kindness brought the ever-present tears back to the surface. Joylyn blinked them away.
“That would be really nice,” she said, her throat tightening. “I was a little nervous about going, so a friendly face would help.”
“Then let’s go. Want me to drive?”
“Do you know where my appointment is?”
“Yes. I use the same practice. All the doctors there are great.”
Joylyn got into Wynn’s car and fastened her seat belt. Some of her tension eased.
“How are you feeling?” Wynn asked as she backed out of the driveway.
“Good. The baby is very active, which I like.”
“Do you talk to your husband much?”
“We FaceTime a few days a week, but I still miss him.”
“You’re down to less than a month until he comes home, right?”
“I’m counting the days. I keep telling myself I should have stayed on base rather than moving in with my mom. I miss my friends there.”
“When will you go back?”
“Once Chandler’s home and his leave is done, we’ll get a new assignment and new housing.”
“It must be hard to feel settled when you don’t know where you’re going to end up.”
“It is.”
Wynn drove through the streets of town. Joylyn had a vague idea of where the doctor’s office was and appreciated that she didn’t have to worry about finding it.
“Are you going to stay with your dad until then?”
Joylyn glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“I just wondered if you were going to stay in town here, rather than moving back with your mom. There will be three of you and from what I understand, the house is already full.” Wynn smiled. “I think your dad would be happy to have you stick around.”
Stay here? Joylyn had never considered that. She’d assumed they would leave the second Chandler got back, which was a week before the baby was due. Wynn’s point was a good one though—there wasn’t all that much room at her mom’s place. But staying here?
“He doesn’t want me here.”
“Your dad?” Wynn shook her head. “You’re wrong about that. He’s excited you’re staying.” She smiled. “He’s lived next door to me for about a year, but we never really said much more than hi until he found out you were going to be moving in. He came over and asked me to help get the house ready so you’d be comfortable. He had the bedroom set, but not any of the linens, and his empty kitchen was a total disaster.”
Joylyn didn’t know what to say to that. While she wanted to believe her dad was glad she was around, she just couldn’t.
“I used to be important to him,” she admitted. “Just not anymore.”
“Why would you say that? Your dad loves you, Joylyn. He’s so proud of you. I don’t know what happened before, but I would suggest you at least talk about it. Ask questions. The answers may surprise you.”
Joylyn didn’t want to fight, so she nodded, as if she would take Wynn’s advice to heart. The truth was, she didn’t care about questions or answers. Not when it came to her dad.
She put her hand on her stomach. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about being alone when you were pregnant. How did you handle that?”
“I didn’t have a choice. There wasn’t anyone else. I tried to save as much as I could so I could take off for three weeks after the birth, but I had no idea how much everything cost. Have you priced diapers? They’re really expensive.”
“I know, and babies need a lot.”
“More than you think—that’s for sure.” Wynn made a left turn. “I had a small inheritance from an old lady in our building. Ms. James. She’d never married and she didn’t have much when she died, but she left it all to me. She used to tell me I could make something of myself if only I’d put in the effort. It broke my heart to use that money to pay for food and rent. She’d wanted better for me.”
Joylyn glanced at her. “Like going to college?”
“Something like that. Certainly more than me getting pregnant the way I did.” Something flashed in Wynn’s eyes. “She would have been very disappointed with me.”
“What happened? How did you end up here?”
“Hunter’s father died. I didn’t know until a lawyer showed up at my front door to tell me there was a life insurance policy. I was three weeks away from being evicted, and when the man told me about the money, I couldn’t stop crying.”
“What did you do with it?”
“Paid my rent.” She glanced