Page 30 (1/2)

"Youngsloppy in his old age, otherwise he’d never have been heard cutting through her side yard Chet whirled around to find a thinon the front lawn, dressed in a robe and slippers, holding a flashlight It could only be Monica’s father

Chet drew in his breath and waited

"I’d like to know exactly what you’re doing onthe flashlight into his eyes, blinding hi of the alarm and even before she opened her eyes she realized how queasy her stonant?

Mentally she tried to calculate the dates of her last menstrual cycle, and couldn’t Souessed It would help if she hadn’t tossed her notebook in the garbage

It ishful thinking, she finally decided Or the flu Probably a nasty virus, sheher His hand automatically slipped over her abdomen as he scooted closer to her side Leah savored his warmth "Did you sleep well?"

"Hmmm"

"Me too"

Leah s It was these ss, these everyday habits that had becoe

After Andrew had gone to make the coffee, Leah decided to take her temperature for old ti

Twoherself a silly goose, grateful Andrew hadn’t caught her with the therurt this ," Leah said when she entered the kitchen

Andrew studied her "Are you feeling all right?"

"I’ a carton of blueberry-flavored non-fat yogurt out of the refrigerator The bread popped up from the toaster and Andrew spread a thin layer of butter over the war the lid from the strawberry jam He smeared a thick coat over the toast and carried his plate and cup of coffee to the table

"I do?" Her voice rose with a dash of exciteurt with her and joined him

The toast was poised in front of Andrew’s mouth and he slowly lowered it to his plate He didn’t say anything for several moments "How late are you?"

"I don’t know I threay ure it out"

"Can you?"

He shook his head "I guess not It doesn’t nant we’ll both be happy"

"And if I’ hi on the toast He made it sound as if it didn’t matter to him one way or another Leah knew that wasn’t true, not after having had Scotty with them for two days Andreonderful with children He deserved to be a father The fa as it had been The pain that had been so much a part of her all these years seemed to peel away and disappear

She’d experienced this sensation only once before--the night she’d met Andrew

She ree students attending the University of Washington Soed greetings Leah felt a powerful emotional punch She wished there was a word to describe the feeling that caiven her a swift kick where she’d feel it

Fro to be an important part of her life Afterward she discounted the feeling, chalking it up to the beer she’d had earlier Andreas steadily dating someone else at the tied

They ran into each other soon after that at the library Leah was struggling with a che to fail The library was the only place she could study and so she htly trek across ca over a term paper and they’d sat at the sa a word Leah had wanted to get to know hied ain sort of chitchat

Andrew left first, whispered soone But when she’d walked out of the library he aiting for her A couple of friends had delayed hiood idea for her to walk across the campus alone in the dark So he escorted her back to her dor after his terraded Later Andrew told her she was the only girl he’d ever dated who helped i with her than any other woman he’d ever dated

Leah didn’t knohen she realized she was in love with hiood choice She just knew

Just as she kne, in the deepestto have a child

Leah didn’t question where this knowledge ca psychic, but a deep abiding belief that her ti to buy one of those ho, as he carried his empty plate to the sink He rinsed it off and stuck it in the dishwasher