Page 36 of Miracles and Marriage

“I know.”

“Hello, you two, I’m right here. Chloe, if you’re going to be snippy, you can leave,” Zoe said, growing annoyed.

“I’m cranky, ignore me. I’d much rather be sleeping in.”

Zoe nodded, gave Cal a speaking look and continued to the kitchen for the coffee.

“So what’s up with your sister?” Cal asked after Chloe had left twenty minutes later.

“I’m not sure.”

“She’s obviously protective toward you. Does she think I’m going to do something to harm you?”

Zoe shook her head. “She thinks you’re going to bail if we don’t conceive and she resents that on my behalf,” Zoe said without looking at him.

She gathered the empty cups to give herself something to do.

“Why would she think such a thing?” he asked.

Zoe licked her lips and tried to think up an excuse that would fly without coming out with a lie.

“Just say it,” he said.

“She thinks there’s more to this marriage than there is,” she blurted out, balancing the cups and saucers. Slowly she walked into the kitchen.

Cal pushed back his chair and followed her.

“Such as?” he asked from the doorway.

“Genuine caring between us.”

He studied her for a moment.

“I’d agree with that, wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe,” she said slowly. “I told her we were more involved than she suspected. I couldn’t tell her the entire truth. She’d worry too much.”

He stared at her for a moment, his expression closed. Then he gave an abrupt nod and turned back to the living room.

“Want to grab breakfast on the way into work?”

She blinked at the lack of follow-up. Was that it? He was letting it go? No comment, no suggestion that she clear the air?

“Aren’t you going home to change first?” she asked, stalling.

The sooner she got alone, the better.

“I plan to but we can stop for a meal first.”

“I’ll get a bagel at the coffee shop next to the office. I have lots to do today.”

What Zoe really wanted to do was get some time to herself. She was growing more stressed the longer she was around Cal. It seemed easy for him to portray a role. The brief kiss he’d given her had been for Chloe’s benefit. But Zoe couldn’t turn her emotions on and off so easily.

“I apologize for falling asleep last night,” he said. “It wasn’t my intent when I arrived.”

“You were exhausted. It wasn’t a problem.”

Did he look embarrassed? She couldn’t imagine anything disconcerting Cal.