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She’d never questioned his love for her or the baby What her husband had failed to recognize was Jolene’s reaction to having another wo on the television, Rachel flipped through the channels until she located a news progra with Bruce after dinner as they savored a cup of freshly brewed coffee and discussed their day while the television played in the background Shearound in the kitchen or bedroohter resented every n of it before they were er, it was all-out war It didn’t help that Rachel had tried to bring a bit of badly needed discipline into her stepdaughter’s life

Oh, as she doing this to herself? Rehashing the past was pointless Rachel had gone over everything in herthe past few months with Jolene and Bruce only upset her Slu to the weather report when the door opened and Nate ca halfway into the rooenerally aren’t around when I am"

Rachel had purposely stayed out of Nate’s way as e constantly underfoot It wasn’t uncoo to the Breh the ive Nate a chance to get ho with friends--or whatever he had planned

"I was beginning to wonder if I had a house his jacket

"Didn’t you have a date tonight?"

"I did, but so came up and Emily had to cancel"

"Would you likefor one; it always felt like a lot of work for very little return

"No, thanks I’ people at Phil’s Tavern don I’ll pick up so there"

Rachel knew the sports bar was a popular hangout with theattraction "Have a good time"

"I will" Nate disappeared upstairs to his bedroo the news

She was in the kitchen, searching through her half of the cupboards for inspiration, when Nate left He waved on his way out the door When she’d first accepted his invitation Rachel had worried that he ht want to re-kindle their romance Fortunately, that hadn’t been the case Rachel had irlfriend, Emily, and liked her; she felt that Emily suited him far better than she ever had The situation was ideal--or as ideal as it could be while Rachel was separated from her husband

She ate a lonely dinner at the kitchen table while paging through a six-azine She finished that in short order Needing so else to occupy her mind, she reached for a pencil and the newspaper to do the crossword puzzle

That hen she felt it

At first she wasn’t sure--and then it happened again

The baby moved

She pressed her hand to her stomach "Well, hello," she whispered At her last visit, the doctor had told her she could expect to feel ht, like a butterfly landing on her arht it was the baby

She wanted to share this joy, but there was no one to tell Not Bruce Not Nate No one

Before she could talk herself out of it, she got her cell and called her husband

As she’d feared, Jolene answered "It’s Rachel" Waiting for a sarcastic remark, she closed her eyes

"Hi," the thirteen-year-old said, sounding aled and Jolene’s voice hardened as she asked, "What do you want?"

It didn’t seem possible but for a second or two she wondered if Jolene had softened toward her…

"Could I speak to your father?"

Jolene didn’t respond but Rachel heard her set down the phone and call her father "Dad! It’s Rachel"

"Rachel?" Bruce was on the line i questions at her "Where are you? Are you all right? Is anything wrong with the baby?"

"I’m fine," she said, "and so is the baby"

"Why did you block my number so I can’t call your cell?"

She didn’t want hi up on her two or three times a day The scene at the salon had left a bitter taste, and she’d blocked his numbers shortly after that

"Like I said, I’m fine," she assured him, rather than answer his question

"The baby?"

"Yes"

"Have you had the ultrasound yet?"

"Yes A couple of days ago"

"Did you find out e’re having? A boy? A girl? One of each would suit me just fine," he teased

She didn’t even try to keep the smile out of her voice "I asked the ultrasound technician not to tell me"

"You don’t want to know?"

"I’d rather be surprised"

There was a moment’s silence

"I suppose Jane told you I stopped by the salon," he murmured

Actually, Rachel had been too busy to call her former employer in the past week "No, she didn’t ? Money? Groceries?"

"I can take care of " He did seem to worry about her, which made Rachel miss him all the ive hi to keep it to herself for fear of another e encounter at her workplace She hoped to continue working at the shipyard until the baby was born

"You have a job at another salon?"

"No" Again, she didn’t elaborate

"You left because of what happened that day with Jolene?"

The ansas obvious, so she didn’t reply "How is Jolene?" she asked, broaching the subject of her step-daughter cautiously Rachel hoped that once she was out of the house, their broken relationship could begin to heal Perhaps that was an unrealistic expectation; Rachel no longer knew