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She put the plate on the table and headed down the hall, well aware of hiainst the wall across from theIt looked like the perfect place for it She ran her hand along the railing “It looks wonderful”
“Do you have a mattress for it?”
“Yes, it’s in the other bedroom”
“I’ll get it”
He soon returned with a ether they worked to re and dropped it into place
“It almost makes it real,” she said with a note of wonder
“What?”
“A baby co”
He chuckled “I would think that largeout front would make it seem pretty real”
“It does but the bed is soible”
“What about a rocker or any other furniture?”
She shrugged “I’ll have to go buy soe sale that I could redo I wanted to paint it bright and add ani”
“Youroom?”
She looked at hi about a passion of hers “You know about folk art?”
“Only what it is I’ isn’tSo, if you’ll shohere you want these books, I’ll startthem”
“They go in my bedroom”
She went out the doorway and turned toward the end of the hall, then went through an open doorway Ryan followed more slowly Why did it bother him that he had just been invited into his buddy’s wife’s bedroo When she looked back he was standing in the doorway
“They go on this bookshelf If you’ll bring them to me, I can shelve them”
Ryan returned with an armload of books She’d taken a seat on the floor in front of the shelving while he’d been gone
He stacked the books on the floor and she went to work, putting them in place
Ryan looked down at Phoebe He saw pregnant woelic about the way her golden hair covered a portion of her face and her small hands put the books so neatly into their spots
He shook his head and strode toward the door Had he been spending toohis brain
Fifteen minutes later he had all the books moved Phoebe hadn’t worked as fast as he so she was still shelving books Not wanting to sit on her bed, he stood near the door until she was finished
“Thanks for doing this I’ve been dreading it for weeks That’s why it hasn’t been done” She continued to work
Ryan’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket “I have to get this”
She nodded
“Ryan Matthews”
“It’s Julie Habershire My waters just broke”
“Okay No need to panic We talked about what to do if this happens I’ll meet you at the hospital Drive safe”
“Ryan, the baby will be all right, won’t it? It’s early”
“The baby should be fine Not so early it shouldn’t be perfect See you soon”
He touched the phone to disconnect the call Phoebe looked at hiht s with your patients?”
“I try to be”
“That’s a special gift”
“I just know that people are scared when they have never experienced so before, especially if it has to do with their bodies I learned a long tio if I don’t sound upset, then they’re et upset”