your young man is very nice, June.”
“He’s not young and neither am I,” she said, pulling her hands back and opening her top desk drawer. She retrieved her checkbook and flipped it open. “We’ve both always been single and neither of us has had children and we were completely surprised by this blessed event. I imagine we look like fools.” She scribbled onto a check, tore it out and handed it to him. “Why don’t you sign up for one of those debt-consolidation loans, Harry. Get the credit cards wiped out so you don’t get stuck with all that high interest.”
He took the check, his expression brightening considerably. “That’s a very good idea, June. And thank you for this. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. With interest.”
“I’m not worried, Harry. I know where to find you.”
He looked so tremendously relieved that June had to remind herself that to some people a two hundred dollar mistake in the checkbook was a disaster. Harry had probably worked himself into a real lather of worry over it. June’s life was simple and she didn’t have a lot of money, but she didn’t need a lot of money. Her patients paid her in goods and services as often as insurance claims and she was usually somehow ahead. Even so, she remembered a time or two when Elmer had covered her. And yes, it had been embarrassing. But then doctors had a much more marketable product than preachers. Not a more valuable product, just one more easily translated into money.
“You’ll never know how much it means to me, June, that you trust me for it.”
“Not at all,” she assured him.
Jim Post had almost no experience in the wooing of a woman; he had been married to his work. The only thing he knew how to do with absolute certainty was play a role for the sake of undercover police operations, so he decided he would adopt a persona of suitor and seduce June into a comfort zone from whence she would melt into his life and they would, together, have a baby.
Well, the baby would come no matter what. But it would be better for all of them if they forged a union into which they would bring this child, this baby girl. And in order for that to happen they would have to get beyond June’s overwhelming sickness at the mere thought of marriage.
He’d been busy. He’d been to Rockport to buy fresh salmon and vegetables, then to Standard Roberts’s fields of fresh flowers, then home to June’s little house, where he had rummaged around in search of table linens and good dishes. He had purchased sparkling cider for their toast, but also a single malt Scotch for himself. After all, he wasn’t pregnant.
Jim wasn’t a bad cook for a bachelor. He didn’t lean toward the gourmet or cook as a hobby or anything as precious as that, but he certainly knew how to put a decent meal together. June might havehad her fill of salmon long ago, living this close to good fishing all her life, but there was nothing quite as safe and delicious in his mind, not to mention a huge treat for someone who had been back East for the last several months. A little lemon and dill butter, some capers, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli… He lit the candles on the dining room table, remembering a night not so long ago when he’d bought her a little black dress as a surprise and danced with her in this small room. Size six, as he recalled. He didn’t think it would be altogether wise to dig through the closet and find it right now.
He heard a vehicle; June said she would get a lift home from either John or Susan. He dimmed the lights in the dining room just as the door was opening.
“My” was all she could say. Sadie pushed past June and ran to Jim for a pet.
“I hope you like salmon.”
“It would be against the law for me to dislike salmon, given where I live. You’ve gone to an awful lot of trouble.”
He pulled her into the living room, removed her jacket and sat her down on the sofa in front of the blazing hearth. “You relax while I get you
“He’s not young and neither am I,” she said, pulling her hands back and opening her top desk drawer. She retrieved her checkbook and flipped it open. “We’ve both always been single and neither of us has had children and we were completely surprised by this blessed event. I imagine we look like fools.” She scribbled onto a check, tore it out and handed it to him. “Why don’t you sign up for one of those debt-consolidation loans, Harry. Get the credit cards wiped out so you don’t get stuck with all that high interest.”
He took the check, his expression brightening considerably. “That’s a very good idea, June. And thank you for this. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. With interest.”
“I’m not worried, Harry. I know where to find you.”
He looked so tremendously relieved that June had to remind herself that to some people a two hundred dollar mistake in the checkbook was a disaster. Harry had probably worked himself into a real lather of worry over it. June’s life was simple and she didn’t have a lot of money, but she didn’t need a lot of money. Her patients paid her in goods and services as often as insurance claims and she was usually somehow ahead. Even so, she remembered a time or two when Elmer had covered her. And yes, it had been embarrassing. But then doctors had a much more marketable product than preachers. Not a more valuable product, just one more easily translated into money.
“You’ll never know how much it means to me, June, that you trust me for it.”
“Not at all,” she assured him.
Jim Post had almost no experience in the wooing of a woman; he had been married to his work. The only thing he knew how to do with absolute certainty was play a role for the sake of undercover police operations, so he decided he would adopt a persona of suitor and seduce June into a comfort zone from whence she would melt into his life and they would, together, have a baby.
Well, the baby would come no matter what. But it would be better for all of them if they forged a union into which they would bring this child, this baby girl. And in order for that to happen they would have to get beyond June’s overwhelming sickness at the mere thought of marriage.
He’d been busy. He’d been to Rockport to buy fresh salmon and vegetables, then to Standard Roberts’s fields of fresh flowers, then home to June’s little house, where he had rummaged around in search of table linens and good dishes. He had purchased sparkling cider for their toast, but also a single malt Scotch for himself. After all, he wasn’t pregnant.
Jim wasn’t a bad cook for a bachelor. He didn’t lean toward the gourmet or cook as a hobby or anything as precious as that, but he certainly knew how to put a decent meal together. June might havehad her fill of salmon long ago, living this close to good fishing all her life, but there was nothing quite as safe and delicious in his mind, not to mention a huge treat for someone who had been back East for the last several months. A little lemon and dill butter, some capers, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli… He lit the candles on the dining room table, remembering a night not so long ago when he’d bought her a little black dress as a surprise and danced with her in this small room. Size six, as he recalled. He didn’t think it would be altogether wise to dig through the closet and find it right now.
He heard a vehicle; June said she would get a lift home from either John or Susan. He dimmed the lights in the dining room just as the door was opening.
“My” was all she could say. Sadie pushed past June and ran to Jim for a pet.
“I hope you like salmon.”
“It would be against the law for me to dislike salmon, given where I live. You’ve gone to an awful lot of trouble.”
He pulled her into the living room, removed her jacket and sat her down on the sofa in front of the blazing hearth. “You relax while I get you
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