Page 6 of Miracles and Marriage
“Hey, you want romance, you need to take your time. You want a sperm donor, you take what you can get.”
“Cal, I can’t believe you said that. It sounds horrible. I don’t just want a donor, I want someone to make a baby with and then raise that baby together, going to school functions, family gatherings. I’d like to get married if I can find the right man, butif that’s not in the cards, I still want a father who will be there when the child graduates college and gets married and makes us grandparents.”
“What time warp are you coming from?” he asked.
“What do you mean? That’s not so much to ask.”
“In this day and age it is. Who do you know who’s still married when their kids graduate college?”
“My parents for one. My grandparents are all alive, all four. There has only been one divorce in our family in three generations,” she said. “But marriage isn’t necessary. Mostly I want someone committed to being a dad. Someone who will love our child as much as I will.”
“Weigh the chances and the parameters you have to work with. See what level of comfort you can stand and go for it. It may be single motherhood is the cost of a child.”
“I guess I have some serious thinking to do.”
“Want something to eat while doing that serious thinking?”
“Can you cook?”
Zoe knew he could order pizza with the best of them, but she’d never had a reason to know if he could cook. It gave a different dimension to him.
“I can manage eggs and toast,” he said.
“I think there’s only dry cereal and oatmeal.”
“I’ll manage, you rest.”
He stood up and walked out of the bedroom.
Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. Cal was too energetic for the way she felt. She meant what she said—she had some serious decisions to make. Could she find someone to fall in love with on demand? Cal already promised to introduce her to an eligible man. Her sisters would, she knew. Some friends had been trying to fix her up for years, but she’d always had her work. And Cal—as Chloe said.
Zoe didn’t want to return to work. She wanted to stay at the cottage and gather her resources a bit before returning home. Yet if Cal was going to introduce her to someone he thought she might like, maybe the sooner done the better. She hoped this month’s bout of pain vanished soon.
Cal brought up oatmeal and tea. He sat beside her and matched her spoonful for spoonful. She thought it funny he’d eat so plainly, and drink tea when she knew he devoured coffee all day long.
A couple of times during the meal, she caught Cal studying her. Zoe wanted to squirm under his intense regard, but did her best to appear unconcerned propped up against the headboard. The pills were beginning to take effect and she felt marginally better.
She appreciated his taking care of her. She never expected that. Fighting terrorists or kidnappers, yes, taking care of a sick friend—no. Showed she really didn’t know all she could about him.
“Are you tabulating every flaw to pass on to your friend?” she finally asked.
“No, I’m mentally listing all the attributes I think will have him falling over himself to date you. You’re prettier than I noticed before.”
She felt a spurt of amusement. “Thanks, I think.”
“Well, we don’t have that kind of relationship. I never noticed how pretty you are.”
“You have your own bevy of female companions,” she said. “I bet they’re all beautiful.”
She’d seen several over the years—always model thin and glam.
“The old adage about beauty only being skin deep still applies.”
He looked down at his tea, slowly lifting the cup to sip.
Zoe wondered what she might have said to cause that pensive—no almostpainedlook. Had he and a girlfriend just broken up? She tried to remember the last woman in his life. Suzette or Suzanne or something like that. Occasionally she heard him talking to her on the phone. Cal also kept his personal life out of the office.
She suddenly realized she knew very little about her boss beyond the day-to-day operations of the business. How odd. After working closely together for so long, they should know more about each other.
