“Nolan is fine,” he murmured as I closed the door.
Sure, it was fine for TJ to call him Nolan now. What the hell?
But right then, I couldn’t think about Nolan and our weird dynamic. I knocked lightly on the stall door. “Shel?”
“Oh, God. I’m not sure there’s anything left in my body to expel.”
I winced. “Oh, honey. Want me to get you a water? Call Dex?”
“No!” She groaned. “Don’t call Dex. He’ll just hover and worry, and then I’ll end up with my butt in a chair at the clinic.”
“Do you need to go to the clinic?”
“No. It’s just a stomach bug,” she said weakly. She flushed and opened the door. “Could you go get my travel case? I have my toothbrush in there.”
“Sure.”
Shelby leaned over the sink and turned on the taps to rinse her mouth.
I paused at the door. “Not to be indelicate, but...” Shelby met my gaze in the mirror. “Might you need to go to the drugstore?”
She frowned. “For what? Tums? I think I have some Pepto. I picked some up yesterday.”
I gave her a long stare. I wasn’t sure she and Dex were doing the kid thing so quickly. Our business was ramping up these days, but sometimes things happened off-schedule. Even for the very organized Shelby Wilde.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, God.”
“Yeah. Could that be a reason?”
She bowed her head over the sink. “Oh, God. I don’t know. I need to look at my calendar. Oh, God.”
“Is that a good, oh, God?”
She looked up, her eyes sparkling. “It’s not like I haven’t been pregnant before. I should know the signs. How dumb am I?” She straightened and pulled a few towels out of the dispenser. “It feels like a million years ago since I was pregnant with Berry.”
“Well, it kinda is. She’s what? Eleven?”
“She’ll be eleven next month. I don’t even know how.” She blotted her face with the damp towel. “But I didn’t really have morning sickness with Berry. Figures with Dex’s baby, I’d have all the inconveniences.” She laughed, but it quickly dissolved into tears.
“Oh, honey.” I rushed over to her and gathered her close. “Are these bad tears?”
Shelby gripped my arms. “No, just overwhelmed ones. I never really thought I’d want another baby after all the drama with David.”
I swayed with her side to side a little. “But it’s not David this time. It’s Dex, who loves you so much.”
“I know, but we didn’t even get through the wedding part. I’m supposed to go for my last fitting on the dress!” She eased back. “God, will I even fit in the dress?”
“Okay, you don’t even know if you’re pregnant yet.”
She just stared at me.
“I mean, the chances are pretty high. You guys are at each other like bunnies whenever you get the chance.”
Finally, a little color came back to Shelby’s face. “We’ve both been so busy with the wedding, it hasn’t been that much.”
I just arched a brow at her.
“Okay, so it’s still a few times a week minimum.”
“Don’t brag, girl.”
Shelby laughed. “Only you could make me laugh five minutes after I threw up.”
“Look, we have things handled here. Why don’t you go pick up a test or five—because you know Dex is going to make you take all of the different kinds to be sure—and go find that hunky lawyer of yours?”
She sniffled. “But this is a big client.”
“I got you. We got you. We always do.” A little sob bubbled up as Shelby threw herself at me again and my eyes went damp with empathy. “Now don’t get me going.” I patted her back.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you guys.” She stepped back and dashed away the tears. “Okay, I’m going to go see Dex. I’m definitely getting the tests first, though. He’s going to be a maniac.”
I laughed and dabbed at my eyes too. “You are in for it.”
Shelby groaned. “I really am.” She gripped my hand. “I’ll text you when I know something. Can you make sure everyone’s here tomorrow for our Friday meeting? I’ll tell everyone then.”
“You got it.”
Shelby went back to the mirror and thumbed away the mascara that had smudged. I went over to the do the same. I had to make sure my war makeup was good to go for Nolan.
