Page 17 (2/2)

"It worked out that Jeff was home for the birth, but ere lucky because he was scheduled for sea trials onten days early"

Tih Lindy’s hair while Tohetti strap of her suodfather," Susan explained "The only tiuard ith theht with you He’d make a wonderful father someday"

"I think he would, too," Lindy said, kissing the chubby cheek of each twin The boys laughed and Tirab a pickle from his mother’s hands

"Just a minute, son," Susan told him "Dinner’s almost ready"

To keep the pair entertained until their mother dished up their dinner plates, Lindy bounced the step around the kitchen She was laughing, her face flushed and happy, when she looked up to discover Rush standing on the other side of the sliding glass door, watching her

His deep blue eyes were so intense that her breath caught in her throat Lindy thought for a aze had narrowed, but there was a light shining fro else, soer that she couldn’t define Ain every detail of her as she bounced the chubby cherubs on her hips

Jeff must have called hi a word

"Here, I’ll take one of the boys," Susan offered, lifting To child outside where two high chairs were positioned side by side next to the round picnic table

Lindy followed her onto the patio and slipped Tio that it’s best to feed the boys before Jeff and I even try to eat"

Lindy noted Susan had dished up foods her young sons could eat with their hands: chicken legs, finger-Jell-O, pickles and potato chipsso independent They make a terrible fuss if I try to spoon-feed them anymore"

"Can they feed themselves?"

"For thein each toddler "Believe me, it’s a test of patience because more food lands on the floor and wall than ever makes it into their mouths Afterward it’s easier to squirt them down than to try to wash their hands and faces"

Lindy laughed at the visual iarden hose

Rush’s friend strolled to his wife’s side and slipped his arm around her slim waist Susan was a full head shorter than her husband and fit neatly into his erill?"

Susan nodded and leaned her supple forainst her husband She went up on tiptoe and brushed a kiss over his cheek She paused then and smiled up at him "Anytime you want"

Lindy watched, fascinated by the tender exchange between husband and wife Frootten off to a rocky start They’d worked hard to find happiness together and it showed Jeff and Susan didn’t require words to coh would often be all that was required How Lindy envied the was settled between her and Rush But it wasn’t And he’d be leaving her in just a few, intolerably short days

They caught the nine o’clock ferry back to Seattle Jeff dropped thes and Lindy had kissed the boys goodbye, Lindy and Rush walked onto the waiting boat

Although he shouldn’t have been, Rush was astonished at the way Lindy and Susan had becohed as if they’d known each other since childhood Now that he thought about it, the toent, sensitive and personable And both were in love with navy men It took a special breed of wo separations, brief reunions and the fact that family must always come second in their husbands’ lives

Both Lindy and he had coiven definition to the unknown e with the past two days Rush had asked his friend how he ed to leave Susan and the twins and not look back – and had witnessed the instant flash of regret that shot into his friend’s eyes Jeff had explained that the last days before he sailed were always the worst He didn’t want to leave Susan, didn’t want to think of not being able to love her for months on end Nor did he like to think about all that he wasin his children’s lives

He’d been at sea when their first teeth had corrie in, and on sea trials when they’d taken their first steps Now he’d be leaving theoing to be there to experience

Then Jeff had asked Rush if he’d had a fight with Lindy recently Rush’s astonishhed and said the sa happened to hi Like clockwork His fault, usually But he and Susan had o Nounsettled between them