Chapters (65)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Part Two
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Part Three
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
“Two weeks,” I lied. I didn’t have time to think about what I should say. I just guessed at a good lie. All I knew was that I didn’t want them to know anything about me that was true.
“She’s beautiful,” said the other one.
“What’s her name?”
“We haven’t named her yet,” I said.
The women seemed surprised, but I think they believed me. It was partly true. A nurse had given me a form to fill out for the birth certificate, but then another nurse told me to wait because of the intended parents’ instructions, so I never got a chance to write anything on it. There’d been something about the birth certificate in the surrogacy agreement, but I didn’t remember what it was.
“Do I need to call the cops, or are you gonna pay for those pads?” said Roz, making me panic for a second, as if she knew I’d taken the baby. How could she tell?
“She’s joking,” said the Vikings sweatshirt.
I exhaled and probably blushed. “Ha! Yeah,” I said. “I’ll get my wallet and be right back.”
When I got out to the truck, Digger was smoking and messing with the radio. “They don’t have shit for stations up here,” he said. We must not have been close enough to Duluth to pick up a signal. I set the baby down on the seat and rummaged around in my backpack for my wallet.
“You shouldn’t smoke in here. It’s not good for the baby.”
“Where am I supposed to smoke?”
“Outside,” I snapped, because wasn’t it obvious? I sighed and grabbed a pair of clean maternity jeans from the duffel.
“She’s fine,” said Digger, snuffing out his cigarette and flicking it out the window.
“Did you get gas?” I asked.
“No, we still got a quarter tank.”
“Will you get some anyway? I don’t want to take any chances with this weather.”
He grumbled, which meant he would do it.
“And will you watch her? I’m gonna go back in and get supplies and stuff for us to eat.”
“Get me some beef jerky and a Coke,” he said.
“Okay.” I checked the baby, still resting on the front seat. It would be too difficult to bring her in with me and do shopping and change clothes, so I left her in the truck. I closed the door, and Digger drove slowly over to the gas pumps. I marched back into the mini-mart, and the doorbell rang as I walked in. I headed straight for the bathroom. “Hi again,” I said. I knew they were staring, but I didn’t care.
Ten
Ruth
1997