Token, p.33
Token,
p.33
Sahara snorted a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s the length of three of my relationships.” Dating in Hollywood was a crapshoot, and so far, she was a horrible gambler.
“Speaking of relationships, how are things going with JayTee?”
A light knock on her office door sounded before she could answer.
“Hold on for a sec, Ken,” Sahara whispered, her finger lightly touching the AirPod in her right ear. “Come in,” she called out to her assistant, the only other person in the house with her.
Tiffany poked her head in. “I know you said not to put any calls through for the rest of the day, but a Dr. Mills from Special Blessings called for you. He asked that you call him back the first chance you get.” After a pregnant beat, she added, “I wasn’t going to interrupt you, but it sounded important, so I thought I should tell you before I head out for the day. Just in case, you know, you wanted to call him back. Before the end of the day. He said he’d be in the office until six.”
Sahara instinctively glanced down at her cell phone. It was five now.
She hadn’t seen or heard from Dr. Mills in five years. She’d had no reason to. So why was he calling her now?
“No, you did the right thing in telling me. Thank you, Tiffany. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”
“Good night,” her assistant said, smiling shyly before closing the door.
“Shit. Shit.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
Sahara started at Kennedy’s voice. She’d forgotten she was still on the phone. Shaken, she swallowed hard. “Do you remember me telling you that I froze my eggs because of my endometriosis?”
“Yes, of course, I remember.”
“Well, the doctor at the clinic where my eggs are stored called. He needs to talk to me.”
“What do you think he wants?”
“I don’t know. I think something must have happened to my eggs. Something like they destroyed them.” Sahara took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.
“You can’t know that for sure. It could be something else. Anything else.” Kennedy sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that—that there was some benign reason behind the call.
“What else can it be? It’s the only reason he would call. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Which means I’m going to have to go through IVF all over again.” Her stomach turned just thinking about it. The injections. The misery of being pumped full of hormones for weeks on end.
She closed her eyes and prayed for strength. Please, God, don’t make me have to go through that again.
“Listen, I’m going to call him back now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Call me and let me know, okay?”
“Yeah, I will. ’Bye.”
“’Bye.”
Sahara quickly found the number of the clinic in her contacts and was put through to Dr. Mills as if he’d been waiting for her call.
Not good.
“Ms. Richardson, thank you for calling. I know how busy you are, so I appreciate the prompt response.” After a nerve-racking pause, he said, “This isn’t the sort of thing I wanted to have to tell you over the phone, but it couldn’t wait.”
Oh god. Oh god. I’m right. My eggs are gone.
Would you calm down? Things could be worse. Think of all those women who don’t even have this as an option. It’s not the end of the world.
Inhaling a deep breath, she exhaled slowly and braced herself for the words that would confirm what she already knew to be true.
“I don’t know how to tell you this—”
Just say it and get it over with. Say it so I can start making plans.
Although, she had no idea when she’d be able to carve out the time to go through the treatment again. Four weeks from now, she’d be on a tour junket promoting her next movie—a coveted theatrical release in a sea of streaming movie releases. And after that, she’d be in England filming her first period piece. She didn’t have time for this.
“—but there has been a mix-up at the clinic and DNA testing has confirmed that you are the biological mother of a baby born via a surrogate to a married couple.” He took a moment to clear his throat. “And the husband is the biological father.”
Find out what happens next! Coming winter 2024!
Copyright © 2024 by Beverley Kendall
Also from Beverley Kendall
and Graydon House
Token
For additional books by Beverley Kendall,
visit her website, www.beverleykendall.com.
ISBN-13: 9780369720528
Token
Copyright © 2023 by Beverley Kendall
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Beverley Kendall, Token
