The heart he'd handed over to Marion Pruitt was probably never coming back.
Spring seemed to be on its way. Behind the last of the snow, the bare branches had begun to push out tender buds.
The orchid on the balcony was still blooming, proud and alone.
I took out a paper box and set it inside.
Then I noticed the shattered hole in the glass again, and even the wind coming through it didn't feel as cold anymore.
When Brent came home from the hospital, Marion Pruitt was with him.
She was always afraid of me. She couldn't even find the courage to look me in the eye.
"Deidre, I only brought Mr. Gilbert home. Nothing happened on the way, I swear."
I answered softly, without much rise or fall in my voice.
This was the first time Brent had openly brought Marion Pruitt into our home, brought her right in front of me.
If I had never stepped through that magical door.
I would have gone straight for her without a second thought, grabbed her by the hair, forced her to her knees, and demanded to know why she'd gone after a married man.
Brent pressed a hand over his heart and lowered himself onto the sofa.
"Deidre, no matter how ugly our fights got before, you never once said the word divorce. What's gotten into you these past few days?"
"That girl who came to the house that night was just someone I brought over to get a rise out of you. Nothing happened between us."
"Don't you understand? That was my way of trying to hold on to you."
For once I was calm, and I knew that if I kept insisting on his affair, he would never agree to the divorce.
"I cheated. And I'm pregnant."
"If I don't get rid of you soon, I won't be able to hide the baby much longer."
"I really do regret not driving a knife into you that night. If you were dead, I wouldn't have to explain any of this to you."
Disbelief filled his eyes.
"Are you serious, Deidre?"
I pulled out the prenatal report I'd printed ahead of time.
"Three months along. I love this baby, and I love the baby's father even more."
"Brent, let's divorce. Let me be with another man."
His eyelids suddenly dropped, and he let out a few weak, dry laughs.
"Fine. Let's do it. Divorce is good."
When he raised his head again, his eyes had gone much wetter.
"Let's get everything out in the open today."
"We'll go straight to the county records office and sign the papers."
"One more look at you makes me sick."
The moment he gave in, I finally couldn't hold it back, and somewhere deep inside, I wept.
I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life in pain over the stubbornness of my younger years.
As we left the county records office, Brent looked at me one last time.
"Deidre, I never want to see you again for the rest of my life."
I smiled.
"Neither do I."
Just as the plane was about to take off, a rare blizzard came down over Crestford.
The airport announced the flight was canceled.
I sat in the departure hall with the orchid held against my chest.
On my phone, Brent's messages came one after another.
"Deidre, you were never pregnant. You lied to me."
"I want a reasonable explanation. Why did you trick me into a divorce?"
I looked at the gray, overcast sky, then picked up my phone and typed fast.
"At my family's old house, you might find the truth you're looking for."
"Just don't regret it once you've seen it."
