Angora Alibi by Sally Goldenbaum Read Free Book Online Page A

for what?”
    Images of the empty car seat flashed before Izzy’s eyes. She blinked them away. “Except
     for the fact that I eat everything in sight.”
    “You can afford it, Izzy. No worries there.” Lily released the air and watched the
     needle flicker as the cuff deflated. “Still a little higher than I’d like it,” she
     said, scribbling a note into the record.
    “Dangerously high?” It was Nell asking the question. Izzy’s eyes were on the open
     window, as if the darkening sky was dramatically more important than talking about
     her vital signs.
    “No,” Lily answered, her voice reassuring. “Not dangerously high and there’s nothing
     that needs to be done. Blood pressure often rises in doctors’ offices and that may
     well be what’s going on here. I am just being overly cautious. Izzy seems a little
     stressed sometimes so I’m keeping a close eye on her.”
    “Without reason,” Izzy said, rejoining the conversation. “It’s all silly. It will
     pass. It’s just a feeling—like a sixth sense that developed along with my pregnancy.
     Things just don’t seem quite right. I don’t want my baby coming yet, not until things
     are peaceful.” Her arms instinctively circled her belly.
    Lily sighed. “You want a perfect world to bring your baby into. Wouldn’t that be nice?
     I’m afraid you might have to wait a long time.”
    Izzy just smiled.
    Nell watched the look that passed over Izzy’s face. She meant it; she sensed something
     and it didn’t matter if it sounded silly or manufactured or crazy. To Izzy it was
     real.
    Until Izzy got pregnant, Nell always thought the similarities between her niece and
     her sister, Caroline—Izzy’s mother—were confined to their tall, slender builds and
     glorious thick hair. But pregnancy unearthed a few more. She remembered Caroline saying
     similar things during her three pregnancies. She was vehemently protective of her
     unborn baby, wanting to keep the baby safe inside until she declared the world ready
     for him or her. Nell had listened to Caroline with a certain wonder, marveling at
     the miracle she considered each pregnancy to be and whatever that fierce protective
     instinct was. And now she saw it in Izzy, too, that sureness that she knew what was
     right for her unborn child.
    “So,” Lily was saying beside her, “I suspect we have a little bruiser here.”
    “That’s not a surprise.” Nell smiled. “His father is one.”
    “Where’s all this ‘his’ coming from?” Izzy asked.
    “I stand corrected. He or she.” Lily laughed. The examination complete, she helped
     Izzy sit up and drop her legs over the side of the table.
    A knock on the door was followed by Janie’s voice with a request to talk to Dr. Virgilio.
     The words carried a sense of urgency, and Lily quickly moved outside, leaving the
     door ajar.
    “One of us must have failed to record it, Janie,” they heard the doctor whisper. “I’m
     sure that’s what it was. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
    When she returned, a smile was back in place. Again, she reassured both Izzy and Nell
     that the baby was in fine shape. “Probably finer shape than any of us,” she added.
    “Thanks, Dr. Lily.” Izzy picked up the sweater she’d left on the chair and slipped
     it over her shoulders, tying it above the large mound of baby. “Even though I know
     my baby is fine, it’s always nice to hear it from you. And Sam hangs on every word.
     He’d be here today if he weren’t doing a photo shoot in Boston.”
    Lily nodded and smiled, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere, beyond the confines of
     the small examining room. “Next week, then?” she asked absently. “Check with Janie
     when you leave. She’ll set you up.”
    Lily walked out of the room and disappeared down the hall.
    Nell and Izzy walked back toward the waiting area. It was dark outside now, the neon
     lights in the hallway casting shadows along the painted walls. The office door Nell
     had