The Choice Read Free Page A

community college in Carteret. You could probably schedule classes two days a week or go at night after the baby is asleep.”
    Her mother’s words made Sandy’s head spin. She suddenly pictured herself in her bedroom with a crying infant in what had once been her grandmother’s yellow wicker bassinet. Sandy and her brothers had each spent the first few months of their lives in that bassinet.
    â€œI would stay here after the baby is born?”
    Her mother pressed her lips together tightly for a moment.
    â€œSandy, this is a bad situation, but we’re not going to put you out on the street.”
    A moment later, Bob Lincoln walked into the kitchen and placed his hand on Sandy’s forehead.
    â€œFeels fine to me,” he said. “Ben told me you went to the doctor today, then mentioned something about getting a prescription for vitamins.”
    Sandy backed away from her father until the kitchen counter stopped her.
    â€œYes, sir,” she said.
    Her mother looked toward the den.
    â€œWhere are the boys?”
    â€œThere wasn’t anything decent on TV, so I sent them upstairs to do their homework. What’s going on?”
    Julie dried her hands on a dish towel. Sandy held her breath. The queasiness she’d felt in the doctor’s office returned, only worse. Her mother wrung the towel tightly in her hands for a moment before laying it on the edge of the sink.
    â€œSandy’s pregnant,” she said.
    No preamble. No buildup. No effort at damage control before dropping the bombshell. Sandy had watched her mother handle her father for years. Sometimes she could change his mind and make him think it was his own idea. This was a radically different approach. It was her daddy’s turn to step back. Sandy and her father faced each other across the kitchen with her mother standing in the middle.
    â€œHow?” he managed after a few seconds passed.
    â€œI think you know the answer to that,” Julie replied matter-of-factly. “She’s about eight weeks along. It explains why she hasn’t been feeling well when she first gets up in the morning.”
    â€œYou’ve had morning sickness?” Sandy’s father asked with a bewildered look on his face.
    â€œI threw up today, but you’d already left for the office.”
    Her father’s face suddenly turned red. His mood could shift in seconds. Sandy braced herself.
    â€œWho did this to you?” he sputtered.
    â€œBrad Donnelly,” Sandy replied. “It happened toward the end of summer. Do you remember when we went to the lake—”
    Sandy’s father swore and slammed his fist against the countertop.
    â€œI’ll get him kicked off the team and expelled from school! He rides in here from Houston and takes advantage of you.” Sandy’s father looked wild-eyed at her mother. “Do the Donnellys know about this?”
    â€œNo,” Sandy responded. “I didn’t want to tell Brad until I saw the doctor and talked with you.”
    Sandy’s father checked his watch. “Let’s go over there right now.”
    â€œMr. Connelly is out of town on a business trip,” Sandy said. “I asked Brad about it this morning without telling him why I wanted to know.”
    â€œCarl Donnelly is a salesman,” Julie added. “Most weeks he leaves on Monday and doesn’t come back till Friday. Sometimes he comes to the games with a suit on.”
    â€œHe should have spent more time at home telling his son how to treat innocent young girls!”
    Even though her father was wrong about both her innocence and age, Sandy wasn’t about to disagree with him. She was relieved that, so far, his anger had been focused outward. There would be time later to rehabilitate his attitude toward Brad. She relaxed a little bit. Then her father’s gaze turned to her. Sandy felt her face flush. Her heart started pounding.
    â€œI’m sorry, Daddy,”