Chapter 8 Bella
BELLA
Bella tossed the onions and garlic in the pan, the warm scents of cooking alliums immediately filling her nose. She inhaled deeply and smiled before turning back to the pile of vegetables waiting for her beside the cutting board.
It was a rainy Sunday in early November, and she was preparing for her next big gig — a wedding the following week.
The bride and groom were both vegetarians, and Bella had spent every free minute of the last week trying out different vegetarian recipes she could serve.
It was fun and more relaxing than some of the other work she’d been doing lately.
Just as Bella was taking the flatbread she’d been working on out of the oven, the smell of burning rose from the onions.
Don’t worry, a calming voice said in her head. Just triage.
She quickly set the tray of flatbread on a trivet and added a splash of water to the onions, which immediately settled down.
Then she sighed, leaning against the countertop.
It had been more than a month since her night with Luke, and still, she couldn’t get him out of her head.
She would remember something he’d said, or how he’d smiled, or how he’d kissed her, and it would be like it had all happened yesterday.
She’d find herself standing in the dairy aisle at Costco, or in the middle of her living room, or in the park on a walk, frozen, lost in memories.
Just like today, when she’d heard his voice in her head while she was trying to save her food.
It was silly. She felt like a heroine from an old-time romance novel, getting all swoony over a guy she’d met only once.
Maybe Bella had just imagined their connection, or at least part of it.
Maybe absence had made her heart grow fonder, as the old saying went.
Or maybe Luke really had been an amazing guy who’d taken her breath away.
A few times, she’d considered looking him up.
It wouldn’t be that hard to find a trauma surgeon named Luke who’d spoken at that conference, surely.
Yet each time she got out her laptop, her hands froze above the keyboard, and she set the idea aside.
There was a reason Luke had decided not to give her his full name or his number.
And even if he wanted an ongoing relationship, she didn’t.
Her hands were full with The Cherry on Top, and she didn’t have time for anything serious.
Bella grabbed a bunch of cilantro from the fridge and washed it.
Usually, she loved the bright, fresh smell, but today it made her stomach uneasy.
She quickly chopped it and set it aside, moving on to a small mound of tomatoes.
As she diced them, she listened to the rain falling on the roof of her top-floor apartment and watched raindrops slide down the window. It was all very cozy.
Just as Bella slid the tomatoes into a pot, her phone rang. She rinsed and dried her hands before reaching for it.
“The Cherry on Top, this is Bella Nolan,” she said in her bright phone voice. Maybe it was a new client.
“It’s me,” the familiar voice of her closest friend, Stacy, came over the speaker as Bella put the phone between her ear and her shoulder and kept working. “What’re you doing?”
“Cooking another trial meal,” Bella said, adding turmeric, cumin, and salt to the pot. The sauce was really coming together now. She just needed something a little spicy to really tie the flavors…
“You’re always working,” Stacy complained, but there was a smile in her voice. Stacy was a middle school teacher who was just as dedicated to her job as Bella was to hers. “Do you have time to grab dinner?”
“Not really,” Bella admitted. She began slicing a red chili into thin slivers. “Tomorrow I have two meetings with potential clients, one for a conference and one for a big wedding next spring. I still have to finalize the dishes for this weekend’s wedding, too, and do all the shopping, and…”
“Okay, you’re busy.” Bella could hear the smile in her friend’s voice again.
“But,” Bella added quickly, “you could come over and taste my trial meal.”
“Done. I’ll be over in half an hour.” Stacy hung up, and Bella returned to cooking.
Her hectic catering schedule left little time for friends, but she and Stacy had known each other since they were kids, and they stuck around for each other.
Hanging out with Stacy would take Bella’s mind off Luke, which was what she needed.
Unfortunately, when Stacy arrived, she had dating on her mind.
“I think it’s time for you to get out there again,” Stacy said, tossing her jacket onto Bella’s shoe rack. Stacy, for all her good qualities, wasn’t very neat. Her house had T-shirts flung over chairs, and mugs in the living room, whereas Bella’s small apartment was always clean and tidy.
Bella rolled her eyes. “No, thank you.”
“Come on. Michael and I were talking the other night, and we think it’d be good for you.”
“Oh, well, if Michael says it…” Bella rolled her eyes again, jokingly this time. “Seriously, I’m fine, no matter what you and your fiancé think. Now come in and sit down.”
“Well, it’s just…” Stacy sighed as she flopped onto Bella’s couch. Bella lived in a cramped one-bedroom, so she was able to go back into the kitchen to finish the dinner while still close enough to talk to her friend. “I’m worried you’ve closed yourself off.”
“I have,” Bella said. “That’s no secret.” She turned off the burner and ladled the chana masala she’d been making onto the fluffy cumin rice.
“Come on,” Stacy moaned. “You’re only thirty-four. You’ve got time. You could still fall in love.”
Immediately, Bella’s mind went to Luke, but she quickly shut those thoughts down. It wasn’t like she was in love with him. They’d had a one-night stand, that was all, and Bella needed to move on.
“Dinner’s ready,” Bella said, instead of any of that. Stacy sat up, and Bella put their plates on the coffee table. She had a fold-out dining table next to the kitchen, but it was a lot of work to set up, and this was easier.
“Smells great.” Stacy took a big bite, then waved her hand in front of her mouth. “Spicy!”
“Too spicy?”
“No, it’s good. But you can’t change the subject, even with your delicious food. You should at least try.”
Bella reached for her own plate. She hadn’t told her friend about Luke — she knew Stacy would want her to contact him and would probably get too excited. Bella knew she should confide in Stacy, but she didn’t. It was easier to handle this situation on her own, without telling anyone else.
Taking a bite of her food, Bella winced. “Oh, something is off about this.” Her stomach flipped. “Really off.” She set her plate down and sipped some water.
“Really? Is too spicy?” Stacy took another big bite. “I like it.”
“No, it’s just… oof.” Bella took a slow breath as her nausea rose up. “Give me a minute.”
“Are you sick?” Stacy asked, setting her plate down. She looked at Bella, her forehead creased with concern.
“No, I—” Bella cut herself off, and her eyes widened.
Her heart racing, she counted back four weeks…
then two more. She hadn’t had her period in a month and a half.
It could have been the stress of all the catering, but there was the nausea, too.
And there was the fact that she’d spent the night with Luke four weeks ago. They’d been careful, but still…
“I’m fine,” Bella said. She wanted nothing more than to tell her friend what she was thinking about, but she couldn’t.
As much as she cared about Stacy, she didn’t ever want to have to lean on her friend.
If she was pregnant, somehow she would need to handle it herself.
Just like she handled everything herself.
And anyway, she could be wrong. Maybe she wasn’t pregnant. Maybe she just had a touch of stomach flu, or maybe something really was off with the dinner, even though Stacy liked it.
“If you’re sure…” Once Bella reassured her she was really feeling okay, Stacy talked a bit more about how Bella should date and how her and Michael’s wedding planning was going — she was going to hire Bella as her caterer.
Bella felt better after drinking some water and was able to slowly eat a little more while chatting with her friend.
She talked a little about the client she was meeting with later this week, a famous local influencer named Tabi Sloan who was holding a huge wedding in April in a converted barn, and Stacy urged her to take a picture with Tabi.
Eventually, it got late, and Bella walked Stacy out.
Then she practically ran the three blocks to the nearest drugstore, even forgetting her jacket in her haste and shivering in the chill November air.
Pregnancy test in hand, she raced back to her apartment and shut herself in the closet-sized bathroom.
Her hands were shaking as she took the test out of the cardboard box and read the instructions. Once the test was ready, she set it on the counter and stared down at it, her heart beating so fast, she was sure it would wake the neighbors though the paper-thin walls of her apartment.
The instructions said she’d need to wait two minutes, but that wasn’t the case. Almost as soon as she set the test down, two very clear pink lines appeared in the window.
Bella stared at the test for a long moment, just to be sure, then sank onto the edge of the bathtub.
“I’m pregnant,” she said aloud into the empty room. Her voice echoed back to her, bouncing off the tiles. “I’m going to be a mother.” A soft laugh escaped her lips. “I’m having a baby.”