Every so often, I’d catch Mrs. Higgins watching me, a strange, thoughtful look in her eyes.
Halfway through, my breath caught. I stopped, leaned against the handle, and wiped my face. Mrs. Higgins shuffled over with a glass of lemonade, cold and sweating in the heat.
“Sit,” she ordered. “You’ll make yourself sick.”
“You’re a lifesaver.”
I sat on her porch, gulping lemonade, pulse racing. Mrs. Higgins sat beside me. She didn’t speak, just patted my knee.
After a minute, she asked, “How much longer for you?”
I glanced down. “Six weeks, if she lets me go that long.”
She smiled, a little wistful. “I remember those days. My Walter, he was so nervous, he packed the hospital bag a month early.” Her hand shook a little as she sipped her own drink.
“He sounds like a good man.”
“Oh, he was, Ariel. The best. It’s lonely, you know, when you lose the person who remembers your stories.” She went quiet for a moment, then turned to me. “Who’s in your corner, Ariel?”
“How much longer for you?”
I stared at the street, willing myself not to cry. “Nobody… not anymore. My ex, Lee, bailed when I told him I was pregnant. I got the call this morning, foreclosure. I don’t know what happens next.”
She studied me, searching my face. “You’ve been doing this all by yourself.”
I gave a half-smile. “Looks that way. I’m stubborn, I guess.”
“Stubborn is just another word for strong,” Mrs. Higgins said. “But even strong women need a break sometimes.”
The rest of the lawn took forever. My body screamed at me, but finishing was the only thing that made sense. When I was done, I set the mower aside, wiped my hands on my shorts, and tried not to notice how my vision blurred.
“I’m stubborn, I guess.”
Mrs. Higgins squeezed my hand, her own surprisingly firm. “You’re a good girl, Ariel. Remember that.” She looked at me with a strange intensity, like she was memorizing my face. “Don’t let this world take that from you.”
I tried to joke. “If the world wants anything from me, it’s going to have to wait until I get a nap.”
She smiled. “Get some rest, honey.”
I waved as I trudged home, grateful for the shade. That night, I lay in bed, hand on my belly, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. I felt lighter, just for a moment.
“Get some rest, honey.”
***
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