Natalie answered before Emily could.
“He wasn’t in Chicago.”
Ryan turned on her.
“You promised me.”
Natalie’s face hardened.
“No. You made me promise.”
Emily pressed a hand against her stomach.
I immediately moved closer.
“What is she talking about?”
Ryan looked around at the guests.
“This is nobody else’s business.”
Emily stared at him.
“Then make them leave.”
“Emily…”
“Make them leave.”
I asked everyone to give us privacy.
Within minutes, the backyard began clearing.
The congratulations disappeared.
Blue confetti remained scattered across the lawn.
A huge balloon still floated above us reading:
IT’S A BOY!
Natalie waited until almost everyone had gone.
Then she pulled an envelope from her purse.
“I wanted to give this to you before today,” she told Emily.
Ryan stepped forward.
I blocked him.
“Stay where you are.”
Emily opened the envelope.
Inside were photographs.
One showed Ryan standing outside a courthouse.
Another showed him walking beside a woman.
A third showed the two of them sitting together at a restaurant.
Then Emily reached the photograph that changed everything.
The woman in it was wearing the same gold ring now resting in Emily’s palm.
Emily looked up.
“Who is she?”
Ryan said nothing.
Natalie answered.
“Her name is Beth.”
Emily turned toward her husband.
“Who is Beth?”
Ryan sat down heavily.
“Someone I knew before you.”
“Knew?”
“Emily, please.”
She held up the photograph.
“Why was someone you knew before me wearing a ring engraved with both your initials eight months ago?”
Ryan stared at the ground.
Natalie answered for him.
“Because Ryan bought it for her.”
Emily made a small sound.
I reached for her elbow.
Ryan stood again.
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