part 2 The man who spent eleven years blaming me for our childlessness threw me out of our home9-008v

was very quiet.

“What happened to Elena?” I asked.

Gabriel looked toward the courtyard. Sunlight moved over the olive leaves, silver and green.

“She died three days after you were born.”

My hand went to my mouth.

“I was told it was complications,” he said. “Sudden. Unexpected. By the time I arrived at the hospital, she was gone.”

Pain had worn grooves into continue reading …