Page 22 of Miracles and Marriage

“I like to cook. My mother’s a great cook and is used to feeding a crowd. And she made sure every one of us knew how.”

They sat at the small table in the kitchen. As soon as Zoe finished the last of her breakfast, Cal nudged aside the plates.

“So, what’s it to be?” he asked, impatient to know her answer.

She met his gaze.

“I have a couple of thoughts before saying either way. I don’t want to put my job in jeopardy. I love what I do and I’m good at it.”

“I don’t plan to put your job on the line, either way you decide.”

“Well, a relationship like this could become disconcerting to others at the office.”

He nodded, not so much in agreement as in encouraging her to get to the point. Yes or no?

She licked her lips. They glistened with the moisture. For a moment Cal stared. He wanted to feel their warmth, kiss away the wetness and taste her sweetness. He swallowed and looked into her eyes again.

She dropped her gaze to her coffee cup, which she was turning around and around. “Actually I hope I made it clear that there’s no guarantee I can get pregnant. There’s a strong possibility I can, but my doctor said there is also a chance I won’t. If you are expecting a sure thing, this isn’t it.”

“Fine.”

He waited, drawing on every ounce of patience he possessed.

She risked another glance up at him. “I suppose we do this scientifically?”

He frowned. “And that is how?”

“I’ll know when in my cycle I’m most fertile. I guess we try then.”

“And the rest of the time?”

“Go on as normal?” she suggested.

“Meaning?”

“Darn it, you’re deliberately making this hard, aren’t you?”

A flare of temper surprised him, and gave him insight into how tense she was.

“I’m not trying to. Just lay it out.”

“I thought maybe we could go to the sea cottage when it was the right time. Away from our normal places, regular friends and all,” she said tentatively.

“Keep it clandestine?”

“Sort of.”

“Why?”

“Because if it doesn’t work, no one else needs to know,” she said quickly.

Cal thought about that a moment. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea or not. What did it matter what other people knewor thought? Then he got it. She was the one who didn’t want sympathy if she couldn’t conceive. She was guarding herself.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” she repeated.

“If that’s one of your terms, I’m fine with it. But once you’re pregnant, then we tell the world.”