“Claire, are you in there?”
It was Shane.
Right now, he must be freaking out,
wondering if I’d taken the baby.
With weather this cold, he must be worried
sick that the kid would get sick.
Yeah, right.
I heated water, waiting until it was just warm
enough to drink, and leisurely opened the
door.
He lost his balance from all the knocking and
almost fell inside.
Seeing how cold I was, he paused, forcing
down his anger, and peered inside the house.
“Claire, what are you doing? Why didn’t you
answer? Is everything okay?”
He was testing the waters, scared I’d figured
him out.
Playing dumb? I could do that.
I rubbed my eyes, acting confused.
“I was sleeping.”
Shane’s face changed. He pushed past me,
stomping into the house, and ripped back the
blankets, only to find an empty bed.
He looked around, panicked.
“It’s not here? How is that possible?”
I finally realized how pathetic his acting was.
And how blind and stupid I used to be.
“What’s not here?”
I did everything I could to suppress my hate,
my voice icy.
Shane snapped back to reality, grabbing my
wrist.
“Did you find something on the road and
hurry back? Otherwise, you’d be out in the
fields working for Shelly, not here sleeping!”
Shane had convinced me that he and Shelly
were siblings, that his sister couldn’t handle
hard labor.
In the dead of winter, at four in the morning,
every other soul was asleep.
Only I went to the fields every day before
dawn, doing the dirty, back–breaking work for
Shelly.
And they left the baby on the side of the
road, waiting for me to pick it up.
I wondered why Shelly hadn’t been around for
months, probably knocked up and hiding so
no one would see.
Shane’s hands were like steel traps on my
shoulders, his eyes bloodshot.
“Talk to me! If something
‘S to that ki
–“He stopped himself. “If something
happens, can you live with that?”
“What are you talking about? I have no idea
what you mean.”
His grip was painful, and I wrestled out of his
grasp.
“In this weather, who goes out to work in the
fields in the middle of the night? It’s
freezing!”
Hearing the word “freezing” seemed to drain
all the color from Shane’s face.
He stopped trying to hide anything and bolted
out the door like a madman.
I watched him go, smiling.
In the empty fields at dawn, his son had been
freezing in the cold for hours.
A baby abandoned by his own father.
So sad.
Ha!
My neighbor walked in, waving a plastic bag.
“Claire, the farm gave out pork. Still taking it
to Shane?”
Shane came from money and had always had
it easy.
I felt sorry for him and Shelly, not used to
hardship.
I always saved the eggs and cornmeal for
them, never mind the pork we got once a
year.
I ate dry corn bread, washing it down with
water.
L
They were sucking me dry, and laughing
behind my back for being such a fool.
I dug my nails into my palms.
“No more taking anything to Shane.”
M M
She looked shocked.
Everyone knew I liked Shane, that I’d give him
the last grain of rice.
Now, suddenly, I’d changed.
From now on, all the good stuff was for me.
Screw Shane, let him choke on it!
I started cooking pork and glass noodles right
away, and corn bread so good I almost bit my
>
tongue off.
Guess a woman’s life really does improve
when she dumps a man.
Outside, I could hear neighbors gossiping.
“Shane went crazy, ran to the hospital with a
baby he found who was half–frozen, they
say.”
“Poor kid, the doctor said they brought him in
too late, there might be lasting damage.”
“Shane begged the doctor on his knees.
Never thought he had it in him, but he’s got a
big heart, worrying so much about a
foundling.”
I sneered
Of course he’d be worried.
That was the firstborn son he had with his
precious Shelly.