencies.”
“Really?” Lauren picked up one of the cracker packets and held it. That did make sense. Prepackaged insta-carbs. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” Becca said with a smile. “My sister went through bushels of crackers when she...” Becca cleared her throat.
Nate was silent for another split second. But then, because he really was one of the smartest men on the planet, he made a noise of surprise and bumped his head back against the head rest. “Oh, Jesus.” Then he laughed.
“That’s Nate-speak for congratulations,” Becca said. “I’m pretty sure.”
“Sorry,” Nate chuckled. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Lauren didn’t know what else to say. “It’s really early, and I didn’t plan to mention it yet. But if I’m going to puke frequently I guess you’re going to wonder why.”
“I hope you don’t,” Becca said. “That sounds miserable. I’m never getting pregnant.”
Nate turned to her sharply. “Never?”
“Nope!” she said cheerfully.
“Seriously?” Nate regarded Becca with the familiar, undisguised intensity that he saved only for her. Lauren shoved another bite of roll in her mouth and wondered how many episodes of the Nate and Becca show she’d missed.
