At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [79]
Lexie gamely pretended to be far less miserable at the festival than she actually was, offering to stay as long as Jeremy wanted. Observing her flushed cheeks, Jeremy shook his head and told her that he’d seen enough and suggested they spend the rest of the weekend away from the crowds. After packing an overnight bag, they went to the cottage in Buxton. While it wasn’t noticeably cooler, the steady breeze off the ocean and the temperature of the water offered a refreshing break. By the time they returned to Boone Creek, they learned that Rodney and Rachel were engaged. Somehow they’d been able to work through their problems, and two days later, Rachel asked Lexie to be her matron of honor.
Even the house was coming along; the major renovations were completed, the kitchen and bathrooms were as good as new, and all that was still required were the finishing touches that would turn the place from a work in progress to a home. They were scheduled to move in at the end of the month. Perfect timing, as it turned out, since they had just received an offer on the bungalow from a nice retired couple from Virginia who wanted to take possession as soon as possible.
Aside from the continuing writer’s block, life was good for Jeremy. Though he sometimes reflected on the trials he and Lexie had gone through before marriage, he knew they’d emerged from them stronger as a couple. When he looked at Lexie now, he knew he had never cared for anyone as deeply. What he didn’t know, what he couldn’t know, was that the hardest days were yet to come.
Sixteen
We still haven’t decided on a name for the baby,” Lexie said.
It was an early evening in the second week of August; Lexie and Jeremy were sitting on the porch of their new home. Though they hadn’t moved in yet, the workers had left for the day, and they were watching the water. Without a breeze, the water was flat and still, so mirrorlike that the whitewashed cypress trees on the far bank looked as if they were growing in opposite directions.
“I’ve decided to leave that up to you,” Jeremy said. He was fanning himself with a copy of Sports Illustrated that he’d intended to read before realizing it had a better purpose on a hot summer night.
“You can’t just leave it up to me. It’s our baby. I want to hear what you think.”
“I’ve told you what I think,” Jeremy said. “You just didn’t like it.”
“I am not going to name our daughter Misty.”
“Misty Marsh? How can you not like that?”
He’d suggested the name the week before as a joke. Lexie was so dismissive that he’d been pressing it ever since, if only to tease her.
“Well, I don’t.” Wearing shorts and a baggy T-shirt, she was flushed from the heat. Because her feet had begun to swell, Jeremy had dragged over an old bucket so she could prop them up.
“You don’t think it has a nice ring to it?”
“No more than other plays on your last name. You might as well want to name her Smelly Marsh or Creepy Marsh.”
“I was saving those for her brothers.”
She laughed. “I’m sure they’d be forever grateful. But seriously, you don’t have any ideas?”
“No. Like I told you, whatever you decide is fine.”
“That’s the problem. I haven’t decided.”
“You know what the problem is, right? You bought every baby name book out there. You gave yourself too many choices.”
“I just want something that fits who she is.”
“But that’s the thing. No matter what we choose, it won’t fit right away. No baby looks like Cindy or Jennifer; all babies look like Elmer Fudd.”
“No, they don’t. Babies are cute.”
“But they look the same.”
“No, they don’t. And I’ll warn you right up front that I’m going to be extremely disappointed in you if you can’t pick our daughter out in the nursery.”
“No reason to worry. They have name cards.”
“Ha, ha,” she said. “You’re going to know what she looks like.”
“Of course I will. She’ll be the most beautiful baby in the history of North