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“The problem is that when this baby comes I don’t want to look like I ate for three” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and placed it on the table
“How’s your weight gain?”
Phoebe leaned back in her chair “That’s certainly a personal question”
“I’m a midwife I ask that question all the time”
“Yes, but you aren’t my midwife”
He pushed his e out of concern”
“If it’ll uidelines”
“Good You look like you’re taking care of yourself”
“I try to eat right and get some exercise every day” She looked pointedly at her plate “Not that this burger was on the healthy chart”
He shrugged “No, it probably isn’t, but every once in a while it’s okay”
They lapsed into silence again as the waitress refilled their glasses and took away their plates
A few h but I ondering if youto tellI could tell the baby So about him outside of just what I remember”
Ryan’s lips tightened and he didn’t aze
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to”
After a moment he met her look “What would you like to know?”
“I guess anything I feel like you knew hiether than we did I ondering how you met?”
Ryan’s gray eyes took on a faraway look “The Aussie and the US troops didn’t always hit it off, but JT and I did We didn’t usually work together, but I was asked to go out on patrol with his platoon Their medic was on leave and the replacereed It was supposed to be an easy in and out of a village under our control All ell until ere headed out, then all hell broke loose The Iraqis had us pinned down and we couldn’t expect help until the next
“A couple of JT’shours hunkered down together we got to know each other pretty well He toldup in Texas
“When I told hi to patch up people that another hu different Even suggested I move to Australia for a new start He joked that if he ever left the army he’d use his skills to become a police officer”
Phoebe had never heard Joshua say anything about wanting to do that He had told Ryan things he either hadn’t wanted to share with her or couldn’t It ry at the same time She and Joshua had just not been as close as a married couple should have been
“After that kind of night you know each other pretty well We started getting together for drinks whenever we had leave at the same tiet much mail so he shared his letters with me”
For seconds Phoebe panicked, trying to remember what she had said in her letters Misery overtook the panic During the last few years of their e her letters had been less about the with her students, how Melbourne was changing, what she was doing at the house It had been as if she’d been writing to a friend instead of her husband
“I always looked forward to your letters They were full of news and I liked to hear about your class The letters your students wrote were the best There was soliness disappear for a while”
“I’ theuess I just wanted to talk about hi about hio” She needed to think about what Ryan had told her The fact that someone had known her husband better than she had made her feel heartsick
Ryan stood and Phoebe did also She led the way to the door Outside Ryan turned in the direction of the hospital
“I need to go this way to catch the tram Thanks for dinner” She turned toward the left
“I’ll give you a ride home,” Ryan said
“I don’t want you to drive all the way out to my house”
“I don’thome Don’t you own a car?”
“No, I can take the tra I need”
“But you’retwo-hour round trips to see Sophia In America we can’t live without a car There isn’t public transportation everywhere”
“Yes, but that’s only once a month and it’s worth it to have Sophia asto be there for the delivery”
“I realize that I live in Australia, but I can’t get used to prenatal care being called antenatal It took me forever to tell the mothers I saw that they needed to come to the antenatal clinic I just think prenatal”
“The ideas and e groith are hard to change”
“Yes, once an idea gets fixed in ht, not to make you feel bad, but you look like you could use so you home”
“I aoing to accept the ride”