The Nine-Month Bride by Judy Christenberry

Author:Judy Christenberry
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

The hostess grinned. “You cuttin’ down, Luke? Last time you had three ladies waiting for you.”

“Yeah, I’m cutting down. Permanently.” He added a big grin, and conversation picked up at once, everyone abuzz with this latest tidbit of gossip.

“Lucas!” Susannah protested hoarsely.

He buried his nose in her hair and whispered, “You can’t keep secrets in this town. And I won’t have anyone thinking I’m ashamed of my baby’s mother.”

Stunned, unable to move as fast to acceptance as he, Susannah stared.

“Sit down,” he said gently, as if realizing her difficulty.

She flopped into a chair, aware of Molly’s stare. When the hostess handed her the menu, she buried her face behind it.

“Enjoy your meal.”

“We will,” Lucas said.

Susannah peeped over the top of her menu to find him smiling. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

He settled in his chair before he answered. The smile left his face and he shrugged. “We’re both going to achieve our dream. What’s not to enjoy?”

With a jerky nod of agreement, she returned to the menu. When the waitress arrived at their table, an old friend of Lucas’s, of course, Susannah was able to order her lunch without stumbling.

Maybe she could get through this…this arrangement. What was important was the baby, her child.

Their child.

“Lucas, you do realize the baby could be a girl, don’t you?” She’d meant to mention that possibility before now.

The grin returned to his face. “Not a chance. Boyds have boys.”

As if she were talking to herself, she said, “I was hoping for a girl.”

He reached across the table to take her hand. “Maybe we can have more than one. Surely there have been some girls somewhere in my family tree.”

She gasped, staring at him. How had he known? Had he realized how much she hated the idea of having an only child? Like herself? Or was it a lucky guess?

He seemed to recognize her surprise. “Sorry, Susannah. I know we haven’t talked about more children, but I’m not against the idea. Are you?”

“No.”

“So, we need to set the date. Can you be ready by next Saturday?”

Before she could answer, the waitress set their plates in front of them, giving Susannah a breathing space.

“Next Saturday?” she repeated after they were alone.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to the pastor, and we can get a license.”

“I thought we should wait until—until after I’m pregnant before we actually marry.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.