Winter shrugged. “I just thought it was pretty.”

“Buy it. Someone is always having a baby shower.” Beth looked down, grabbing her boys’ hands to pull them out of the clothes racks they were hiding underneath.

Winter picked the pretty garment up, holding it in the crook of her arm. “I might do that.” Moving to the rack of boy clothes, she thumbed through them. One caught her eye and, laughing, she looked at Beth. “Mommy’s Boy. It’s so cute.” The sleeper was too precious. Winter added it to the growing pile of clothes. She then found a couple more sleepers for Fat Louise.

She was going to the cashier counter where Beth was paying, when she saw a blanket. It was whisper-thin, and each stitch seemed to be a different shade of pink.

“It was made by a woman in town.” A sales clerk came up beside her, lifting the fragile blanket to spread it on the table.

“It’s beautiful.” Winter touched it, letting the material slip through her fingers.

“Are you shopping for yourself or a friend?” From the clerk’s friendly overture, she couldn’t be aware of the thrust of pain that struck Winter’s heart.

“For a friend. She’s having a boy.”

“Oh.” She smiled, folding the blanket up.

“I’ll take it.” Winter took the blanket from the surprised clerk then moved to the cashier before she could change her mind.

“Wow, you won’t have to shop for the next three baby showers,” Beth said, when she saw all the items Winter had laid on the counter.

“You never know who is going to get pregnant next.” Winter handed the cashier her credit card.

The women left the store, Beth holding Noah’s hand and Winter holding Chance’s as they walked down the sidewalk. They had parked their cars in the church parking lot so they could stop in to ask Willa if she wanted to join them before going shopping. However, she had been too busy filling an order for a birthday cake, so they had left without her.

“Can we play before we go home?” Noah asked.

“I don’t see why not. You were good in the store. I might even take you to get ice cream when you’re done.”

The little boys ran to the backyard of the church when Beth opened the side gate.

Winter leaned her arms on the fence, watching the boys play as Beth closed the gate from the other side, giving her boys an indulgent smile.

“I love kids. It doesn’t take a lot to make them happy.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Winter agreed.

“I’ll see you back at the house,” Beth told her, when Chance yelled for her to come swing him. Beth then set her bag down on a picnic table before going to her son, who was impatiently waiting.

Winter watched them as Beth took turns pushing her twin sons’ swings. She yearned to be beside her, pushing her own child. It was another visual she was being denied without her own baby.

The side door of the church opened, and a familiar face came out.

“Megan?”

“Hi, Mrs. James. How you doing today?”

“Fine.” Winter’s face went stern. “I missed you in school last week.”

Megan was one of her students at the alternative school. She had ended up there after being thrown out of the regular high school for delinquency and fighting.

“I was going to call Monday. I’m quitting school.” She waved her hand in Winter’s face. “I got married last week!”

Winter stared at the diamond ring and wedding band on her finger. “That doesn’t mean you have to quit school,” she protested. “It’s only a month to graduation—”

“I’ll get a GED. I’ll be fine. It’s not like I plan to go to college, anyway.”

“It’s not as simple as it sounds. You’ll have to study and take the test. I thought we talked about you going to cooking school after graduation?”

“I’ll get it; you’ll see. Besides, I don’t have to go to cooking school. I can learn to cook anywhere. I was just applying for a job with Willa. I have it all planned out. I’ll work for her for a few months and learn everything I need to know. Then I’ll open my own business after the baby is born.”

“You’re pregnant?” Winter stared at the young woman, stunned at how simple she imagined owning a business would be.

“Yes, I’m so happy! Curt promised me, as soon as we buy me another car, we’ll look for the perfect place to open my business.”

“What happened to your car? It was brand new. Your parents bought that for you for Christmas as an early graduation present.”

“Curt doesn’t start his new job until next week, so we sold my car to pay for my ring and the honeymoon. We’re leaving Tuesday to go to St. Croix! I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Winter leaned against the fence, wanting to scream at the woman who had turned eighteen three months ago. Her eyes narrowed on Megan. Something just occurred to her.

“You married Curt Dawkins?”

Megan nodded, beaming. “We’ve only been seeing each other for a couple months. It was a whirlwind courtship.”

“I see that.”

Winter was infuriated. Curt was at least ten years older than the young woman. Not to mention, he had been the high school football coach when Megan had been a cheerleader at Treepoint High. He had lost his job last year when Rachel told Viper, who was on the school board, that Curt had raped a friend of hers in high school. They hadn’t been able to fire him since no charges had been brought against him, but Viper had looked into his billing records and seen he had pocketed cash from the money raised for new football uniforms.

“Curt’s here.” Megan nodded toward where Curt Dawkins was driving into the parking lot.

He rolled down the passenger window. “Let’s go.”

Winter glared at the man as Megan clambered inside the big truck.

“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. James. Since I told you I won’t be back in school, I guess I don’t have to come in Monday. I can sleep in!” She chuckled as she shut the truck door.

Curt backed up without giving her a glance.

“Son of a fucking bitch!” Winter gripped her bag, wanting to throw it at the departing truck. “The bastard should be in jail instead of going on a fucking honeymoon.” It took everything she had to get inside her car and drive home.

Luckily, the clubhouse was quiet when she got there.

She went to her room, throwing her bag on the bed.

“I take it you didn’t have a good time?” Viper stared at her from the bathroom doorway.

“I did until I saw Megan Smith and she told me not only will she not be coming back to school, but she married Curt Dawkins and is pregnant.”

Viper ran a towel through his damp hair. “Her parents can’t be happy.”

Winter sank down on their bed. “She even sold her car so they could buy her an engagement ring and go on a honeymoon. Curt told her that he’s buying her another car when he starts work. Curt’s family has money; he could have bought her a ring if he wanted to.”

“He wants to keep her under his thumb, dependent on him to take her everywhere she goes so he can watch every movement she makes.”

Winter nodded, blowing out an aggravated breath. “She applied for a job with Willa to take over Genny’s job. Curt promised to set her up in her own business in six months.”