Granted it had only been sixty-three hours and twelve minutes, not that she was counting, and Becca’s plan to survive without Donovan had proved to be unsuccessful thus far. It was harder than she thought it would be. Usually, when she needed to talk through a serious problem, Donovan was the first person she called. Obviously, that was removed from her list of solutions. She was too embarrassed to call her family, so she struggled through the motions of life while trying to figure out what she was going to do next.

Abigail stopped by the house on Friday night and kept Becca company for a while. She also convinced Becca, who thought that maybe she should move to another country, to wait out Donovan. “He’ll come to his senses. I know it,” Abigail encouraged. “Besides, I want to share food cravings with you. It will be the closest I ever get to experiencing pregnancy.”

The next morning Hannah was at her front door with homemade bread and tea. “Abigail told me what happened. I’m not skilled enough to knock some sense into Donovan, but I can help with morning sickness.” Hannah pretty much said the same thing as Abigail. Give Donovan time. If he didn’t pull it together, she’d have a community of people to support her through the pregnancy.

In a moment of desperation, Abigail considered calling Donovan’s grandmother and telling on him. The moment passed as quickly as it struck, and she found herself reading on Google what she already knew. Men who professed their distaste for fatherhood did not magically change their perspective. In other words, she gained a child but may have lost a husband and a best friend in the process.

There were no ifs, and, or buts about it. Life was about to get rough. And, life set out to remind her, beginning with Jadine Renton, the town crank. A month ago, she proclaimed Becca a disappointment to independent women.

Becca ducked to hide in the cracker aisle. She thought she avoided the confrontation with Jadine when she passed the aisle without saying a word. Engrossed in trying to choose between the rosemary and garlic crackers or cheddar Chex Mix, Becca never saw Jadine coming.  As far as Becca’s mind was concerned, the woman materialized out of thin air.

When Jadine said, “Have I ever told you how much I appreciate that man you were smart enough to marry?” Becca questioned her reality. She blinked twice to make sure it was Jadine and not an alien that had taken over her body speaking. “Dononvan? Donovan Garrison? The one you said I shouldn’t have married.”

Jadine shooed away Becca’s restatement. “I was just hungry at the time. You can’t blame a woman for what she says when she needs to eat. Besides, last night I was talking to his grandmother. She says he's a different man since you two married.”

Twice, in the time span of two minutes, Jadine stunned Becca to near silence. First for recanting a criticism and the second for half apologizing for something she said. According to Jadine, she never was wrong.

Becca decided on the rosemary garlic crackers. As soon as she finished the conversation with Jadine, she’d go get some provolone cheese and salami to complete the meal. Ever since she’d been pregnant, chips didn’t agree with her stomach, but she still craved salty snacks.

She shouldn’t have taken Jadine’s bait. But she took it: hook, line, and sinker. Instead of saying okay, and agreeing with Jadine, Becca threw Jadine the side eye. “What is going on?” 

“I’m sure you know being single can be hard in a small town. While you young couples, and old couples, for that matter, get together, I’m sitting at home watching television, or hating you all for finding the happiness that always seemed to run away from me.” The growl from Becca's stomach had little influence over Jadine. She continued with what Becca expected to be a long drawn out explanation. “Anyway, did you know there are classes, so people like me can meet up with other women, married or single, and pass the time talking about cooking or crafts or whatnot?”

Seeing where the conversation was headed, Becca smiled in appreciation. Somehow, Jadine figured out that Donovan was in charge of coordinating activities for the community. Most of the time he worked on collaborations between organizations and the local businesses and farmers. However, he always put aside time for people to find the hidden treasures in their own community.

She expected the explanation to end there and motioned to leave aisle.

Jadine rushed to keep a hold of Becca's attention. “Did you know there is a chef from Austria that has a class tonight? He makes the fancy food for all of us to eat. To make us feel like we accomplished something, he lets us help with the dessert.” Jadine grinned. “If you want to know my opinion, the man’s not too hard to look at either.”

Becca wasn’t all that excited about the man’s attractiveness. Getting out of the house with a group of people to help her forget that she missed the man who according to the rules of a breakup was going to serve her divorce papers at any time—that was what made the class appealing.

“I’d love to see you in the class,” Jadine suggested. “I’m finding myself wanting to connect more in a positive way with people. You should join us.”

It was the first time in four days Becca’s stomach hadn’t fought her. That had to be a sign that perhaps Jadine’s suggestion was the beginning of her starting life anew in some state of peacefulness. “I’ll think about it,” Becca answered.

“Good, I’ll tell the chef you are coming.” Jadine headed down the aisle for whatever it was she sought after. Her voice drifted as she walked away and continued the one-sided conversation.

The class seemed like a good idea. The immediate plan of adding pickles to the salami, cheese, and crackers lunch seemed like an even better one. Grasping at anything to keep her from falling into a state of depression, Becca found food to be the most effective at taking her mind off Donovan.  The distraction of having something to do freed her mind to consider other things—like whether or not the addition of raw carrots and ranch made it a meal that covered all the food groups.