Self-conscious about being the spurned wife, she’d fallen into her old habit of keeping to herself. She tended to order supplies off the Internet, a virtual woman living a virtual life. Getting pregnant was a huge wake-up call. This place was going to be her child’s hometown. She didn’t want her kid to grow up with a social misfit for a mother. She was going to do what she had neglected to do as an unhappy teenager and later as Jack’s wife. She was going to quit being a loner and create a wider network of family and friends. Breaking old habits wasn’t easy, and now there was a new wrinkle. Being divorced was not so rare. However, being divorced and pregnant edged toward pitiful. She imagined the news fanning across the town like a Santa Ana wind. Get over yourself, she thought in Lulu’s voice. People have better things to do than gossip about you. She started to have her doubts when she went into the paint and art supply store and everyone within earshot fell silent.
