Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
“ P hilippe, I am so impressed that you made this. I didn’t realize you were such a good cook.” Lauren took another bite of the cheesy lasagna and tender meatballs. The sky was dark and the air damp and cool. Thunderstorms were predicted, so they sat inside at Angela and Philippe’s round dining room table that faced floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the ocean.
“Thanks. It’s one of the few things I know how to make and as a single guy, I’d often make and eat it all week.”
“His comes out much better than mine,” Angela added.
Philippe smiled at her gratefully. “Yes, but you make the best cookies and now ice cream.”
“You made homemade ice cream?” Lauren remembered she’d mentioned it when she invited her to dinner.
Angela nodded. “It’s my newest addiction. I ordered an ice cream maker recently and I’ve been experimenting with all the different flavors. I kept it simple this time, though, just a rich vanilla to go with the chocolate chip cookies.”
“That sounds wonderful. Have you started getting any cravings yet?” Lauren asked.
Angela nodded. “So far, just ice cream and chocolate. I’ve been having a little of both every night. I’ve never done that before.”
They chatted easily as they ate, and Philippe told them about the new book he was working on.
“I’m over the worst of it now. I always slow down in the middle, then usually once I get over the halfway point, it comes out in a rush. I’m feeling better than usual about this one,” he admitted.
“His agent already has some film interest,” Angela said proudly.
“They want to read it when I have a solid draft done. So I’m not counting on anything just yet.”
Angela leaned forward. “There’s some possible good news coming for Kate, too. I can’t share any specifics, Kate swore me to secrecy, but she’s in the middle of negotiating a new deal and it might be way better than the deal that fell apart. We should know more soon.”
“Oh, that is great news. I hope it happens.” Lauren knew too well how even the most sure things often didn’t happen when it came to show business.
After dinner, once everything was put away, they relaxed over coffee and watched the storm over the water. The sky was dark, and the wind whipped the water into big white-topped waves. A loud crack of thunder startled them and the lights flickered for just a moment as a flash of lightning lit up the sky. It continued for twenty minutes or so before settling down.
“Okay, who’s ready for cookies and ice cream?” Angela asked.
Lauren helped her bring dishes and spoons to the table while Angela grabbed the freshly made ice cream and a plate of cookies.
The ice cream was decadent, so deliciously vanilla, and the cookies were just as good—simple chocolate chip but with big chunks of dark chocolate and a dusting of flaky sea salt on top.
The storm raged on for hours, with no sign of stopping. The lights flickered a few more times, but Angela told her not to worry.
“We have a generator. So if the power goes out, it will kick on automatically.” The rain was still coming down hard, and Lauren hadn’t seen lightning like this in a long time. It seemed so close and lit up the whole ocean every time it flashed.
“You should stay over. I don’t want to worry about you driving home in this,” Angela said.
“Definitely stay. The guest bedroom is right around the corner,” Philippe added.
“I have some pajamas you can borrow. We can get comfortable and watch movies. There’s a new rom-com I’ve been wanting to check out.”
Lauren hesitated, but only for a moment. She wasn’t keen to head home in the storm.
“Sounds good. I’m always up for a good rom-com.”
Angela didn’t think twice about getting a ladder out and climbing up to change a lightbulb in the kitchen. The ceilings were vaulted, and Philippe was already at work in his office. She and Lauren had just eaten breakfast and Lauren was in the guest bedroom room, getting changed and ready to head home.
The non-working light had been bugging her since she woke and when she turned it on, there was a cracking sound, before it flashed once and then went dark. It was daytime, so she didn’t really need the lights on until later, but she wanted to get it done.
She’d climbed the ladder and changed this lightbulb before, several times actually. So she didn’t think twice about doing it. She got a replacement bulb from the cupboard, secured the ladder and climbed up. It took less than a minute to remove the old bulb and screw in the new one. As she was finishing, her watch buzzed with a text message from her first client, asking if she could reschedule. That would open Angela’s morning up so she didn’t have to rush out the door.
She stepped back to climb down the ladder, but was distracted by the text message and lost her footing. She slipped and fell off the ladder and went down hard on her left hip. The drop was almost five feet and the impact when she hit the hardwood floor took her breath away.
Philippe heard the commotion, burst out of his office, and ran into the kitchen.
“What happened? Are you okay?” He glanced at the ladder in consternation. “What were you doing on the ladder?”
Angela handed him the bad lightbulb as she struggled to sit up. Her hip hurt and she felt a bit light-headed, probably from the shock of the fall. Philippe held out his hand and helped her up and into his arms for a hug.
“Promise me you won’t use that ladder again until after the baby comes. Let me do it.” He kept his arms wrapped around her and she leaned into him.
Angela nodded in agreement and felt her eyes well up. She wasn’t a crier normally, but pregnancy hormones were making her more emotional than usual.
She grabbed a paper towel and dabbed at her eyes. “I’m fine. And I’ll gladly turn ladder climbing over to you.” She put her hand on her hip, which was sore now, and she knew it would likely feel worse later.
Lauren walked out of the guest bedroom and stopped short when she saw the ladder and Angela and Philippe in the kitchen.
“Is everything okay?”
Angela smiled. “All good. I lost my footing on the ladder and had a little fall. It won’t happen again.”
Philippe put the ladder away and Angela excused herself to use the bathroom. Once Lauren left, she’d get in the shower and get on with her day.
She felt a sudden cramp as she was about to flush the toilet and saw drops of blood in the water. Her stomach tightened with fear. Angela knew that in the first trimester, a fall wasn’t as worrisome as it would be further on in the pregnancy. And she also knew it was normal to have some spotting. But she hadn’t had any yet and now, moments after a fall, she was suddenly seeing blood. She chewed her lower lip, debating what to do. She decided to wait a bit and see if the spotting continued.
She didn’t say anything to Philippe or Lauren and walked Lauren out to her car. The sun was shining now, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. There was no sign of the storm from the evening before.
“Have fun at the Chicken Box tonight.” Lauren had told her about her plans to head there on her night off with some of the people from the show. It sounded like it would be a good time and something she would have enjoyed when she was single and not pregnant. Now her idea of a fun night was watching TV with Philippe, maybe reading for a bit, and going to bed early.
“Thanks. I’ll call you in a day or two with a full report. And don’t forget, this weekend is the food festival.”
Angela grinned. “I’m looking forward to that. I want to support Lisa, and an afternoon of sampling food is right up my alley.
Lauren laughed. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
Angela watched her friend drive off before heading back into the house. Philippe was back in his office with his door closed and her morning was free now until noon. She still had administrative work she could do though and settled at the kitchen island, with her laptop and a fresh cup of decaf coffee. She loved coffee but was limiting her caffeine consumption to one cup of regular.
She’d had some eggs and toast with Lauren earlier, but the plate of remaining chocolate chip cookies called to her and she helped herself to two. She nibbled a cookie and sipped her coffee as she checked her email. She called the client back that asked to reschedule and put her on the calendar for the following week. And she checked the website for her cleaning business and updated it, removing notice of a sales promotion she’d run for the past week for new clients. She’d shared it on social media and also emailed her current clients, asking for referrals and offering them a discount on their next cleaning for every new person that they referred.
The promotion had worked well, and the calendar was full of new client bookings for the next month. They were already busy with existing clients too, so Angela didn’t want to take on more work than they could comfortably handle. She opened a new email and felt an intense cramp rip through her abdomen. She took a deep breath, and the pain disappeared just as quickly. But a few minutes later, another cramp came, and she went to the bathroom. There was more bleeding, heavier than before. This time, she didn’t ignore it.
She knocked on Philippe’s office door and went in a moment later and told him about the cramps and the bleeding.
“It’s probably nothing,” she said. But he looked worried.
“You had a pretty hard fall. It wouldn’t hurt to get checked out. Let’s go, I’ll drive.”
Angela called her doctor as Philippe drove and they confirmed that it was best to go to the emergency room since she was bleeding.
The Nantucket Hospital was busy, but they were triaged and Angela’s vitals were taken and as soon as a doctor was available, she was brought to a room. Angela explained about the fall and the bleeding, while the doctor, a forty-something-year-old woman, listened carefully and then examined Angela. She used ultrasound to check the baby’s heartbeat and also checked Angela’s vital signs again. When she was done, she smiled kindly as she gave them the news.
“You’re okay, and the baby is fine. It’s normal to have some spotting and the fall may have brought it on. It’s just your body’s way of dealing with it. If it continues and gets worse, come back. But I think you’ll find it will slow and probably stop completely.” Her voice was calming, and Angela glanced at Philippe. He squeezed her hand and looked as relieved as she felt.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re very welcome.” The doctor stepped toward the door, then smiled and added, “Oh, one other thing, I’d probably stay off ladders for a while.”
Soon after, the nurse brought in Angela’s discharge papers and they headed home. Angela felt relieved and much more relaxed now that the doctor had said she was fine. The cramping seemed to have stopped, and she suddenly felt exhausted. The bone-tired feeling often surprised her, but she knew that was normal too for the first trimester.
Hopefully, in a few more weeks, she’d have more energy. Now, though, all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and nap. And as soon as she got home, that was exactly what she was going to do. She had several hours before she had to be anywhere.