Chapter 6: Through the Gate

I woke at two in the morning with my back on fire.

Hattie had left for her night shift at the clinic, and Rhys sat on the porch rail outside with his boots on.

I got up and walked the length of the cottage twice.

My ankles had swollen over my shoes in the afternoon, and now my feet throbbed with every step.

The baby had settled low and heavy.

I pressed both hands into my spine and made a noise.

Then I put on Hattie's cardigan and went out to the gate, because the air inside had gone too thick to breathe.

"Carys?" Rhys said, sitting up.

"I'm not going anywhere. I just need the bench."

He looked past me at the gate.

Cade was sitting in the dirt on the far side of it, with his back against the post.

"He's been there since the hearing," Rhys said, in a low voice. "I told him to go home. He said no."

I sat down on the bench by the gate with a groan.

It was a long moment before Cade spoke.

"You're in pain."

"I'm pregnant."

"That isn't the same thing."

"It's a very large baby," I said. "My feet look like loaves of bread."

He made a sound.

I thought it was a laugh.

Then I saw his face in the porch light, and I knew it was not.

"Can I see them?"

"No."

"Carys, I'm at the gate. I'm not coming in."

I looked at him for a long time.

His eyes were red, and his shirt was the same one from the hearing.

I took off my slippers.

He crawled forward on his knees until the gate bar was against his chest.

Then he reached through the slats and caught my right foot in both hands.