Once she was gone, Sidney and Vaughn shared an incredulous look.
“Why does that keep happening to us?” Sidney asked.
“She’s just thinking about her husband,” Vaughn said. “She wants to see happy couples everywhere.”
The elevator doors sprung open at the first floor, and Vaughn put his hand on the door to keep it open for Sidney. She took a step forward and suddenly felt a tug of resistance. She looked down and then realized something.
She and Vaughn had been holding hands the entire time since he’d led her out of the waiting room.
Vaughn stared down at their joined hands, seemingly just catching on to this fact himself. Then he looked back up to meet her gaze.
They dropped hands instantly.
“You said something about coffee?” Sidney asked, a tad overbrightly.
“Yep, I think the Starbucks is right this way,” Vaughn said, his tone cheerfully nonchalant.
They scurried off, maintaining a good two feet of space between them.
• • •
ABOUT A HALF hour after Vaughn and Sidney returned from their coffee run, a relieved Simon came to the waiting room with the news that Isabelle was out of surgery and that both she and the baby were doing fine. He led them up to the fourteenth floor of the hospital, where Isabelle was recovering from the surgery in a private room.
Vaughn fought back a smile as Sidney fussed over Isabelle’s blanket and pillow, wanting to make sure she was comfortable. These brief glimpses into the softer side of the oft-prickly elder Sinclair sister were rather . . . cute.
“Did they say how long you’ll be in the hospital?” Sidney asked.
“Only twenty-four hours, since it was laparoscopic surgery,” Isabelle answered drowsily, obviously still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. “And then I need to take it easy for a week.”
“A week or two, depending on how quickly you recover,” Simon corrected her.
Isabelle frowned. “I’ll have to call all my clients and cancel their appointments this week. And then we have our tasting at the Lakeshore Club next Sunday. If we have to reschedule that, I’m not sure when we’ll be able to get it in. We’re running out of time.”
Sitting on the opposite side of the bed from Sidney, Simon stroked Isabelle’s forehead. “Don’t worry about the wedding stuff. I told you, all that will come together. For now, let’s just stay focused on getting you and the baby the rest you need.”
“Do you want me to call Dad?” Sidney asked.
Isabelle and Simon exchanged looks, as if they’d discussed exactly that. “We’d still like to keep the fact that I’m pregnant on the down-low, if we can. That is, if you two don’t mind keeping up the charade a little longer.” Isabelle looked tentatively at Vaughn, who sat a little farther from the bed, in the chair next to the window.
Vaughn was surprised she even had to ask. Yes, fine, maybe he wasn’t “the guy” people typically talked to about love and weddings and babies, but he hoped there at least wasn’t any doubt that he could keep his mouth shut. This was Simon and Isabelle’s business, and their news to share when they were ready. “I’m okay with that,” he assured Isabelle. “In fact, I volunteer if you ever again need someone to take a piece of shepherd’s pie off your hands. The last time, poor Simon here nearly broke out in a sweat trying to finish that thing.”
Isabelle and Sidney laughed as Simon shook his head good-naturedly. “I won’t lie, those last couple bites weren’t easy.” He nodded at Sidney. “Next time, I want to be the one who gets to drink the wine.”
“Next time, maybe someone should just get the condom on fast enough,” Isabelle said, with a cheeky smile.
“That wasn’t entirely my fault, sweetie.” Simon turned to Sidney and Vaughn. “See, what happened is—”
Both Sidney and Vaughn held up their hands.
“Don’t need to know,” Vaughn said.
“Yes, let’s just keep that one of life’s little mysteries,” Sidney concurred.
Isabelle’s chuckle morphed into a yawn, her eyes tiredly drooping closed.
“I think we should get going,” Sidney said quietly to Vaughn.
Realizing that he was Sidney’s ride home, he nodded and stood up. “Is there anything you need me to bring you?” he asked Simon, assuming his brother was spending the night.
“I’m good. The nurses said I could pick up toothpaste and stuff in the gift shop downstairs. My car is still parked in front of your place,” Simon said to Sidney. “Is it okay if I leave it there for now? I’ll cab over and pick it up in the morning.”
A half-asleep Isabelle mumbled something incoherent from the bed.
Vaughn, Sidney, and Simon all looked at each other cluelessly.
“I can’t be positive, but that sounded like ‘thank-you notes,’” Vaughn guessed.
Simon looked both amused and exasperated. “She was talking about that before her surgery. She asked me to bring her thank-you notes for the shower gifts, so she can write them in the hospital tomorrow during her ‘downtime.’ I keep telling her all that stuff can wait, but she has this timeline she says we need to stick to.” He held up his hand, his thumb and forefinger close to touching. “We’re just a tiny bit busy these days, planning for a wedding and a baby at the same time.”
Vaughn and Sidney exchanged looks. Hell, the thought of planning either one made Vaughn’s eye twitch, let alone both at the same time.