Before she could explain further, exhaustion overtook her. The phone slipped from her hand, and the world went black. She woke up to someone shaking her shoulder gently. Through blurry eyes, she saw a face that looked so much like Andrew’s that she gasped, reaching out. But the illusion faded when the man spoke—his voice was different, sharper with concern.
She mumbled Andrew’s name, confused. The man, Daniel, helped her sit up. He looked at her, then at her visible baby bump, and swore softly under his breath. He realized the situation was more complicated than a simple trespasser. Seeing her pale skin and shivering frame, he knew she needed help immediately.
Daniel, Andrew’s younger brother, had heard the stories about a “mystery girl” from Andrew, but the family had dismissed them as another one of his fleeting romances. They never expected her to be real, let alone here, in their family crypt. But looking at her, he couldn’t deny the reality.
He didn’t ask questions. He scooped her up and carried her to his truck parked on the access road. Once she was in the warm cab, he called his mother, Eleanor. He told her he found Andrew’s girlfriend at the cemetery, and she was pregnant. The news hit Eleanor hard, but she immediately went into crisis-management mode. “Bring her to the house,” she ordered, then corrected herself. “No, take her to the hospital. I’ll meet you there.”
Daniel drove fast. Eleanor was a force of nature—a woman who had taken over her husband’s real estate firm when he died and turned it into an empire while raising two boys. She didn’t do emotions publicly. She handled problems.
Andrew’s death had nearly broken her, but she buried her grief under work and stoicism. She only let herself cry at night, behind closed doors. To the world, she was iron. Now, faced with this new development, she straightened her back and prepared to deal with it.
At the hospital, Olivia was treated for mild hypothermia and exhaustion. Daniel waited in the hallway until he heard the familiar click of heels. Eleanor marched down the corridor, flanked by a nurse, looking more like a CEO entering a boardroom than a grandmother visiting a patient. Daniel offered a tired smile.
He had been thinking about his last conversation with Andrew. Andrew had been so serious about this girl, so different from his usual casual dating life. Daniel regretted not listening more closely. He had told Andrew to focus on the road and tell him the story later. There never was a later.
Eleanor approached, demanding an update. The doctor assured them that both mother and baby were fine; it was just stress and cold. Eleanor nodded, her face unreadable. “Can we see her?” she asked. It wasn’t really a question.
