It was Friday afternoon nearly two weeks after Hannah had first told her father about the pregnancy. Exhausted from her day's work as an underwriting assistant for a major insurance company, she walked into the house and discovered her father waiting for her in the living room. He sat in his favorite chair, his hands curved around the faded upholstered arms, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Hannah called it his "thinking chair." To discover him resting in the middle of the afternoon was highly unusual.
"Good afternoon, Dad," she greeted with a smile, and walked across the worn beige carpet to kiss his weathered cheek. "Is everything all right?"
"If s just fine," he said, returning her smile with an absent one of his own. "Keep your coat on. We're going out."
"We are?" Offhand, Hannah couldn't think of any appointment she'd made. Only infrequently did she accompany her father on house calls, and those were generally scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings. George Raymond made it a point to visit every family in his congregation at least once a year.
His hand protectively cupped her elbow as he led her out the front door and down the steps. The station wagon was parked in the driveway.
"Where are we going?" Hannah questioned. Rarely had she seen her father look more resolute. It was as if he were marching with Joshua, preparing to face the walls of Jericho.
When he didn't answer, she assumed he hadn't heard her and she repeated the question. That, too, was ignored.
He drove silently for several minutes before he reached the freeway, and then he headed south toward Tacoma. The car was warm, and although she was curious as to what was happening, Hannah soon found her eyes drifting closed. Her head bobbed a couple of times as she struggled to remain awake. If only she'd get over this depressing need for extra sleep. It seemed she couldn't last through the day without napping. Lately she'd taken to heading for bed nearly as soon as she'd finished the dinner dishes. She shifted positions and opened her eyes when they crossed the Narrows Bridge and headed toward the Kitsap Peninsula.