Page 23 of A Future in the Bay

Caitlin and Gwen laughed.

“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” Caitlin said, smiling in a friendly way and reaching out to shake Gwen’s hand.

“I’m just doing my job,” Gwen insisted, returning Caitlin’s smile in a more reserved manner. “I hope Pearl feels much better very soon.”

“I think she will. She hardly ever gets sick, and when she does, she usually recovers quickly. I make sure to feed her healthy foods.”

“That’s very important.” Gwen smiled again, and then realized to her surprise that she felt disappointed that Caitlin and Pearl were leaving. She liked the little girl very much,and she had been enjoying talking to Caitlin. “I’ll see you both around town, I’m sure.”

“See you around town,” Caitlin said warmly, and she and Pearl left the examination room. Heidi followed them out so that she could check them out at the front desk.

Gwen lingered alone in the room for a moment, thinking to herself that perhaps it would be nice to get to know the town better. Everyone in Blueberry Bay seemed so kind and pleasant to be around. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was an outsider—and she didn’t know how to become part of a community that she wasn’t sure she would fit into. Could she become one of the kind, pleasant people of Blueberry Bay, or would she always feel like someone who didn’t quite belong?

I just wish I wasn’t the only stranger here,she thought.I feel like the odd man out, being surrounded by all these folks who know each other so well.

In a flash, she remembered Isaiah Dunlap—he was an outsider too, someone who was new to the town and who most people didn’t know. She found herself wanting to reach out to him to get to know him better—he at least had something in common with her, since they were both newcomers. And he seemed like a genuinely friendly, fun person.

Unexpectedly, she felt herself flush a little. Then she shook her head, starting to tidy up the examination room. If her goal was to become part of the Blueberry Bay community, there wasn’t much point in spending time with him, since he was a stranger in the town as well. A voice in the back of her mind told her that he was sure to get acclimated to the community much faster than she was, but she brushed those thoughts aside.

He's a stranger here too,she thought.He’s not the right person to go to for help with getting settled into the town. Although I have to admit, he doesn’t seem like a stranger here.

She paused in her work, wondering if Isaiah was the kind of person who was at home no matter where he was.

She shook her head, telling herself firmly that it was time to get back to work. She’d spent enough time thinking about things that there was no point in thinking about.

Alissa snuggled up against the pillows of the bed she shared with Dane, taking a sip of the soothing tea she’d made for herself. She was propped up on the mattress, her glasses resting on the nightstand nearby, surrounded by baby books. She’d been there for an hour already, having finally started taking the gently-given advice of her mother-in-law and husband. She’d been “taking it easy” as they had urged her, and she’d spent a comfortable evening watching a movie with Dane before coming upstairs to bed early.

She and Dane had gotten all the baby books from the library a few days earlier. She wanted to read them out loud to the baby, even though he hadn’t been born yet. She’d read once that he could hear the sound of her voice reading to him from inside the womb, and she thought it was a sweet idea. She wondered if he would find the same baby books a little familiar when she read them out loud to him after he’d been born.

She smiled to herself and patted her stomach. “What did you think of that last one, Oscar? It was nice, wasn’t it? Just wait till you can see the illustrations.”

She chuckled and took another sip of tea. She’d really been enjoying getting some extra rest—she was feeling more relaxed and calm about everything.

Outside, the wind blew in gusts against the house, rattling the windowpanes and hinting at rain. Alissa felt warm and cozy,and now that she’d finished reading all of the books, she was beginning to feel sleepy.

“How’s the mother of my child?” Dane said, stepping into the bedroom. He’d been in the bathroom brushing his teeth, and he yawned as he walked over to the bed. He was wearing pajamas that she had bought him for Christmas, and she admired how handsome he looked in them.

“Sleepy,” she said, tilting her head up as he leaned down for a kiss.

“Perfect, me too. Except there’s so many books in this bed, there isn’t any room for me.”

She laughed, looking down at all of the baby books that had taken over the bed.

“Poor Dane,” she said. “I’ll make room for you.” She leaned over and gathered up the books into a pile while he climbed into bed beside her.

“Oh good,” he said. “That’s much better.” He snuggled in next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, pretty good physically. And excited. So excited. But I feel like I’m getting more jittery about Oscar’s arrival all the time. What about you, sweetheart?”

“I’m getting more jittery too,” he said, laughing. “It feels like cramming for a test—I want to be totally ready. I want to know everything there is to know.”

She laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly how I feel! I feel like I’ve been studying how to be a parent harder than I ever studied anything for school.”

Outside, the wind picked up and droplets of rain began to splash against the windowpanes. She sighed in contentment and took another sip of tea, offering the cup to Dane.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He took a sip. “Mm, that’s interesting. Tastes like it must be very good for you.”

She laughed. “It’s supposed to be.”

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