What He's Poised to Do: Stories Read Online Free PDF

something, too,” she said.
    “What?” I said.
    “It was my scarf,” she said.
    “What was your scarf?”
    “The scarf he found was mine.”
    “It was mine,” I said. “I lost it. Did you take it from me?”
    “No, Susan. You showed yours to me, and I liked it so much that I went and got the same one.”
    “So how did it end up in here?” I said.
    She didn’t say anything.
    “Tell me,” I said.
    “I was here,” she said.
    “When? Since when are you and Dave speaking?”
    “We’re not just speaking,” she said.
    “I see,” I said.
    She could tell from my tone that I didn’t believe her. “What?” she said. “You think I’m trying to cover up for you? I’m telling you. Dave and I are having a little thing.”
    “A little thing?” I said. “Isn’t he your son?”
    She must have heard something funny in my voice because she took me by the chin and looked me straight in the eye.
    “My god,” she said. “You’re jealous.”
    Then she marched on up to the house to set the record straight.
     
     
    W HEN I CAME IN , Berne was standing by the kitchen table. Sarah was standing by the door. Both of them had crazy looks in their eyes. I didn’t know who had said what or who had done what, but I did know that there was a kitchen knife out on the counter about midway between them. The air was tight, like any moment one of them might go for the knife. I didn’t think they would. But you never know when family is involved. They stood facing each other like that for a long time. “So,” Berne said finally. “You expect me to believe that?”
    “I expect you to believe what’s true,” said my sister.
    “I believe what I know,” Berne said. “And I have had enough of hearing what’s true and what’s not true from this family, from you and from your sister and from your husband.”
    I didn’t dare say anything. I just kept edging toward the knife until I was the closest of the three of us. If there was sudden movement, I could lunge for it and throw it into the trash can, or run away with it, or threaten to do myself in unless they stopped fighting. I was concentrating so hard on the knife that I didn’t see Berne take a step toward me. I flinched, expecting another blow. Instead, he let out a soft cry. “I’m sorry,” he said. “If you tell me to believe you, I should believe you. That’s where my father went wrong.”
    “Your mother was lying, Berne.”
    “That was only half of the problem,” he said. “The other half was that he didn’t believe her. There are two sides to every story, and you always have to listen to the other one.”
    I took a deep breath against his chest and held him tight. He felt like a good man to me, a man who had acted in error and was trying to set things right.
    “Laurel?” I said.
    “Laurel,” he said, and squeezed me close to him.
     
     
    M Y SISTER LEFT TOWN . She called me and told me she was leaving, and I knew from her tone that it wasn’t just melodrama. “I’m going to Lincoln,” she said.
    “Are you looking for Dave?” I said.
    “No,” she said. “At least I don’t think so. I just need to go somewhere for a while that isn’t here.”
    Laurel was born six months later. Right up until the end, I thought she would be a boy. Berne never wavered on his prediction of a girl. When Laurel was only four months old, I got pregnant again. Now, I told Berne, I’ll be able to use the boy’s name.
    “How do you know it’s not another girl?” he said.
    “You think it’s another girl?” I said.
    “No,” he said. “I think you’re right. I think it’s a boy.”
    I dreamed about the boy who would be Laurel’s little brother. I even had a name picked out. But then I got a card in the mail from my sister. I hadn’t talked to her in months. The card had a photo that slipped out when I opened it; in the picture, she was standing by a window, holding a little baby that looked just about the same age as Laurel. She and the baby were as