Read Online A Baby by Easter by Lois Richer - Free Book Online Page A

she caught him staring at her. “It’s very good. You should try it.”
    â€œI’ll take your word for it.” Then it dawned on him. “Some foods bother you.”
    â€œMostly the smell of some foods,” she murmured, eyeing his steak with her nose turned up. She returned to munching contentedly on her sandwich.
    â€œConnie said you’d seen the doctor I researched. She says everything is okay.” It sounded like he was prying, he realized—which he was.
    â€œI’m fine,” she said. She set down her sandwich and stared at him. “The baby is fine. I’m very healthy. There’s nothing to worry about.”
    â€œThere’s always something to worry about,” he muttered, pushing away his plate.
    â€œWhy?” Susannah dabbed absently at a dribble of pickle juice and waited for an answer. “I thought Connie told me you believe in God.”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œPeople who believe in God usually talk about the faith they have in Him to lead them,” she mused, perking up when a dessert cart arrived at the table next to theirs. “What are you worried about?”
    â€œA new study says ninety percent of the things people worry about will never happen,” Darla chimed in.
    Susannah tucked her chin against her neck but not fast enough to hide her grin. David was beginning to wish he’d never said a word about worry, so he grabbed at their server’s suggestions for dessert and bought everyone a huge piece of key lime pie. With the meal finished, he begged off shoe shopping and agreed to meet the two women in a little courtyard area outside. Better to trust Susannah than sit through another round of fashion dos and don’ts.
    He was enjoying a well-creamed cup of coffee and working out a schedule of Darla’s activities on hisBlackBerry when Susannah arrived lugging several bags, visibly weary. He took them from her and insisted she sit down.
    â€œWhere’s Darla?” he asked, searching the area behind her.
    â€œShe’s coming. She met a friend and they’re buying an ice cream cone. Her friend’s mother will meet us here shortly.” Susannah chose a seat in a shady spot where she could study the dangling seed pods of a desert willow. “You were working,” she said. “Don’t let me bother you.”
    â€œNo bother.” He stuffed the device in his pocket. “I just got an email about Darla’s after-school soccer group. I guess I forgot to reregister her.”
    â€œDoes she have to go?” Susannah asked.
    â€œShe loves soccer.” He frowned. “Doesn’t she?”
    â€œYes.” Susannah didn’t meet his stare. “But there are so many more things she wants to try.”
    â€œSuch as?” He could feel the tension crawling across his shoulders. What was wrong with the status quo? Why did she have to change everything?
    â€œDid you know she wants to do pottery again?”
    â€œI know she liked it before. But it’s not very active and Darla needs to keep her muscles toned. Soccer is good for that,” he explained.
    â€œSwimming is better.”
    David tensed. Why was she always so eager to push him?
    â€œI’m not comfortable with her swimming. At least not without me present,” he said, waving when Darla emerged from the store. “For now I think we’ll stick to the activities she knows.”
    â€œThe ones you’ve decided are safe for her, right?”Susannah smiled at Darla but her tone was troubled. “I hope you don’t regret it,” she said quietly.
    David was going to ask what she meant but Darla snagged his attention, showing him the massive cone she was trying to eat before it melted. She giggled and laughed, teased Susannah about the pickle juice that had spattered her shirt and insisted David taste her triple-fudge-and-marshmallow ice cream.
    David discarded Susannah’s comment. Darla was happy,