Read Online Back In the Game by Holly Chamberlin - Free Book Online

what we did for a living. And . . . well, I don’t know how it came up, but I mentioned that I was getting divorced and it was like I’d just admitted to being a child molester or something.”
    â€œOh,” I said. “What did he do?”
    â€œHe marched right over to some people behind the punch table—I think maybe they were the priests or something—and they all started to glare at me like I was some evil criminal. One even pointed his finger at me! Ugh. It was horrible.”
    â€œDid they try to stone you?” I inquired sweetly.
    â€œIt wasn’t funny.” Laura pouted. “I was really scared. So I just grabbed my jacket from the back of a folding chair and ran. I mean, I actually ran.”
    My sister, I thought, is an imbecile.
    â€œWhat were you doing at a Christian singles event, anyway? You haven’t been to church since grammar school. And by the way, Mom and Dad were Episcopalian.”
    â€œWhatever. I don’t have time to waste. I have to find a guy soon. I’ve got to stay open to new ideas.”
    Ideas old or new were never my sister’s strong suit, but I felt no need to point that out.
    â€œI’ve got,” she said, “to have that baby.”
    â€œA baby,” Jess replied, “isn’t going to guarantee anything other than more expenses. A baby can’t grant you eternity. A grown-up child is not necessarily going to take care of you when you’re old. Remember your Shakespeare: ‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is/To have a thankless child.’”
    â€œMy sister never read Shakespeare,” I said.
    â€œI did, too! I took a class in college!”
    I bowed my head. “My mistake.”
    â€œA baby,” Laura said, “is going to love me.”
    Poor Laura. “Sure,” I said, “he’s going to love you at first because he has no choice. He has to rely on you for everything: food, shelter, changing his diaper. But he might not love you when he grows up.”
    Laura waved her hand dismissively. “Maybe other people’s children don’t love their parents. That’s their problem. Those parents probably did something wrong in the first place. My child will love me for his entire life. Or for her entire life.”
    â€œIt sounds exhausting,” I quipped. “Poor little kid.”
    Jess leaned in toward my sister. “Really, Laura, what do you want from a child? Be careful not to load an awful lot of responsibility onto a very small person. You can’t ask a child to save you from loneliness or whatever it is you want to be saved from.”
    â€œI don’t want to be saved from anything,” Laura snapped. “I just want a baby. Does there have to be some deep dark reason?”
    â€œI’m sorry, Laura,” Grace said. “We’re just trying to understand.”
    My sister threw her napkin on the table. “Why do you have to understand? It’s my life, not yours. Why does everyone have to be so mean?”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Jess repeated. “It’s just that we like Duncan. We love you. We thought you two were good together. This situation is just a little hard to absorb.”
    I don’t know why I can’t leave well enough alone with my sister. But I can’t.
    â€œAnd,” I said, “it’s a little hard to believe you really want another husband. You had a perfectly good one and you tossed him away. If you really just want a baby, you can have one without a husband. Without a boyfriend, even. It’s done all the time.”
    Laura rolled her eyes. “Of course I want a husband. I want a traditional, two-parent family.”
    â€œAnd adoption is out of the question?” Jess asked.
    â€œAbsolutely. I don’t want someone else’s baby. I want my own.”
    Maybe, I thought, Laura’s baby would get Duncan’s brain. I hoped so.
    â€œBut first you have to get