Monarch Beach Read Online Free PDF Page A

juice and croissants and the newspaper.
    “How many American girls did you know?” I teased him.
    “I have no memory of anyone before you,” he said seriously. I didn’t press him. If he claimed he had forgotten all his past girlfriends, I wasn’t going to argue. I was too busy enjoying the present to worry about the past. I didn’t think much about the future either. My days were full. I had everything I wanted.
    *   *   *
    In our second year of marriage two things happened that changed our delicious routine: Andre had a falling-out with his partner, and I got pregnant. It was just after Christmas and I had a nasty cold that turned into walking pneumonia. I was given a course of antibiotics and told to stay in bed. With nothing else to do, and the restaurant closed for the holidays, we made love three times a day. The antibiotics canceled out the Pill, and by February I realized my period was late.
    I panicked. Andre and I never argued because I never voiced an opinion that was different from his. I bought my clothes and books with my allowance so I wasn’t even a drain on his income. I confided in Kate that I was pregnant and afraid to tell Andre.
    “What are you afraid of? He’s the one who knocked you up.” It was a Thursday afternoon. Andre was at work and Kate arrived from the spa in her workout clothes.
    “We’re so young and Andre works so hard. He’s at the restaurant almost every night. Now he’ll come home to a screaming baby instead of a sexy wife.”
    “Amanda, you have to stop being scared of your husband. He works hard because he wants to. Having a baby won’t cramp his style,” Kate said, taking a banana from the fruit bowl.
    “What do you mean, what ‘style’?”
    Kate was silent while she ate her banana. “Nothing. Just I’m sure your mom will help out with the baby. She’ll be in stitches over having a grandchild.”
    “I don’t know why you don’t like Andre.” I was feeling bloated and grumpy.
    “I like Andre, but you treat him like a god. He won the jackpot when he married you.”
    “Andre and I don’t talk about money. I don’t come into my inheritance till I’m thirty, Kate.” I narrowed my eyes.
    “Just tell him you’re pregnant.” She threw the banana skin in the garbage.
    *   *   *
    I told Andre I was pregnant on Saturday. Andre and Eric got in a huge fight on Sunday. When he came home early on Sunday night, and told me he quit, somehow I thought it was my fault.
    “You can’t quit, it’s your restaurant,” I said. We were lying on our bed and I was rubbing his back. He had come home, flung off his clothes, and thrown himself spread-eagled on the bed.
    “I can’t work with Eric anymore. He is making a bastard of French cuisine.”
    “But what will you do?” I kept rubbing his back.
    “He wants to serve flavored crepes. Cinnamon crepes, mocha crepes. We are not the House of Pancakes.”
    “Can you buy him out?”
    “I can’t afford to.”
    Finally I said, “We could ask my mother. She could help us buy him out.”
    Andre sat up and held my arms tightly. “I told you I will never ask you for money.”
    “But what will we do? With the baby, I won’t be able to work.” I made a tiny salary working at the boutique, but somehow I had to bring up the subject of the baby.
    “You think I can’t support our child? Do you think you married a boy?” Andre raised his voice.
    “I’m just being practical. You love the restaurant,” I said evenly.
    “I’ll find another partner, and another restaurant,” Andre replied. He placed his head between my breasts. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He nuzzled my breasts and pulled me down on the bed next to him.
    He caressed my thighs. He turned me toward him and stroked my hair. I closed my eyes and gave in to the luscious release of sex. After we made love and Andre was asleep, I felt a sharp stab of uneasiness about our future. Our bedroom with its wonderful king bed did not have room for a crib. For