Baby On The Way by Sandra Paul Read Free Book Online

her knitting. “How sweet of her!” Christine exclaimed. “What did Mrs. P. bring?”
    Libby unraveled her yarn—how did it always manage to get so twisted?—and started another laborious line of purling. “More warnings on the terror of childbirth,” she said dryly.
    Christine hooted. “As if she’d know—Dorrie Jean was adopted.” Still smiling, she flopped back on Libby’s bed, then turned to prop her chin on her elbow, cuddling the bear next to her.
    Libby smiled at her, thinking, as she always did, how much—and how little—Christine was like her brother. Even to the most casual observer, the resemblance between the two was obvious. Both were tanned and long limbed, with dark curls and brilliant blue eyes. But Del clipped his curls short and combed them ruthlessly back, while Christine’s hair bounced rebelliously to her shoulders. Del’s masculine nose had a slight bump from being broken at some time. Christine’s nose was small and straight.
    But the biggest difference between the two was theirexpressions. Del’s was usually guarded, hiding his thoughts, while Christine’s was open and friendly, reflecting a lively interest in the people around her.
    Christine examined the polish on her long nails, saying, “Mrs. P. means well, you know.”
    “I know,” Libby admitted.
    “In fact,” Christine added, buffing her nails on her shirt and checking them again, “Del means well, too.”
    Libby’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up, meeting her friend’s eyes with a question in her own.
    Christine grinned. “I’d have to be an idiot not to notice what an interest he took in you.” Her brow puckered. “Although, I’ve never seen Del act so domineering before. Of course, he always tries to boss me around. I guess because you live in our house, he’s treating you like a sister, too.”
    Breathing a thankful sigh of relief that Christine hadn’t guessed the true reason for Del’s behavior, Libby resumed her knitting, saying, “There’s no reason for him to feel that way.”
    “I know, but you’ll never convince him of that. Del’s a real take-charge kind of guy. Which isn’t all bad,” Chris added fairly. “When Dad died, Del was only sixteen, but he stepped right into the role of man of the house.” She winced. “And believe me, with a house this old and big, that was quite a job. Something always needed fixing—the wiring, the plumbing—and money, of course, was pretty tight. It became even. more of a struggle when Mom died a few years later. It wasn’t until Del finished up college and found a job with Visatek that things started loosening up again. He really loves that computer stuff.”
    Libby had seen the computer Del used while athome. The machine, stolid and imposing, dominated a corner of the study. She paused in her knitting. “Do you think he’ll stay long?”
    “Probably no more than a day or two. The jobs he handles are usually pretty much a one-man operation.”
    Libby regarded her friend with a slight frown. “What exactly does he do for a living, Chris,” she asked slowly. “You’ve never really said.” And neither had he.
    “Haven’t I?” Christine looked surprised. “I guess I assumed you knew. He’s an electronic engineer specializing in reconnaissance systems—if that tells you anything. His background is in computer imagery, information systems—” she made a face “—boring stuff, like that. Thank goodness he can’t talk about it. The projects he works on are code ‘black’—which means even the titles are hush-hush.”
    “I see.” Libby rocked a minute, mulling that over. It sounded like such a lonely life, and yet. “He must enjoy it,” she said, thinking aloud.
    “He’s enjoys the challenge—and he’s good at it,” Chris replied. “Not only at data analysis, but at the technical stuff, too. He can fix just about anything. There were a ton of companies that wanted him and with whom he wouldn’t have had to do so much traveling,