Chapter 1

At eighteen weeks pregnant, I walked into the maternity ER and found my husband holding another pregnant woman.

Her baby was his.

I was clutching the high-risk scan report for our child when he told the nurse, “Take care of Lena first. Nora can handle herself. She always does.”

Half an hour earlier, Evan had texted me that a water main had burst downtown. He was stuck at the site and couldn’t come to my appointment.

I entered the hospital alone after three hours of abdominal pain.

He was standing at the reception desk.

Lena Moore leaned against his chest, her hospital wristband pressed against his sleeve.

One of his hands rested protectively over the curve of her stomach. With the other, he wiped the tears from her face.

He moved with the ease of a man who had done this before.

Lena was the widow of Evan’s late friend.

After her husband’s funeral, I had been the one to drive her home.

The nurse looked down at the admission form. “And your relationship to the patient?”

Evan didn’t hesitate.

“I’m her partner. The baby’s father.”

I stopped a few feet away.

The envelope containing my ultrasound report buckled beneath my fingers.

My doctor had just told me that my placenta was lying too low. The next bleed might not end as safely as this one had.

Neither of them noticed me.

Then the nurse turned and recognized me.

“Ms. Bennett? Shouldn’t you be resting in exam room two?”

Evan spun around.

The color drained from his face, but he didn’t release Lena.

Instead, he stepped in front of her, shielding both her and her unborn child from me.

“Nora?” He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

I looked at the visitor sticker on his chest.

It read: PARTNER.

“I came to have our baby checked.” I held up the crumpled envelope. “You said you were at the work site.”

Lena tightened her grip on his arm. Tears spilled down her cheeks again.

“Evan, I’m still bleeding.”

He turned back to her immediately.

“I know. I’m not leaving.”

Only then did he lower his voice and address me.

“Lena could lose the baby. Your pregnancy has been stable. You’ve always been able to handle things on your own.”

I looked down at the yellow emergency contact card in my hand.

His name was on the first line.

The nurse offered me her pen. “Would you like to change your emergency contact?”

I took it and drew a black line through Evan’s name.