The Baby Agenda by Janice Kay Johnson Read Free Book Online

not to spend time alone with him, not to let conversation become really personal. It hadn’t been as hard as she’d have thought. Mostly in the office they talked business, exchanged ideas, looked over each other’s preliminary sketches and made suggestions, offered solutions to jobsite problems. Lunch for Gray was usually fast food or a deli sandwich, snatched between city hall and their architectural office or a job site.
    But today, he’d appeared earlier than she had expected him, and now stood in the doorway waiting.
    â€œIf not now, when?” he asked with his usual good humor.
    She saved her CADD drawing and closed out the program, then took her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk. Gray stood back to let her out the door, then flipped the sign to Closed.
    â€œThe Pea Patch?”
    â€œFine.” Perfect, in fact. The small vegetarian restaurant used only organic, healthful ingredients, exactly what a pregnant woman should be eating. Gray had probably taken to eating there with Charlotte.
    He didn’t say much during the short drive and found parking right in front. The main street of West Fork probably hadn’t changed much since the 1950s, with false-fronted buildings and small, locally owned businesses. The Pea Patch was relatively new, of course, as was the antiques store beside it, but the barbershop and hardware store could have starred in a Norman Rockwell painting. One of Gray’s goals had been to maintain the old-fashioned atmosphere of downtown and keep people shopping here.
    Moira ordered the day’s special, a bowl of split-pea soup and a half sandwich, Gray a burrito. He glanced at her sidelong when she asked for a juice instead of the latte that had been her habit.
    Once the waitress took the menus and left them alone, he contemplated Moira over the table. Gray was a handsome man with calm gray eyes and sun-streaked light brown hair. They had dated a time or two when they first met, then fell into friendship instead of romance. Gray wasn’t the first or the last guy to see her as buddy material instead of potential girlfriend. In his case, she didn’t regret it. He’d become family to her, a lot more important thanthe college boyfriend with whom she’d lost touch shortly after graduation.
    â€œSomething’s off with you,” he said bluntly. “Or maybe with us. Have I been unavailable when you needed to talk?”
    Swallowing the lump in her throat, she shook her head.
    â€œThen what, Moira?” His eyes were kind.
    Her chest hurt. “Oh, Gray.”
    â€œWhat?” He leaned forward and reached for her hand.
    â€œI’ve been dreading telling you.”
    â€œTelling me what?” His fingers tightened. “You’re not leaving me, are you?”
    Even in her misery, Moira giggled. “Do you know what that sounds like?”
    A grin tugged at his mouth. “Yeah, someone who knows I’m married might wonder.” The smile faded and he repeated, “What, Moira?”
    She had to tell him eventually. Now was as good a time as ever.
    â€œI’m pregnant.”
    He jerked. “Pregnant?”
    â€œJeez, tell the whole town, why don’t you,” she said indignantly.
    He looked around. “There’s nobody close enough to hear.” He paused. “Is it a secret?”
    â€œNo.” Damn it, she felt watery again. “I guess it’ll be obvious anytime.”
    â€œHow far along?”
    â€œUm…three months.”
    He frowned. “You’ve lost weight instead of gaining, haven’t you?”
    â€œDidn’t Charlotte?”
    â€œYou’re sick, too?”
    Moira nodded. “Well, not sick. Just…icky feeling. I don’t dare do more than nibble at any one time.”
    He was staring at her. “Pregnant,” he repeated. His expression hardened. “Who’s the father?”
    She gazed steadily back. “No one who is in the