spill hot liquid on the baby by some accident, and took Hayden gently in her arms. I'd shaken the bottle and tested the formula, so I handed it to her and she began to feed him.
"Have you had children yourself?" I asked, relaxing when it was evident the baby was fine.
She shook her head. "Nope. I don't want to give you more of our history than you want, but Luke and I have been married for ten years. The first few years, we could afford hospitalization insurance, so getting fertility testing was just out of the question. About three years ago, Luke's mom passed away, and she left her money in a trust fund for us. But by that time... I'm quite a bit older than Luke, and though we went on with the fertility testing, we didn't have much hope. Rightly, as it turned out."
Almost happy to have company in my predicament, since it made me feel not so inadequate, I told Margaret. "I'm not fertile, either." When she seemed interested, I told her about my unpleasant experiences with a top gynecologist in Atlanta, and Martin's indifference to our having our own baby. Suddenly I realized how much I was saying, and I apologized. "I don't like to talk about my reproduction problems at home," I said wryly. "It's like people know I failed, and they look at you like you're lacking something. Getting pregnant is so easy for so many women."
Margaret shifted Hayden slightly, held up the bottle to see how much was left. Hayden protested, and she smiled and slid the nipple back in his mouth. "Luke can't understand how women can talk about something as personal as fertility problems," Margaret said. The cold sun lit her red hair until it almost seemed to give off warmth. "It does seem strange to think that in this day and age there are some medical problems beyond fixing." "I know," I agreed fervently. "You keep thinking that this can't be an end of it, there must be something else they can do. If they can accomplish so much in other fields, why can't they fix you so you can have a baby?" "Martin was married before, right? To the Cindy who runs the flower shop?" "Martin has a grown son. You might not know if you haven't been living in Corinth that long, but Barrett's an actor. He's got a recurring guest spot on one of those nighttime soap operas. That's why I think Martin had a kind of 'been there, done that,' attitude about having another baby." Margaret nodded. "It's snowing again," she observed, glancing out the curtainless window before turning her attention back to Hayden. "I'm ready for Martin to get back. I live in the country at home, but somehow the snow makes this place feel even more isolated," I confessed, thinking I sounded pretty whiney and should probably shut my mouth. Growing up in the same general area, maybe Margaret was accustomed to the deafening silence of the snowfall. Had it been very lonely for her out here? "Did you see Craig and Regina much?" I asked.
"Not at first," she answered, after a moment. "We're so much older, and they were newlyweds. And Luke and I are both busy. But they got bored playing house after a while, and then we saw them more and more." "What did you think of the marriage?"
"That's a big question." Margaret Granberry hunched her head to her shoulder to push her flaming hair back behind her ear while she continued to feed the baby. "Were - are - you and Regina close?"
"No. I hardly know her."
"In that case... I'll tell you, I never could quite figure out why Regina and Craig got married. Their friend Rory was here all the time, and between you and me, I think there was something of a ménage a trois going on ... strange though that is to think of in Ohio farming country!" She laughed, and I tried to politely join in.
Margaret noticed my lack of enthusiasm. "I'm sorry," she said, a smile belying her contrite words. "We tried that Missionary Bible Church last weekend, and the people there were so fire-and-brimstone, the contrast with our lovebirds out here was really sharp."
"Martin's parents went to that church," I said. "At least, his stepfather made Martin and Barby go after he married their mother. They had a terrible experience there."
"I heard about it from one of the women in my book readers' club,"