Chapter 17: The Gala

The Safe Haven gala was held in the grand ballroom of the Marlowe Hotel, under six crystal chandeliers.

Three hundred people in black tie sat at round tables with white roses in the middle.

On the stage stood a banner with a mother's hands cradling a tiny pair of feet.

Gwen stood under it in a long gold gown, with a microphone and a smile.

"...because every child deserves a place where she is safe," she was saying, as we came through the doors. "That is what this night is for."

The applause started.

Mama walked half a step behind me, in her good navy dress, with her purse held in front of her.

Ryan stood against the wall by the doors, exactly where I had put him.

I did not look at him.

I carried Bean in the crook of my left arm, in a white blanket with a yellow edge.

I started down the center aisle.

A woman at the nearest table saw me first. She stopped clapping, and she touched the man beside her.

Then the whole room began to turn, table by table.

On the stage, Gwen's voice faltered for the first time.

It was only a hitch. She was too good to stop.

"...a place where even the most fragile mothers..."

I kept walking.

Her eyes found mine across forty feet of carpet, and I watched her do the sum.

I was supposed to be raving in a back bedroom in Hadley Falls. I was not supposed to be on my feet.

I was not supposed to be wearing green silk with my head up.

She had expected a wreck.

She got a woman carrying her own baby down the aisle.

For one second her mouth stayed open.

Then she smiled, broad and warm, and held out her arms to the room.

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