Pregnant for my Late Sister's Husband

“Earth to Gail,”

Sia’s voice broke through her absent mind. “Are you even listening to me?”

Gail blinked, looking up. Sia was standing at the stove with her hands on her hips. She had that wide-eyed expression she always wore when she was about to spill something juicy.

“Sorry,” Gail murmured, “What were you saying?”

“I was saying,” Sia repeated, dragging out each word and leaning a little closer as if the walls would hear her if she wasn't careful. “You will not believe what I heard today at work.”

Gail managed a faint smile. “Knowing you very well, it’s either a celebrity scandal or another patient who thinks you’re secretly in love with him.”

Sia grinned, but there was a spark in her eyes. “Well, none of the above, this one is big. Like, ‘I-need-to-tell-you-right-now-before-I-burst’ big.” She dropped her voice to a sneaky whisper. “It’s about William Locke.”

Gail’s fingers froze on the edge of the table. Her pulse gave a betraying leap, but she forced her expression to remain neutral. “William Locke?” she repeated, keeping her tone as light as she could manage. “Isn’t that Maxine's…”

She caught herself, swallowing the remaining word and mentally scolding herself. She had almost said the words “Maxine's murderer” out loud.

But in Sia’s world, Maxine was just a name in a rumor. And William? Just another wealthy man whose life was the stuff of news in Dowerhill.

Sia didn’t notice the hesitation. “Yes, that William Locke. Mr Tall, Dark, and Broody. The one who owns WilTech, you know, the fancy tech company in the gigantic glass building near the marina.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Gail said, keeping her gaze carefully on the table to hide the rage boiling through her whole being. “What about him?”

Sia abandoned the ladle she was using to stir the pot, rushing over to perch on the chair opposite Gail. “Okay, so you know how I work at Dowerhill Hospital, right?”

“You remind me daily.” Gail murmured.

Sia giggled. “Well, this morning I was filing some paperwork in one doctor's office when I overheard him talking to a senior nurse. From what I heard,” She leaned in so far that she was almost speaking into Gail's ear. “Mr Locke is looking for a surrogate.”

For a moment, the words didn’t register. Gail stared at her friend, the syllables hanging in the air like a shaky bridge between them.

“A surrogate?” she repeated slowly.

“Yup.” Having dropped the headline of her gossip, Sia sat back, clearly enjoying herself. “Someone to carry his baby. Isn’t that wild? I mean, the man is not even forty, and he has all the money in the world. You would think he could just get a girlfriend or something. But no, he’s skipping all of that and just hiring someone to pop out an heir for him.”

Gail’s mind was no longer on Sia’s playful tone. She heard only the word ‘surrogate’, felt it echoing in the empty space of her chest