EIGHT
Donovan felt his phone vibrate. He checked Caller ID and answered.
“Any breaks?” Maccabee asked.
“Not yet. Still pursuing the white van.”
“Any chance we can still fly to St. Thomas this weekend?”
“Well, Mac, . . . I . . . ah . . .”
“It’s okay, Donovan, if we postpone. I understand.”
She meant it . . . which made him feel even worse. His job had already postponed the trip twice. And this assignment would probably postpone it again. They’d dreamed of lying on the beach, sipping Mai Tais, making sand castles with seven-year-old Tish, and watching the sun melt into the Caribbean. Tish was his beautiful daughter from his deceased wife, Emma.
But since losing Emma, his prayers had miraculously been answered. He and Maccabee had fallen in love with each other. Then Maccabee and Tish had fallen in love. They’d become mother and daughter in every way, bonding naturally and deeply. He kept reminding himself, every day, that he was the luckiest man on the planet.
“Postponing again is not okay with me, Mac. We’ve postponed too damn many things.”
“Yes, but . . .”
“Back when Director Madigan and the President named me a special advisor, I thought I’d be advising. Turns out, my advising turns into fixing!”
“Which wasn’t part of your original job description.”
“Nope.”
“So what’s the answer?”
He paused. “I’m still working on that.”
“We can reschedule St. Thomas, Donovan. No big deal.”
“It’ll be a big deal for Tish. She’s been so excited about going. She’ll cry if she can’t make sandcastles.”
“True, but she’ll learn one of life’s important lessons!”
“Which one?” he asked.
“Life isn’t fair.” She paused. “We all have to learn that lesson.”
He heard something personal creep into Maccabee’s voice. Or was it fear?
“What’s going on, Mac?”
“Doctor Dubin called. My test came back.”
He didn’t want to hear this.
”I have . . . endometriosis.”
He seemed to recall it. “What’s endomet - ?
“ - the lining of the womb is not right. It explains why I’ve been feeling cramps and pain around my period.”
“Can you take something for the pain?”
“Anti-inflammatories. Ibuprofen, aspirin. But there’s one other complication. Endometriosis makes it more difficult to get pregnant.”
The news hit him hard. Her even harder, he knew. She wanted their child more than anything. They wanted their child more than anything.
“But . . . you can still get pregnant, right?”
She paused. “He thinks so, because my case appears to be mild.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes, it is. Listen, Jane’s calling in. We’ll talk later.”
“Okay . . .”
They hung up.
Donovan stared at the phone. Maccabee had been worried that her biological clock was ticking. Now, something called endometriosis might have stopped her biological clock.