"I can go and stay with my friend, Audrey" Penny said eagerly as her plan took shape. "She's always asking me to come. Then you can come over to see me whenever you have time off. You'd get weekends, wouldn't you? We don't have to be so far away from each other that way" She saw my his face that her idea appealed to him. "It could be done" he said. "Might be quite nice down there too. I just hope they won't take the weekends away from me too. Will Audrey be okay with you staying with her for a while?" "Will she be okay with it!" Penny cried, relief, bursting inside her while she flung herself into Jeremy's arm. "Oh I know she will. I will call her now and ask her. Oh it will be wonderful... Just like a holiday. Oh I'm so happy that I don't have to be here alone for three weeks" "Jeremy planted a kiss on the side of her neck." Well, at least I get to see if I can during the weekends, it's better than

"You are not engaged, are you?" Penny asked."No! I haven't met what Audrey would call the right girl. And I don't go out a lot or have a lot of friends... Especially female ones"So she had been right, Penny thought. He wasn't used to women."So what kind of girl do you like? Penny asked with a smile."I'm not sure "he said, smiling back at her." But I will know when I meet her""Dark or fair?" Penny persisted mischievously."I don't mind" Joey answered. "It doesn't matter a great deal what she looks like. I'm more interested in character. I want a wife with a certain amount of intelligence, a sense of humor and above all, no affectations. I can't stand airs and graces"Then he laughed suddenly and Penny saw that it altered his face completely. He looked younger, more boyish. She remembered that Audrey had said that he was three years older than her. That must mean

Penny wasn't unaware of the intensity of his gaze. She lay with her head resting against the arm of the chair, a lock of dark brown hair falling across her forehead, her eyelashes dark and dusty against the pale creaminess of her cheeks. One long slim hand tucked under her chin and the other lay along her side, relaxed and beautiful in its unconscious pose.In those minutes of observation, Joey knew that he loved this girl. That he wanted this woman to be his. It was so sudden and unexpected as the sound of the first shell burst at the start of an attack. All his life he had waited for this moment, and now the realization that it had come at last gave him the same sense of shock as one receives when one expects a loud report, and because of the anticipation is more startled at the explosion.It took him several moments fully to understand that what he was experiencing were the birth pains of the first real love in his life. He allowed the revelation

Penny listened to Jeremy with a deepening perplexity. Why was he being so condescending, so superior? Was he trying to bring Joey down in front of her? Was he just so jealous? The thoughts raced through her mind as she listened, with scant attention to their voices. "What are you planning to do when you leave your present job? Penny tells me you say you want to do something else." That was Joey's voice, carefully polite. "Oh i haven't made up my mind yet" Jeremy replied. "I have had several fairly good offers to join various friends in business, but I want something really worth while. I don't fancy living on a thousand a month" "A thousand a month!" Joey raised his brows. "I should think that pretty good for a start. I wouldn't sniff at it. It's just something you start with" "It's not much good to anyone with ambition" Jeremy said carelessly.&nb

With half her mind, Audrey agreed, but the other strictly feminine side, realized that this would mean several days of indecision for Penny while she lay wondering how Jeremy would accept the news that she was going to have his child as she had made it clear to Audrey that she didn't want to tell Jeremy about the baby over the phone."Well, it's up to you, doctor" Audrey said at last and seeing that Joey's mind was made-up, she left the room to go call Jeremy.Jeremy took the news of Penny's rising temperatures with some concern, but he did not attempt to persuade Audrey to let him come over that evening. "I'm frightfully bad in the sick room" he admitted frankly. "Always so damn healthy myself, i never know what to say or do. I know you will look after her well" "We will. Joey, of course knows the ropes. Can I give her a message from you?" Audrey asked him. "All my love" Jeremy sa