summer.”
“And what did he think of these?” Julie asked, her attention caught now.
It felt almost as good to break their fraught conversation with this moment of lightness as it felt to break her nausea with the crackers. He was doing it deliberately, distracting her with nonsense and she was deeply grateful for his perception.
“He hasn’t tried them yet. He’s working up to it with the safer flavors,” Tom explained, deadpan. “So far he’s tackled ketchup, roast turkey with stuffing and pickled onions, if I remember correctly.”
“Oh. Yummy. Pickled onions, huh?”
Yes! There it was! Tom thought. It didn’t last long. Like a shaft of sunset light breaking through piled clouds and then fading, it was there for just a moment, but the effect of it practically knocked his socks off. Wide and radiant, lighting up her whole face, putting a tiny crease on either side of her pert little nose so that he noticed the freckles again and got a vivid image of her as a kid—a tomboy of a kid who caught frogs and climbed trees and whistled through her finger and thumb.
“To be honest,” he admitted, still watching her, “they all taste mainly of salt.”
“Really? Salt is what I want.”
Julie picked up a cracker and took a bite. Her stomach and taste buds, much to her surprise, approved. She decided to take turns. Cracker. Chip. Water. Slowly.
Tom was watching her. Had been for a while, she knew. “You’re having a hard time.”
“Just these past few days.”
“How far along are you?”
“Not far. About six weeks, the way doctors count it. Four weeks from when I, uh, conceived. I only took the test last Friday. Loretta... never knew.”
“Early days, then,” he said. His voice sounded a little strained at the mention of his ex-wife.
“Yes.”
She gave a tight smile. Early days, and the cause of enormous upheaval in her life. A rethinking of everything in almost every waking moment for days. She was already deeply attached to the life that grew inside her. That didn’t make sense, the way things had started out, but it had happened. She knew that she’d become a part of something important, something that mattered more than anything else, and if Tom could not respond to that and give her what she wanted...
“The nausea doesn’t matter,” she told him firmly. “This baby is the most important thing in the world to me, right now.”
She managed to disguise the unnamed threat in her words, and he responded at once.
“That’s great,” he said. His face softened. “Babies are such incredible packages of hope and love and potential, aren’t they? I’m really happy for you, Julie.”
“Mmm.” She dared to smile at him. He understood. It gave her a warm surge of hope. They could work something out, pull the right solution out of this mess.
Then his gaze flicked to her ringless left hand. His smile gave way to a tiny frown, and her stomach churned again. No, she wasn’t married. She didn’t even have a boyfriend. He’d know why soon enough.
“Hey.” He’d seen that she was struggling again. He was bending down, coaxing her to her feet. “Is this okay? I’d like to get you outside for some fresh air. I had my housekeeper leave us lunch. I can bring it out to the balcony. There’s a breeze off the water, and it’s shady and cool.”
“That sounds great.”
He sounded great. So tender, and so concerned. To have someone care about her physical well-being was so unexpected and so wonderful that it threatened to completely break down the nervous tension, which was all that had kept her going since Sunday. She’d been feeling so alone!
He was holding her from behind, his hand curved like a warm velvet cuff around her forearm. The soft chambray of his shirt covered her bare arm. She could feel the heat of his body against her back through the fine fabric of her cream blouse, and for a moment she let herself sway back, surrendering her weight to his support.
For the first time she fully understood the meaning and significance of the child that grew inside her.
Cradling her in the curve of his arm as he led her through the house, Tom felt his unwanted attraction to her surge again. So she was pregnant! It made sense of the way she looked. There was a secret source to her beauty, which couldn’t quite be explained by adding up her features and assets, since it came from deeper inside her. He felt the swollen fullness of one breast against the crook of his arm and knew that soon she would look as ripe as some lavish tropical fruit.
He wondered why she wasn’t married and why she hadn’t even mentioned a man.
A moment later, she retched, pressed her fist to her mouth and fought hard for control.
“Easy. easy,” he soothed her, as if talking to a nervous colt. “Just take it slowly and keep hold of those crackers!”
“You seem to know,...” she paused and chewed desperately, “a lot about this!” Julie got the words out safely.
“So I should,” he answered her. “I’ve got six younger brothers. I spent months of my childhood on cracker patrol.”
“Six?” She knew at once that Tom’s mother must be more heroic than any warrior.
“And one who’s older.”
“And no girls?”
“No girls,” he agreed cheerfully. “After about number four Mom stopped minding. She figured she and Dad just didn’t have the chemistry in that department, and what the heck, she liked boys anyway.”
“I like boys, too,” she said. “I just about was one, as a kid. A classic tomboy, that is.”
“Yeah, I thought you might have been.” he muttered under his breath.
They reached the balcony. Julie hadn’t taken much notice of the route. Mostly, she’d been looking hard at the floor. Hardwood in some places, slate in others. A couple of large, expensive squares of Turkish carpet. Somehow, she hadn’t guessed that he would be quite so well off and so obviously successful.
Now, Tom settled her in a slat-backed wooden patio chair and promised, “I’ll be back with lunch, okay?”
“Okay,” she nodded.
He was right. It felt a lot better out here in the open.
This balcony didn’t face the dock where she’d arrived. Instead, the light dazzled on the water just beyond a crescent of sandy beach and a shelf of vibrant green lawn, edged with colorful plantings of annuals. A cool breeze blew, combing away the heavy heat, teasing her with its fresh breath on her forehead and cheeks.
Tom was back a few minutes later with turkey club sandwiches crammed with filling, plain iced soda water and a huge bunch of sweet green grapes.
“Mom lived on these, too, I seem to recall.” He grinned.
“I’ll try one.”
Julie pulled a grape off its stem and bit down on the taut, satiny skin. At once it burst in her mouth, and she tasted the flood of sweet juice. Heaven! He gave a grin of sympathy and took a bite of sandwich, revealing teeth that were even, pearl-sheened and perfect.
Then suddenly, now that they were settled, the tension was in the air again. They ate in silence for several minutes before Tom spoke at last. “You seemed shocked to hear that Loretta and I were divorced,” he said. “Was she spinning you a line about us planning to get back together?”
“Yes.” Julie wasn’t surprised that he had zeroed right to what concerned them both. There seemed no point in softening the reply.
“How well did you two know each other?” It sounded like an accusation. “How close were you?”