Free A Love of Her Own by Bettye Griffin Page B

happy for her friend, whose face just glowed.
    “ Until January second.”
    “ Then you must come to my open house New Year’s Day. Take down my address.”
    The bartender placed their drinks in front of them just as Linda completed writing down Ava ’s address. Neil held up his hand. “I’ll take care of that, bartender,” he said.
    “ Oh, that’s all—” Hilton began.
    “ No, I insist,” Neil said. He squeezed Linda’s shoulders affectionately. “We’re celebrating. Linda’s pregnant.”
    Ava placed her hand palm down on the surface of the bar and swallowed hard . Pregnant? Linda? If it were anyone else…but Linda? How could that be?
    The answer came to her just as quickly.
    It couldn’t be.
    Hilton was pumping Neil ’s hand. “Hey, that’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
    “ Um…will you excuse me?” Ava asked. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She knew Hilton and Neil would think her behavior odd, but she had to compose herself, quickly, and in private.
    “ I think I’ll go along,” Linda said. She hurried off behind Ava.
    In the privacy of the lounge area inside the powder room, Linda said, “Thanks for not giving me away. I know Neil’s announcement came as a shock.”
    “ Linda, what’s going on? In our infertility support group you said your endometriosis was so severe you had to have a hysterectomy.”
    “ I did. It cost me a husband, and I thought I’d never get over it. But then I met Neil. He’s wonderful, Ava. He’s been married before, too, but only for a few years. He’s gotten everything he’s wanted out of life except children. He told me from the beginning that he wanted a family, that even one child would be fine. I agreed.”
    “ Linda, how could agree to such a thing when you knew it was impossible?”
    “ I didn’t want to lose him, Ava! Don’t you understand? I can’t be dumped twice in a lifetime because I can’t have kids!”
    Ava took her friend ’s hand. “I know what happened to you was devastating, and I think your husband—your first husband, I mean—was a macho heel to treat you the way he did, but don’t you see how wrong this is? Obviously you can’t keep up the charade forever. So what happens? A faked miscarriage?” She drew in a breath. “Surely you’re not planning to steal someone’s baby!”
    “ Of course not. It’ll be a miscarriage. What other choice do I have? I’ve been faking having periods all this time.”
    Ava shook her head. “Linda, how could you?”
    “Everybody can’t be as noble as you are, Ava, and walk out of an otherwise happy marriage.”
    “But it’s what Neil wanted. How can you knowingly deprive him of that?”
    “I have no choice,” Linda repeated. “ It’ll be soon, after we’re back home. He has to go out of town on business the second week in January, and by the time he gets home it’ll all be over. Then I’ll just never be able to conceive again. That’s not so unusual for women my age. I’m forty-two, you know. Maybe then Neil will want to adopt. He wasn’t too keen on the idea when I suggested that my childbearing years might be behind me.”
    “ Oh, Linda.” Ava shook her head.
    “ Please go along with me on this, Ava. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
    “ What about your family? How do you know your father won’t give it away?”
    “ My father doesn’t even know I had a hysterectomy. All I told him at the time was that I needed gynecological surgery. He knew from when my mother was alive that I had all kinds of female troubles, but I didn’t have the surgery until after my mother had passed. You know how uncomfortable men are with details. He’s remarried now, and my stepmother doesn’t know about it either.” She paused, her eyes locked with her friend’s. “Ava, are you with me on this? I need to know.”
    “ I won’t say anything,” she said after a long moment of silence.
    “ Oh, thank you, honey!” Linda hugged her, but it was with a limp hand that Ava