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french-fried potatoes and a chocolate milkshake.”
    “Was it good?”
    “Oh man, Channie, you have no idea. If you ever get the chance to eat at McDonald’s, be sure you order those fried potatoes. You ain’t never tasted nothing so good in all your life.”
    “So … How’d you get pregnant?”
    Abby shrugged her shoulders. “Same as anybody else.”
    “No, I mean you didn’t just … you know … do it right there in the parking lot. Did you?”  
    Abby laughed and shook her head. “No, silly. Of course not, and we didn’t do much more than kiss for the first couple of months anyway. But when the weather cooled off enough that the heat wouldn’t roast us like Thanksgiving turkeys, Diego borrowed his cousin’s pick-up and camper. Oh lordy, but we had fun in the back of that old truck.”
    “In broad daylight?”  
    “We taped newspapers over the windows. Nobody knew what we were doing in there.”  
    Channie was willing to bet that Diego’s friends knew exactly what they were doing in there.
    “What’s it like?” Heat spread from the base of Channie’s neck all the way to the top of her head. She dropped her gaze to the floor and watched a granddaddy longlegs slow progress as it crawled across the top of her left shoe.  
    Abby said, “It’s not much fun the first couple of times, and the very first time hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. But it gets better — a whole lot better.”
    “Do you ever wish you would have waited? Until you were married?”
    “Every day of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love my boys and I can’t imagine life without ‘em. But it’s hard being somebody’s Momma when you’re only fifteen. Hell, it’s still hard, even at nineteen — especially with three of ‘em — but even if I hadn’t of gotten pregnant, I’d still regret it.”
    “Because of the shame?”  
    “No. I ain’t ashamed of lovin’ Diego. But when you lie with a man, especially if you’re in love and it’s the first time for both of you, it creates a bond strong as any binding spell. It links your hearts together so tight that any separation feels like you’re being torn in half.” Abby folded her arms under her breasts and rocked forward.  
    Channie said, “Do you think you’ll ever get married?”
    Abby sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with the edge of a blanket. “I don’t know. I don’t want to marry nobody but Diego.”
    “But, you’re such a flirt.”
    “It’s just an act. If everybody thinks I’m a good-for-nothing, boy-crazy whore, it protects Diego. But if I moped around all the time and acted like a love-sick innocent kid they’d never stop trying to find out who ruined me.”  
    Abby was a lot smarter than she acted.
    “How come you and Diego didn’t just run off together?” That’s what Channie would have done.
    “Diego’s daddy ran off with another woman two months before we met. The lazy skunk left his family high and dry with no way to support themselves. Diego dropped out of school and started working two jobs just to make ends meet. He can’t desert his momma and little brothers and sisters. They depend on him.”
    “That sucks.”
    “It sure does. Diego ain’t never gonna get to hold his babies or tell ‘em he’s their daddy or nothing. I wish to high heaven I would have had the courage to tell Momma and Daddy to just go to hell and stayed with Diego.”
    “You’re an adult. Why didn’t you?”
    “On account of the boys. Diego and I can’t support ourselves and three kids. Not while he’s also taking care of his Momma and little brothers and sisters.” Abby swiped the tears off her cheeks. “Everyone says listen to your heart, but that’s easy. You can’t help but listen to your heart — the damn thing won’t shut up until you do. I had to choose between the only man I’ll ever love and my babies. It was a hard choice, Channie. A damned hard choice.”  

CHAPTER TWO
    Joshua

    Channie was exhausted but she couldn’t fall asleep after Abby