Faith Departed Sneak Peek, Part 3

“So then I had to reboot the server remotely and pull in the backup I kept on my laptop. Once that got restarted, the demo went fine. But Anthony better hope he doesn’t run into me in the hall anytime soon.” June tucked her feet under her and let her head flop back onto the sofa. It had been a long day, made even longer by the gross incompetence of her coworker. Changing into her flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt had been bliss, especially around her waist where her slacks had left a deep impression. But she wasn’t going to think about that right now.

Toby drew his eyebrows together. “Wait. He went back in right before the demo and rolled back all the changes you made during the morning? On purpose? Why?”

She waved a hand. “He gave some song and dance about how he’d been testing something and it crashed, so he restored from the backup. But I suspect he realized I was changing his code and got mad. He thinks that no one should ever fix anyone else’s code. I tried asking him to take a look at problems in his code the first couple of times I had to work with him. But he never thinks his stuff is the problem, so I quit even mentioning it. It’s easier to fix it myself.”

“Do you think you’ll get the contract?”

“Hard to say at this point. We did manage to do a successful demo. I’m hopeful that’ll make the difference. But Bob’s on a rampage. Thankfully, I’m not part of the group who’re on his radar. How was your meeting?”

“Not nearly that exciting. We didn’t have any demos today, just slide after slide after slide.” He shuddered.

“Ooh. Deadly. Probably full of pie charts too, weren’t they?”

He laughed. “Got it in one. But the customer seemed pleased, so that’s really all you can hope for. At least we know we’re not on the short list for having our contract cancelled.”

“That’s good.” June shifted to rest her head on his shoulder. Was there anything better than hanging out and talking with Toby about whatever came up? Not to her—this was bliss. “I had lunch with July. She and Gareth are going to start a family, too.”

Toby was quiet. What was he thinking? He still wasn’t completely on board with the idea, but he wasn’t reconsidering. Was he?

“Say something, Toby.”

“That’s good, I guess. I just…” He turned to meet her gaze. “That’s not why we’re thinking about it, is it? Because your sister is?”

“No. Of course not.” June frowned. Why would he think—or say—that? When she’d first brought up the idea, July and Gareth were firmly in the ‘we’re too young for kids’ camp. She didn’t know what had changed their minds, but June’s ache for a child had nothing to do with any of that. Why would he even think that?

“Okay.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I still feel like it’s too soon to be doing this. We’re only twenty-four, just getting a good foothold in our careers. Things are starting to take off and I don’t know what kind of life we’d provide for a kid. I mean, we’ll have plenty of food, but no luxuries. Particularly since you want to stay home. And I fully support that. But it’ll cut our income in half.”

“So? We have a good house. Sure, it’s not huge, but it’s enough for a family of three. Even four, honestly. And I don’t want to be an old mom—I want to have kids while we’re young and can keep up with them.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “Do you want to stop trying?”

He shook his head and pulled her close. “That’s not what I said. Or meant. But I don’t think we need to rush things along and I guess I worry about the pressure you’ll feel if things work out quickly for your sister.”

She opened her mouth to deny it, then snapped it closed. He might have a point. He probably did have a point. She’d had trouble in the past with tangles that cropped up from being a twin. Was this another example of that? She and July had been discussing kids for the last year. Was that what had kindled her desire to try? Had she mistaken her own stirring desire for God’s prompting?

Toby kissed the top of her head. “What if we both try not to stress about it?”

“That’s a plan.” June tipped her head so their lips met. She wasn’t going to let this become a problem between them. God was going to give them a baby. And when Toby held his little girl, well, he’d probably be convinced that it’d been his idea all along.