Wings of Glass by Gina Holmes Read Free Book Online Page B

along the top of the pack, stopping to feel the exposed filters, and made a face. “You smoke a few?”
    I went back to putting groceries away, keeping a watchful eye on him from my periphery. “No, of course not. They gave them to me for free since the pack had been opened.”
    You would have sworn he could see me by the daggers he shot my way. “What are you talking about?”
    I set a can of store-brand tuna in the cabinet, trying to sound casual. “We didn’t have enough money at the register and I was going to put back the—” I hesitated as I looked in the grocery bag— “bag of rice, but the check-out lady pulled out a pack of Salems from under the register and said she couldn’t sell them, but I could have them if I wanted.”
    “Salems are menthol,” Trent said, his face all twisted in confusion.
    “I know, but they were free.”
    He had the weirdest look on his face as he felt his way to the kitchen table and sat down. “You mind grabbing my lighter? I left it in the bedroom next to the ashtray.”
    “Sure, baby,” I said, relieved he’d bought my story anddidn’t seem mad. I went to the bedroom and found a bunch of cigarette butts smoked down to the filter lying in and around the dirty ashtray. It turned out he hadn’t been lying after all, and I was doubly relieved for that.
    I brought him his lighter and figured now was as good a time as any to tell him about you. “Maybe you should smoke that on the porch.”
    He tapped a cigarette out of the pack, slid it between his lips, and spoke around it. “Just light the thing, One Cent. It’s my house. I’ll smoke where I like.”
    I held out the lighter but stopped short of running my thumb over the steel roller to ignite it. “Secondhand smoke’s bad for the baby.”
    “What baby?”
    I set a hand on his cheek. “I’m pregnant.” It felt so good to tell him and so scary at the same time.
    The cigarette dropped from his mouth.
    I sat down at the table beside him. “Say something.”
    “Are you sure?” he choked out.
    “We can’t afford to go to the doctor to get a second opinion, but the pregnancy test says yes, and so does my body. Yeah, I’m sure.”
    When he grinned at me, I let myself breathe. “Are you serious? We’re having a baby?”
    I laughed. “Yes, a baby. A baby!”
    His hands were shaking when he picked the cigarette off his lap and put it back in his mouth. “You need to light it now, Penny. I’ll start smoking outside after this. Promise.”
    I lit his cigarette and watched him wince at the taste he wasn’t accustomed to. He took another drag. “Well, don’t this beat all.” His smile suddenly faded, and I knew it hit him then that he was blind and we were broke.
    “I know what you’re thinking,” I said, “but it’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.”
    He exhaled a plume of white. “I can’t even support us. How am I going to—”
    I turned my head to keep from breathing in the smoke. “God will provide.”
    “Like he provided that pipe full of gasoline that left me blind? No offense, but I think we might need a plan B.”
    There was no arguing God with that man. He didn’t believe in anything he couldn’t control.
    “I was offered a job cleaning houses today.”
    Before I even got all the words out, he was shaking his head.
    “Now don’t start. I’m not going to stand by and let my husband and baby die because of your pride.”
    One hand held the cigarette, the other balled into a fist and pounded the table, sending vibrations through me. I pushed my chair back, fixing to get away from him, but the look on his face told me I wasn’t in danger of anything but feeling sorry for him. This time when he cried, he hid his face from me.
    “I hate being blind,” he finally said as he swiped the heels of his hands across his eyes.
    “I hate it for you,” I said, but it was just another lie. I was beginning to see what he could not—his blindness was turning out to be the best thing that had ever