Page 28

27

I feel good this morning.

I’m humming to myself as I spread butter over Tegan’s toast. I don’t even know exactly what I’m humming. It’s just generic music. It just seems like such a nice day. Despite all the snow on the ground, the sun is shining, and I’m glad we got our electricity back.

Tegan was lying about having a husband. I saw the look on her face when I repeated the name she gave me. I don’t know if any Jackson exists, but he’s definitely not her husband. There’s no husband. There probably isn’t even a boyfriend. It’s just her, all alone. And soon it will be her and a baby she didn’t even want , who she won’t even look at once it’s born.

A set of muscular arms encircles my shoulders, and then the warmth of Hank’s body radiates against mine. “Hey,” he breathes in my ear.

I lean back to rest my head against his chest. “Hey yourself.”

He squeezes me close to him. He’s got on nothing but boxers and a white undershirt. “Last night was great.”

I feel a twinge of guilt that my husband is so excited about the fact that we had sex last night. He’s been so unbelievably patient with me—I haven’t exactly been easy to deal with for the last couple of years.

“It was great.” I squirm out of his grasp so that I can turn around and plant a kiss on his lips. I have to tilt up my head and stand on my tiptoes to do it. “ You’re great.”

He beams at me, and it reminds me of that day at the shop all those years ago—before we were married, before we were even dating—when I invited him out to dinner and he looked so happy. He runs his fingertips along the side of my face. “Maybe I can keep the shop closed today and we can do something together. Whatever you want.”

I laugh. “I’m not sure what I feel comfortable doing with that woman down in the basement.”

“Well, after she goes to the hospital, I mean.”

The smile I’ve had on my lips the entire morning drops off my face. “How can she go to the hospital? The phones are out.”

He lifts a shoulder. “That’s okay. I’ll drive her.”

“You’ll do no such thing! The roads are still covered in snow!”

“Yeah, but I got that plow attachment in the garage,” he reminds me. “I’ll just get it hooked up, and that should get us to the main road.”

Oh right. I forgot all about the plow attachment he bought last winter. He said he was sick of waiting for the plow to come and that we would save money in the long run. That means nobody’s coming to plow our driveway.

“I just…” I wring my hands together. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to move her right now. She’s in a whole lot of pain. It’s better to wait till we get our phones back and we can call for the paramedics.”

“I’m sure she wants to leave though.”

“Oh no.” I shake my head. “I told her it might be a little while longer, and she was fine with it. She’s anxious about going to the hospital.”

Hank scratches at his beard, and I hold my breath, waiting to see if he’ll buy it. Finally, he shrugs. “If she’s okay with it.”

I nod eagerly. “Oh yes. And I’m sure the phone lines will be back up soon. You should go on to the shop and let me take care of everything.”

He looks hesitant, but he goes back upstairs to get dressed. He is going along with this, but when tonight comes and Tegan is still in the basement, he’s going to start asking a lot more questions. When that happens, he may not like the answers quite as much, but when it comes down to it, he’s going to do exactly what I tell him to do.

He doesn’t have a choice.