Free The Soldier's Baby Bargain by Beth Kery Page B

sister, Mari, late last night and had a conversation with her about it.”
    Faith set down her fork, shocked. This was not the response she’d expected. She’d thought maybe he’d had time to reconsider his impulsive decision to relocate his home and business—his entire life. “You had a conversation with her about moving to Michigan?”
    “Yes, and about the baby.” Her mouth fell open in amazement. “I hope that’s okay. Mari and I are really close. And like you said earlier, it’s really big news. Talking to her helped me get my bearings a little bit. Faith?” he asked, his dark eyebrows pinching together as he looked at her. “Is that okay?”
    She blinked. “Yes. Of course. Like I said, I’ll be telling my parents soon. And Jane knows already. Of course you wanted to tell your sister.” She picked up her fork again. “How did Mari take it?”
    “She was floored.”
    “Naturally,” Faith muttered, suddenly feeling nervous for some reason. Was she worried about what Mari would think of her? Would Ryan’s sister perhaps disapprove of the unusual circumstances?
    Ryan gave her a warm glance. “But then she really started to get excited.” He seemed to hesitate for a second, and then took a bite out of his sandwich.
    “Ryan, what is it?” Faith asked, sensing he was holding back. He took several seconds to respond.
    “It’s just...Mari wants to come to Michigan to visit tomorrow.” He gave her a fleeting glance, and Faith realized he seemed uncomfortable. “She...um...wants to meet you.”
    “Oh.”
    He set down his sandwich. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
    “I do want to,” Faith said breathlessly. “It’s just...”
    “What?”
    “It all seems so... serious. ”
    They just looked at each other for a moment.
    “Having a baby is serious, though. Isn’t it?” Ryan finally said slowly.
    “Yeah,” Faith admitted. She gave Ryan a helpless sort of glance, and for some reason, the weightiness inherent to their conversation—their entire situation—temporarily lifted. Simultaneously Ryan grinned and Faith burst into hysterical laughter.
    “I’m sorry,” Faith said a moment later, wiping a few tears caused by her laughing jag off her cheek with a paper napkin. “This situation is so strange. I hope your sister doesn’t think I’m an... oddity. ”
    “She’ll think you’re exactly what you are. She’ll think you’re wonderful,” Ryan said simply. Her laughter faded when he touched her hand where it sat on the table, ever so briefly. Nerves all along the skin of her hand and forearm flickered to life.
    After her heartbeat went back to normal following that caress, they managed to have a nice lunch together. Ryan’s easy conversation about practical matters settled her unrest about his sudden presence in her life, and her confusion about how she was supposed to feel about it. After they’d eaten and cleaned up, Ryan resumed his furniture-moving project, and Faith hauled sacks filled with garbage out of the room. It fascinated her to watch him work, to observe how methodical and efficient he was in breaking down the bed into easily movable pieces, strapping the bureau drawers closed with duct tape, then maneuvering the large pieces of furniture through the door while he held them vertical on the metal truck.
    In what seemed like no time, the furniture was neatly piled at the end of her driveway. Before she knew it, the Salvation Army truck had come to retrieve it, and a project she’d dreaded undertaking was done within a matter of hours.
    “You’re a miracle of efficiency,” she told him as they both watched through the window as the two workers from the Salvation Army got into the truck and drove away. She turned and gazed at the nursery-to-be. Now that the room was empty, the possibilities of transforming it into a wonderful place for the baby filled her with excitement. She clapped her hands together eagerly and gave Ryan an irrepressible grin.
    “Thank