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Now all he had to worry about was if she was pregnant Not using any protection had been a conscious decision on his part They hadn’t even talked about it the way couples should – hadn’t discussed the possibility of starting a faer for Lindy to get pregnant, he realized with a flash of insight But he hadn’t wanted a repeat of what had happened with Cheryl If Lindy’s stomach ollen with a baby when he returned, he didn’t want any question in his mind about as the father

Rush refused to believe he’d actually done anything so stupid as to play that sort of sillyto cheat on him – he refused to even consider the possibility But then he’d honestly assumed she loved him, too – the saet him

Lindy let herself into the apart in front of the television, watching a late afternoon talk show Steve’s behavior was really beginning to concern her He’d been assigned shore duty, and when he wasn’t working he sat around the apartment with a lost, tormented look that reminded her of how she’d felt when she’d first arrived in Seattle His behavior wasn’t the only thing that was getting on her nerves He’d beco seeative that she didn’t like to talk to him anymore There’d been a time when she’d admired him for the way he’d handled the emotional trauma of the divorce, but his letters had been a convenient front It beca process hadn’t even started in Steve He still loved Carol, and he needed to either patch things up between the to ruin his life

"Hi," she said, and walked into the kitchen, setting down the grocery bag on the counter "What’s Donahue got to say today?"

"Who?"

"The guy whose progra about nursing mothers"

"And that interests you?"

"It’s better than staring at soame show"

"It’s a beautiful day You should be outside"

"Doing what?"

Lindy sighed "I don’t know So"

Steve stood and ca for dinner? Peel potatoes, that sort of thing?"

She thanked hi under control" Opening the refrigerator, she set the ood a time as any to wade into shark-infested waters "Is Carol still living in Seattle?" Lindy asked the question and then turned to face her brother

"Carol who?"

His words uise the instant flash of pain in his eyes

"Carol Kyle, your wife"

"Ex-wife," he corrected bitterly "As far as I know she is"

"I think I’ll give her a call"

A year see in someone else’s troubles, you’d better take care of your own, little sister"

Lindy’s heart fleard and lodged in her throat "What do you mean by that?"

Steve pointed toward the mail that was stacked on the kitchen table "Youletter you’ve been writing all month to Rush, because it’s been returned"

"Oh, no" A sickening feeling invaded her limbs and her eyes widened with dread "Returned? But why?" She reached for the thick manila envelope and checked the address "Oh, Steve, ill Rush think if he doesn’t get anyhe can assume under these circuret it"

She raised her hands in a gesture of abject defeat "But I don’t feel that way, not at all"

"Lindy, sit down You look like you’re about to faint" Her brother pulled out a chair and carefully lowered her into it He walked a couple of tihts on how to handle the situation

Tears of frustration were hovering just beneath the surface She’d faithfully written Rush each night, pouring out her heart to her husband, reassuring him each day how much she loved him and how proud she was to be his wife She’d written about ether they were planning to celebrate the halfway mark of the six-htie the girls had given her as a wedding gift and told hier she was to model it for hi epistles asto reach hi the days

To her surprise, this long separation wasn’t anything like he’d suggested it would be Rush had warned her that teeks after he was gone she’d start to wonder how she ever iined herself in love with hiiant card to tell hi she loved him more than ever

Over and over she had read the thick letter she’d received from him, until she had set each precious line in her memory Rush’s letters had been her lifeline to sanity

The realization that he had received only a short one from her early after he sailed out of Bre about

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, when Lindy reached for the phone

"Calling Susan"

"What good is that going to do?"

"I…I don’t know" But Lindy had to talk to someone before she went loony Susan would knohat to do

"Hello?" Susan answered on the third ring, and Lindy could hear the twins crying in the background

"Susan, it’s Lindy So terrible has happened, and I don’t knohat to do" She was speaking as fast as she could, her voice raised and shaky

"Lindy? Slon I can’t understand a word you’re saying"

"My letter to Rush ca her best to keep her voice as even as possible, although it wobbled like a toy top winding down after a long spin