“Uh, yeah. I aced statistics and both of my calculus classes in college.”

He nodded. “I have a woman at Cavanaugh Financial who left last week to take care of her dying mother in Virginia. They only give her mother about a month to live, and then Nancy will have to wrap up the estate. She works in payroll, and my human resources manager has been hounding me to find a temporary replacement. Would you be interested in that?”

My heart picked up a notch at the thought of having an easy desk job for the next couple of months. “Evan, that sounds perfect! I had planned to find a waitressing job, but I wasn’t really thrilled thinking about being on my feet all day with the pregnancy.”

“Okay, then. You’re hired. Can you start immediately?”

“Yes!” I said, clapping my hands together.

Over the next few weeks, Evan and I continued to see each other almost daily outside of work, dining together most evenings, going to plays, and window shopping for the baby. My brother came to all my OB/GYN appointments with me, but he was suddenly deployed just before I was to go in for my first sonogram. Not wanting to go to that important appointment alone, I asked Evan if he would accompany me, and he happily agreed.

He cried with me the first time we saw the baby appear on the screen, and I adored him for that. We found out that I was having a girl, and he took me shopping directly after the appointment and spent a fortune on baby girl clothing at an exclusive children’s boutique.

“That was so much fun,” he said enthusiastically as he drove me back home after our shopping extravaganza.

“It was. Thank you so much for being there with me today, and you honestly didn’t have to buy all that stuff,” I said, jerking my thumb toward all the bags and boxes in the backseat.

“Honey, we’re going to have the best-dressed little princess in all of California,” he said with a grin.

I noticed that Evan was uncharacteristically quiet the closer we got to my house, his normally chatty demeanor replaced with short answers and nods. Lying my hand gently on his forearm, I asked, “What’s wrong, Ev? You seem distant, even after an intense round of retail therapy.”