Page 6 of Look for Me

He didn’t have a band on his ring finger.

Corinne didn’t know why her thought went to that, but it made all the difference in the world.

If he were married, she would not want to accept his help to get her home.

Then again, he had found her. It had to be on purpose. What if he didn’t wear his wedding ring on purpose?

Well, okay.

Either way, she had to sayno.

There was no way she would want him to go near her ramshackle house. He would see Dahlia. Ask questions. Judge her with his Christian faith.

Now I’m a Christian too, although only for under a year.

“Y-you’re…pregnant?” Martin blurted.

Corinne didn’t reply, as if talking to him would make things more difficult for both of them.

“Leave. Please leave.” It was curt, but she didn’t want Martin to get any idea.

“I came here to ask you to forgive me,” Martin said. “You’re pregnant.”

Corinne could imagine the shock on Martin’s face.

Sometimes in the dark of night, she had thought of him and wondered what they would say if they saw each other again. One of the things she thought she should do was to ask for his forgiveness.

But he got to it first.

“If you want me to leave, I’ll leave.” Martin kept his voice down.

“Go,” Corinne said, trying not to cry.

Get out of my life and don’t come back.

Martin nodded, just as Hardin showed up, all flustered.

“Dinah, you okay?” He blurted.

“Could you take me home, please?” Corinne asked.

“Of course. Let’s go.” Hardin reached for Corinne’s hand and helped her to her feet.

Corinne walked by Martin, refusing to look at him at all.

She had no idea what Martin thought about that, but she wanted to send a clear signal to him that whatever they had in the past was long gone and never to be rekindled.

It was gone.

And so were the best days of her life.

* * *

Stunned, Martin stayed rooted to the spot, watching Corinne leave with some guy, who seemed to be another worker at the store. He tried to recall his name. Earlier, the older woman had asked for some guy to take Corinne home. This must be the dude.

Tell me it’s not his shirt that Corinne was wearing.

Worse yet, tell me she’s not carrying his baby.

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