Free Asked For by Colleen L. Donnelly Page B

need it,” he said to her. “Just let me know.”
    “She’s fine. You go on, and I’ll pay you tomorrow.” Grandma was at Lana’s side. She took Betsy, dragging her from Lana’s hip as Lana watched Jim walk away. He disappeared back into the shed as Grandma created a commotion with Betsy.
    “Here, let me keep her,” Lana offered.
    Grandma held onto Betsy like a sack of potatoes. “Let’s just get inside. Come on.” Grandma hurried toward the house.
    Lana turned from the shed and followed her. “Jim’s just being neighborly to me for old time’s sake.”
    “That’s right. Now come on.” Grandma moved even faster, folds of her dress gripped in Betsy’s small fists.
    Grandma’s house hadn’t changed, not as much as Lana would have expected with Cletus’ promised care. It was even smaller than she remembered, now that she lived in Cletus’ much larger home, and still empty except for a cabinet she didn’t recognize.
    “Grandma…” Lana began, making a sweep around the room—the small dresser, the cots, the stove, the lone picture of an angel watching over a small house. “I thought there’d be more…”
    Grandma dropped into her rocker, Betsy bouncing and flopping on Grandma’s lap. Magdalena slid from Lana’s hip to the floor and began to explore.
    “Has Cletus been sending you something, like he said he would?” Lana came and stood near Grandma’s rocker.
    Grandma thrust forward, then back, rocking hard, squeezing a frightened Betsy tight. “Notice the cabinet over there? Got that right after your wedding.”
    Lana glanced at the cabinet. It was old, probably used, but new to Grandma. “It’s nice,” Lana said. “But it’s been three years. I thought there’d be more…” Lana looked at Betsy, terror in her eyes as Grandma flailed back and forth in the rocker. Then Lana looked at Magdalena, roving around the room, running her finger over what little Grandma had. Cletus thought there’d be more too, more than two daughters.
    “Don’t need more.” Grandma snorted. Betsy let out a whimper, and Lana saved her from Grandma’s grasp, then knelt beside the rocker. She wanted to set Betsy on the floor and crawl onto Grandma’s lap herself, have both of them rock hard to fling the hurtful things away.
    “Grandma…”
    “Those girls look plenty healthy,” Grandma interrupted her. Lana watched Magdalena toddle around the room. “Can’t be easy supporting a wife, two girls, and a third on the way. Especially at his age.”
    “He doesn’t want girls, Grandma, he wants sons.” Lana looked at Grandma, the determined fix of her face, but she thought of Cletus and how much he smelled like burnt metal when he came in at night. Their bed smelled like welding and hot skin. He did work hard, so hard she couldn’t clean it out of their blankets, no matter how much she tried.
    “Looks like your husband’s doing what he’s supposed to, no matter what.” Grandma slowed in the rocker. “You just gotta keep doing what’s right, so he will too.”
    Keep doing what’s right. Two girls in three years. What if this third child was another daughter? What if Cletus left, left these two girls alone? Lana had cooked and cleaned, done all the outdoor work Cletus asked her to. She never complained and she always let him have his way. She’d done the best she could. She’d tried to be a good wife. Betsy nestled into Lana’s lap, and Magdalena rounded the room for the third time. Lana rested her chin on Betsy’s head. “He’s not happy with me. He’s sorry he asked for me, and now he’s taking that out on you. What if he…”
    “Oh, posh.” Grandma rocked hard again. “I’m fine. He knows that.”
    “I thought things would be different.” Lana watched Grandma go back and forth. “When I married him, I thought it would be like living here with you. I thought it would be easy.” Lana hesitated. “And someday, we’d be all settled, and my dad would come and…”
    Grandma stopped and