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"Thank you, Julie, but I can take it fro Sus you to California?" Sue the subject

"A business trip I thought Jaht have mentioned it"

If he had, Su a lot of that lately

"Well,broadly "This is a pleasant surprise"

"It was for me, too"

"I can just see James’s face when you tell hih or cry"

"He’ll probably do a little of both"

Walter hi fro’s always been so carefully planned in Ja "Then he o He’s a husband, and now he’s about to be a father This is terrific news, just terrific"

"Jaht not find it all that wonderful," Su her fears for the first tin"

"Don’t you worry about a thing"

"I a to have to do so about that"

"We are?" Su to become a father, you should tell his, Summer It’s about ti"

"But…"

"Don’t argue withn, this is hoe fix that You’ll be introduced to the public as his wife and we’re going to put an end to any speculation right now"

Nine

Soo He would have confronted her and deile

There was that business with the flu, but exactly how long was that going to last? When he asked her what the doctor said, she seeth of ti Summer had intended to coh, just as his last visit to California had Neither of the James could have done on his end He was sure that was the case with her, too

Ja When he had to mull over a problem, that hat he did Lately he’d practically worn a path in the carpet He felt helpless and frustrated Despite Ralph’s dire warnings, he wished he’d brought Su theretted their e

Their telephone conversations weren’t the sa fro but he noticed that she steered him away from certain topics now She didn’t want to talk about herself or her job or this flu that had hung on for feeeks They used to talk for hours; now he had the feeling she was eager to get off the line

James wondered about Brett, but when he asked, Summer assured hiht

His black eye had caused a great deal of speculation a his peers Jarapevine, he’d heard Ralph’s version and found it only distantly related to the truth According to his ca ht them off until the police arrived

When James confronted Ralph with the story, the other man sht or wrong, Jaer to put the incident behind him

James certainly hadn’t expected married life to be this lonely He’d never felt this detached fro Summer was like a constant ache in his sto to cure what ailed him

His desk was filled with dee Unsure of himself

He went into the kitchen to make a cup of instant coffee when he saw a car turn into his driveway and around to the backyard

His father

He wondered why Walter would stop by unannounced on a Sunday afternoon Jaain,board was exactly what he needed Other than his father, there was no one ho was followed alht soreat

He took the hot water out of the ranules and stirred briskly There was a knock at the back door

"Co around He didn’t feel like being polite Not today, when it felt as if the world was closing in around him

He sipped his coffee and stared out theThe daffodils were bloo and the--

"Hello, James"

James whirled around "Summer?" He couldn’t believe she was really there It was iination An apparition Before another second passed, James walked across the kitchen and swept her into his ared hiive or get enough

Walter stood in the background and cleared his throat "I’ll wait for the two of you in the living rooh to be sure he was heard

As far as Jaht as well make himself comfortable Or leave This could take a while