Page 33 of Best Laid Plans

Despite the shade from overhead trees, the rock still held some of the day’s warmth and they sat with their feet dangling over the edge, looking down into the green, still water. They’d sat like this many times, years ago, when they were school friends.

How innocent those days seemed now.

She picked up a fallen leaf and rolled it against her thigh, making a little green cylinder. ‘Are we mad, Will? Is it crazy for us to be trying for a baby without love or marriage?’

She sensed a sudden, vibrating tension in him, saw his Adam’s apple slide up and down in his throat. He picked up a small stone and lobbed it into the water. ‘I don’t think it’s a crazy idea. Not if you’re quite sure it’s what you want.’

She let the leaf uncurl. ‘I definitely want to have a baby, and I really like the idea of having you as the father.’ She rolled the leaf again into a tight little cylinder.

‘But sex is a problem,’ Will suggested and his voice was rough and gravely, so that the statement fell between them like the stone he’d had dropped in the water.

‘It could be.’ Lucy concentrated on the leaf in her hand.

‘I know I’m not Josh,’ Will said quietly.

Her head jerked up. With a stab of guilt, she realised she hadn’t been thinking about Josh at all. Poor Will. Did he think he had to live up to some romantic ideal set by his brother?

If only he knew the truth.

But if she told him how she really felt about him, he might be more worried than ever.

No, this rather unconventional baby plan would actually work best if they approached it as friends.

Lucy looked down at Will’s hand as it rested against the rock. It was a strong, workmanlike hand, with fine sun-bleached hairs on the back. She placed her hand on top of his. ‘I don’t want you to be like Josh,’ she said.

His throat worked.

‘But this might be too hard,’ she said. ‘Friends don’t usually jump into bed together.’

‘But they might,’ he said gently, ‘if it was a means to an end. The best means to a good end.’

She sucked in a breath, looked up at the sky.

The best means to a good end.

A baby.

‘That’s a nice way of putting it,’ she said, already picturing the sweet little baby in her arms. Oh, heavens, she could almost feel the warm weight of it, feel its head nestled in the crook of her arm, see its tiny hands. Would they be shaped like Will’s?

‘So what do you think?’ he asked.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully. ‘You’re right. It’s a means to an end.’ After a bit, she said, ‘It would probably be best if we took a strictly medical approach.’

Will frowned. ‘Medical?’

‘I can get ovulation predictors.’ She was gaining confidence now. ‘I’ll need to let you know exactly when I’m ovulating.’

His eyes widened in surprise.

‘You do know there are only a very few days each month when a woman is fertile, don’t you?’

‘Ah, yes, of course,’ he said, recovering quickly. He sent her a puzzled smile. ‘So what happens when it’s all systems go? Will you send me a text message?’ His smile deepened. ‘Or fly a green flag above your door?’

Lucy saw his smile and she felt a massive chunk of tension flow out of her.

To her surprise, she found herself smiling, too. ‘Oh, why don’t I just go the whole hog and place a notice in the Post Office window?’

Now Will was chuckling. ‘Better still, you could take out a full page ad in the Willowbank Chronicle.’

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