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“Do you think I’m not?”
“It’s different for you. The baby’s a part of you. It’s not the same for a man.”
“A lot of things are different for a man, aren’t they?”
Jordan didn’t have an answer for that. He didn’t want to argue with her, didn’t want this beautiful time to end with them hurling ugly words at each other.
“I’m trying, Molly. Give me credit for that.”
She, too, must have felt the need to preserve what they’d shared. Their peace was fragile and easily destroyed; Molly was as aware of that as he was and seemed equally reluctant to ruin it with another argument.
“Be angry with me in the morning,” he said. “Hate me then, if you must, but for now let me hold you and love you.” He dropped his clothes on the floor and stepped toward her. He was afraid to reach for her, convinced she’d push him away. When he clasped her in his arms, she held herself still, arms hanging lifelessly at her sides. But gradually he felt the tension ease from her body.
“Wait until morning to be angry,” he urged softly.
Eventually they returned to the bed and lay together silently. She cuddled close to his side.
“What time is it?” she asked.
Jordan glanced at the illuminated dial of his watch. “A little after midnight. You’d better get some sleep.” One of them should, he mused. For his own part, he didn’t want to waste a single minute on sleep.
Molly covered them with a blanket. It looked for an instant as if she meant to roll away from him, but he brought her back to his side.
“I have tonight,” he reminded her. “You can regret it in the morning if you want, but for the rest of the night let’s pretend it doesn’t matter.”
Molly said nothing.
“If you’re going to regret tonight,” he murmured, “let’s make it worth your while.”
And then he slowly made love to her, over and over again.
* * *
Molly waited for Amanda Clayton outside a secondhand furniture shop early Saturday afternoon. Amanda parked her truck next to Molly’s car and they both opened their doors and got out simultaneously.
When she stepped onto the sidewalk, Amanda’s eyes beamed with pleasure. “My goodness, you’re showing.”
“You can tell?” Molly cradled her slightly enlarged abdomen, making the swelling more pronounced. She looked up at Amanda. “I’m nearly five months now.”
“You look wonderful,” Amanda said, smiling. “I could be jealous. You’re obviously one of those women who positively glow when they’re pregnant. Not me. I went through the entire nine months looking like Ineeded a blood transfusion. If I had any color at all, it was a faint tinge of green.”
Molly laughed.
“How are you feeling?” Amanda asked.
Molly shrugged. “I’ve felt better.” She hadn’t been sleeping well, but she couldn’t blame the baby for that. It’d been five days since she’d seen Jordan, and she had yet to decide how she felt about their interlude. She wanted to deny she’d enjoyed their lovemaking, but couldn’t.
When Jordan did contact her again, her reaction would depend on the mood she was in. Either she’d slam the door in his face, or throw her arms around his neck and drag him back to her bedroom.
He must have intuitively known how ambivalent she felt because he’d completely avoided her. One thing was certain; she wasn’t going to seek him out.
“I appreciate your helping me with this,” Molly said, leading her into the shop. She’d purchased the crib a week before, but didn’t have any way of getting it to her duplex. Amanda had kindly offered the use of her truck.
“I’m happy to do it,” Amanda returned graciously. “You’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know. It feels good to be able to lend you a hand.”
With the shopkeeper’s assistance, they loaded the crib into the bed of Amanda’s truck. Molly drove to her apartment and together they set it up in the spare bedroom. Since Molly intended to paint the crib, she’d spread newspapers and plastic over the carpet.
“Stay and have some tea with me,” Molly said whenthey’d finished. “I’m having a glass of milk myself but I’ll make a pot of tea.”
