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Back The Surrogate
Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Part One
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Part Two
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Forty
  46. Forty-One
  47. Forty-Two
  48. Forty-Three
  49. Forty-Four
  50. Forty-Five
  51. Forty-Six
  52. Forty-Seven
  53. Forty-Eight
  54. Forty-Nine
  55. Fifty
  56. Fifty-One
  57. Part Three
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Acknowledgments
  64. About the Author
  65. About the Publisher

She said to park behind the main building and flash my lights before I got out of the truck. Then come get her. She asked if I could take her out of town and stay with her for a few nights. I thought, Here we go again. She’s gonna try to get back together. My roommate had called it. But I wasn’t sure. Something in her voice. She said she had a lot going on. Needed time to “process.” She sounded nervous. She sounded desperate. So I went and got her. Hell, I had the time. My uncle didn’t need me again until February for a job down in Florida. So what the hell.

And I gotta say. That night with her in my truck, on the highway. It was like old times. Except that she had that sperm lawyer’s kid, and she was breastfeeding it the whole way. Every time I glanced over, they’d either be sleeping or she’d be sticking her boob in the baby’s face.

“Don’t watch me,” she’d say.

“I’m not,” I’d say. “I’m fucking driving.” But I caught a peek at her tits, and they were huge.

Cally must have been thirsty, because she emptied my water bottle. Plus another one she found on the floor. I told her I didn’t know how old it was. She said she didn’t care.

After we passed Rush City, she wanted to make a pit stop. In the middle of nowhere.

“Do you see anyplace to stop?” I said, pointing outside to the dark.

“No, but when you see a gas station, please?”

I said nothing.

Eventually, there was an exit and a mini-mart. I drove up to the front door and dropped her off. After she hopped out, I lit up a cigarette.

“Want one?” I said to the kid.

Six

Ruth

1997

I’d kept Hal’s business card on my bedroom dresser, caressing it from time to time, as if the embossed letters were his lips or a Ouija board, telling me it was okay. Finally, I summoned the right rationale: my story was done and needed a companion piece.

“Hal Olson, please,” I said to the male voice who answered on the second ring.

“Speaking,” he said, and I felt a twinge in my breasts.

“Oh hi, this is Ruth Martin, we met at the—”

“Hello, Ruth,” he said, cutting me off with his sexy confidence.

“Oh. You remember me?” I tucked my chin to my chest, and the back of my neck tingled.

“I sure do.”

“Um, okay. Good . . .” I got up from my desk and closed the door to my office. Didn’t want Kristin hearing this, or any of the other newspaper employees nosing around in my personal life. I wanted this man all to myself.

“I’m glad you called,” he said, and I believed him.