Violetta Craft's Arc

Chapter 3 of 65

Violetta rode to the clinic with her mother two mornings later. Lymber drove with both hands on the wheel and did not fill the quiet. Inside, a technician squeezed cold gel onto Violetta's stomach and moved the wand. A shape came up on the screen. The technician pointed to a flicker at the center and said ten weeks, heartbeat strong. Violetta stared at the flicker. Lymber squeezed her hand once and let go. In the parking lot Violetta asked to be dropped at Jordie's. Lymber looked at her for a long moment. Then she put the car in drive. Jordie opened the door in the same black jacket he had worn in the rain. He stepped back to let her in. Violetta stayed on the porch. She pulled the printout from her pocket and held it out. He took it with both hands. He looked at it a long time. "Ten weeks," she said. "Heartbeat's fine." His mouth opened and closed. "I didn't know if you'd tell me," he said. "I'm telling you now," she said. "That's the only part I owed you." He asked if he could come inside with her and talk. She said no, she would talk here. He said he was sorry about the rain. He said he had panicked. She let him finish. Then she told him what she had decided while the wand was on her stomach. She was keeping the baby. She was finishing her showcase dress. She was not going to chase him and she was not going to hide from him. If he wanted to be in it, he had to show up on his own, every time, without being asked. If he missed once, she was done. Jordie nodded fast. He said he could do that. She said words were easy. She said she would watch. She took the printout back and put it in her pocket. She walked to the end of his driveway and texted her mother to come get her. Lymber's car turned the corner within a minute; she had not gone far. Violetta got in and buckled the belt low, the way the technician had shown her. "Well?" Lymber said. "He gets a chance," Violetta said. "One." Lymber nodded and pulled away from the curb. Violetta thought about the muslin bodice waiting on the form at home. Five weeks and six days now. She pressed her hand flat against her stomach and started counting seams in her head.