Mummy in the Making. Victoria Pade

      At that moment Issa didn’t know what they would talk about again and that made her nervous. But so far he hadn’t been difficult to be with because he was good at making conversation himself. And riding to the dinner with him tomorrow night would give her the opportunity to remind him not to spill the beans about her pregnancy….

      “I think we could probably drive over together,” she decreed. “But you don’t have to drive. I mean, I can drive. We can take my car if you want.” She was nervous and cut herself off before it went too far.

      “I don’t suppose you’ve had any experience with the car seat issue yet,” he said like an old sage. “It’s easiest to take whatever vehicle it’s already strapped into.”

      “Does that leave room for me?”

      “Plenty. I have a fairly big SUV and car seats have to be in the back. You can have my passenger seat all to yourself.”

      “Okay, then. I guess if it’s all right with you, it’s all right with me.”

      “We’ll be doing our small part to save the environment,” he concluded. “Tomorrow night, shortly before six?”

      “Sure.” Couldn’t she say anything else? That was four times! She hoped he wasn’t counting. “I can meet you downstairs.”

      “I’ll see you there and then.”

      “There and then,” Issa echoed, wishing after the fact that she hadn’t.

      That was when Hutch Kincaid should have left, but he didn’t. He stayed where he was, standing in her doorway, staring at her, studying her.

      “Okay, then,” he muttered after a moment, as if his mind was somewhere else. “And if the lock gives you any trouble, you know where to find me.”

      Somehow that had sounded a bit awkward on his part, although Issa couldn’t imagine why Hutch Kincaid would feel at all ill at ease saying goodbye to her.

      “I do know where to find you,” she confirmed.

      “Anything else you need, too.”

      “Thanks.”

      He really was having trouble leaving. She didn’t know why, but it made her want to smile.

      Then he seemed to jolt out of his reverie. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

      “See you tomorrow.”

      But another split second still went by before Hutch Kincaid followed his son out her door and, without another glance in Issa’s direction, went down the stairs.

      And yet just the fact that he seemed to have been even a touch gawky at the end made her feel so much better.

      It even made it easier for her to think about riding over to her half brother’s place with him the next night.

      Which she suddenly found herself looking forward to.