I Left Pregnant and Swore She Wasn't His, Now He Wants the Truth novel · Chapter 16 of 32

Chapter 16: The Camp on Lake Martin

The camp stood on stilts at the edge of Lake Martin, at the end of a mile of shell road, with cypress trees dripping moss on the roof.

Gabe built the fire in the iron stove without a word.

I stood in the doorway in my coat and looked at the room.

It was one big room with a bed in the corner, a table, two chairs, and a window that looked out over black water.

I had spent the happiest weekends of my marriage here.

"The neighbor said she'd keep Lou another night," I said. "She said the captain has a fleet to run."

"Good."

"You said you had to tell me something."

"I do," Gabe said.

He sat on the edge of the bed and put his hands on his knees.

The fire popped behind him.

"Sit down, Odette."

I took the chair.

"August," he said. "You asked why."

"I did."

"You were on the tile a long time." He said it flat, to the floor. "Before the ambulance came. I had both hands on you, the heel of one and the other on top, and I pushed as hard as I could, and I could feel it coming through my fingers."

I stared at him.

I remembered the white light on the bathroom ceiling and not much more.

"You went gray. Then you went a color I haven't got a name for. I said your name until my voice quit." His jaw worked. "I got you to the hospital. They took you. A doctor came out and sat down next to me in the hall. She had blood on her sleeve, and she said, if your wife carries another one, I can't promise you'll bring her home."

"You never told me that."

"You were asleep. And then you were awake and crying for him, and I couldn't."

"Gabe," I said.

"I said I'd rather have you than any child. I meant it. I thought if I said it enough times, you'd stop wanting to try again." He looked up, and his eyes were red. "You didn't stop wanting. I watched you look at other women's babies in the Walmart. So I went to a man in Lafayette, in August, and I had it done."

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