“Can I borrow your car? Do you have any plans today?”
“I just want to sleep, if you let me.”
“Thanks.” Michelle bent down and kissed what she thought was Yasmine’s forehead.
“You don’t have to kiss my ass, Michelle. You’re my girl. I’ll do anything for you.”
Stifling a giggle, Michelle tiptoed out of the room.
Pastor Dixon had just commenced his Sunday sermon when she got to the little church where she and her brother used to attend services, occasionally, when they were children. She slid quietly and unnoticed in the very last pew.#p#分页标题#e#
Michelle listened intently as Pastor Dixon talked about Faith, Hope, and Charity, the three spiritual gifts, and how Charity was the greatest and most blessed of the three. He called Charity Love, and explained how it conquered all, overcame any problem, moved mountains.
Michelle had never considered herself religious, but as she listened to the comforting words of wisdom, she thought of Erik and Precious, and how much she loved them. She wanted to be with them, especially now that she knew she had no blood ties to the man responsible for their pain. She wanted to tell Erik about his child growing inside her, that it was not related to the man who’d killed his wife. She wanted her family back.
Timmy Gleason had robbed her of her own father. She was not going to let him rob her child of his, or hers.
If what the minister said was true, that Love conquered all things, no matter how dismal the circumstances, she would just have to have faith, and hope that she and Erik find their way back to each other.
Michelle turned her head as someone sat down next to her. A smile brightened her face, and she reached out and clasped the large warm hand.
Her dear, sweet, big brother smiled back at her. He was hurting, too. Timmy Gleason had scarred her brother just as deeply as he had her. When Michelle hurt, Robert hurt, too. It had always been like that. It would always be like that.
They slid quietly outside before the benediction.
Robert put his arms around her without saying a word.
“Thanks for coming,” Michelle mumbled against his chest. She’d called him this morning to let him know where she would be. They would spend the day together, comforting each other, asking questions neither one of them knew the answers to, right now, but which they hoped they’d find in time. “I lost Erik and Precious because of that homeless bastard. I may have lost my mother too because of him. I feel so alone.”
“You’re never alone, Mich, darling. You know I’ll always be here for you. I asked you to come stay with me, but I understand you need to stay in Manchester for the kids at the center.” He paused. “Do you want me to talk to Erik? Pound some sense into his thick head?”
“Oh, Robert.” Michelle sighed and gazed into his face. “You’re always picking up the broken pieces of my life and putting them back together. I’m not a little girl, anymore. I can’t expect you to keep fighting my battles. I’m a woman now, and soon to be a mother. I destroyed my relationship with Erik, all by myself. I have to fix it, all by myself.”
“You have grown up so much in the last few months, Little Sis. You’ve been broken, but you’re a whole lot stronger than you were before. I hear it in your voice, see it in your eyes.”
“I have to be strong for my child,” Michelle said, as her brother walked her to the car. “As strong as our mother was for us.”
***
After pondering the words of the minister all day, Michelle decided to give it one last shot, and at midnight, she made her call.
“Hello.” A woman’s voice, groggy from sleep, drifted through the wires into Michelle’s ears.
A sharp gasp escaped her as the shock of reality flew to her brain. She placed a trembling hand over her heart as anxiety spurted through her.
“Who’s there? I know someone’s there. I can hear you breathing.”
With a slow unsteady motion, Michelle pushed the end button on the receiver. She fell onto the sofa and stuck her knuckles into her mouth so Yasmine wouldn’t hear her gasping.
Then she felt it coming, hard and strong, like a whirling tornado rushing through her system. She barely made it to the bathroom in time. She fell to the floor and grabbed the sides of the toilet and emptied her stomach into the bowl.#p#分页标题#e#
***
July finally dragged around again. And with it came sweltering heat and suffocating humidity.
It was a little over a year ago that Michelle walked up the driveway of 204 Jefferson Drive, and into Erik LaCrosse’s life. One year ago, she had found love, and eight and a half months ago she had lost it, due to a terrible twist of fate.