The Things We Do for Love

"Whats funny?"

"I am. I sounded just like my mother for a second there. " She tossed the basil in the sauce, stirred it once with a wooden spoon and covered the pot. "So," she said, setting the spoon down. "I thought you were going to stay after school with David. "

Lauren looked miserable. "Yeah. Well. "

"Ill tell you what. Go put on some dry clothes and well have some hot cocoa and talk. "

"Youre busy. "

"Im cooking. Which probably means well have to go out for dinner, so you might as well get dressed. "

At last, a smile. "Okay. "

Angie turned the heat on the stove to low, then made a pot of homemade hot cocoa. It was one of the few things she made well. By the time she was finished and had taken a seat in the living room, Lauren was coming down the stairs.

"Thanks," Lauren said, taking a cup of cocoa, sitting in the big leather chair by the window.

"I take it your day didnt go well," Angie said, trying to keep her voice gentle.

Lauren shrugged. "I feel . . . older than all my friends. "

"I guess I can see that. "

"Theyre worrying about Civil War battle dates, and Im worrying about how to pay for day care while I go to college. Not a lot in common there. " She looked up. "David said he might buy me a ring. "

"Is that a proposal?"

It was exactly the wrong thing to say. Poor Laurens face crumbled. "I didnt think so. "

"Oh, honey, dont be too hard on him. Even grown men cant handle impending fatherhood. David probably feels like hes been dropped out of an airplane and the ground is rushing up to meet him. He knows hes going to hit hard. Just because hes scared doesnt mean he loves you less. "

"I dont know if I could take that. Him not loving me, I mean. "

"I know what you mean. "

Lauren looked up sharply. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Im sorry. I shouldnt have brought it up. I dont want you to be sad, too. "

"What do you mean?"

"You still love your ex. I can tell by the way you talk about him. "

"Im that obvious, huh?" Angie looked down at her hands, then said slowly, "I saw him today. " She didnt know what made her share that secret. The need to talk about it, maybe.

"Really? Is he still in love with you, too?"

Angie could hear the hope in Laurens voice and she understood the girls need to believe that a burned-out love could be rekindled. What woman didnt want to believe that? "I dont know. Theres a lot of water under our bridge. "

&nb

sp; "He wouldnt like me living here. "

The perceptiveness of the observation surprised Angie. "Why do you say that?"

"Come on. After what that other pregnant girl did to you guys?"

"That was different," Angie said, echoing what shed said to Conlan only a few hours ago, wanting to believe it. "I cared about Sarah, sure. But I fell in love with the baby in her womb. I would have adopted that child and brought him into our lives and said good-bye to Sarah. She would have disappeared from our everyday lives. Youre different. "

"How?"