"I can't--"
"It's just a finger. Sip a little bit. You are shivering." She marched over to turn up the heat, her steps militant.
"You should have called me when he showed up."
She took a tentative sip and felt the fire coursing through her veins. Putting the glass down, she wrapped the blanket around her.
"And say what?" She had chosen to come here instead of going straight home and had told the school to take David to her grandmother. She couldn't face either of them right now. She was going to have to tell Grams what was going on, but not now. Carrie was the only one she had confided in.
"You should have seen the look on his face." Even the memory of it caused her to tremble. "He looked like he wanted to commit murder. I hurt him Car."
She continued bleakly.
"When I told him that I was originally into it for gain, the pain on his face broke my heart." She rubbed her chest as if to ease the ache. "Then I told him I had a son."
She laughed hoarsely.
"You could have knocked him down with a feather." She turned to stare at her friend. "He called me a lousy mother, said I was a monster."
Her friend hurried over. Pulling up a chair, Carrie took her hands.
"And we both know you're not. Like you said, he's angry and hurt and lashing out."
"He said some things that are true. I did it to get ahead."
Carrie shook her head. "It was more than that for you. From the very first time you saw him, you felt something."
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."
Carrie squeezed her hands to get her attention. "You're going to have to tell him about the baby."
Despair covered her like a smothering coat.
"How?" She whispered. "He said he never wants to see me again. He threatened me--"
She gulped back a sob.
"He was so angry, I was literally afraid he was going to hurt me."
"But he didn't." Her friend reminded her gently, rubbing her hands. "And that speaks a lot about who he really is. Some men caught up in that situation would have struck out. You haven't told Grams."
"No." She swallowed the tears. "And I'm afraid I might be out of a job. I saw the way Jessica was looking at me when I left."
"I hate to say this honey, but that might be a blessing in disguise."
"How?" She cried. "I have a mouth to feed. David eats like a horse and now I have another on the way."
Tugging her hands free, she pushed to her feet and went to the window to look out. It was the beginning of November, and the bleakness of the evening gave testimony to what the weather was like. And the fact that it mirrored her mood.
Her life was falling apart again, and she was helpless to stop it from happening.
"I ended things with the idiot I was seeing."
Melanie turned to look at her.
Meeting her friend's eyes, she shrugged. "You were right. No amount of expensive things and money could make me stomach his ways. He's a bigot, kept calling me his dark chocolate and hinting at how people like us have come up in the world. I took his things, clothes, shoes, jewelries and money and told him to get lost."
She had a defiant look on her face.
