Broken by Teona Bell Page B

her expectancy of good news died, and her husband had left her. Her cell phone rang in her purse, but she ignored it. She sniffed and scrubbed at her nose, but her shoulders began to shake, and a sob escaped her. Down the hall, someone opened a door, and not wanting to have anyone see her, she ran to the bathroom and darted inside.
    After wandering to the mirror, she peered in it. For the first time in her life, Ciera hated what she saw. Self-esteem had never been a real issue. Right now though, she saw her wide hips and thick thighs. She saw the rounded belly sticking out a little. At a size sixteen, she had thought she didn’t look that bad. Not until Tony mentioned it. Today, she had worn blue jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt. They weren’t men’s clothes, but they weren’t overly feminine. She liked to be comfortable and had seen nothing wrong with it. That jerk had her questioning herself, and try as hard as she might, she couldn’t get the old confidence back. Maybe after she stopped crying and her feelings healed.
    Or maybe after the divorce.
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    Two years later…
     
    “Happy birthday to me,” Ciera whispered and set the whipped-frosting yellow cake inside her cart. She took half a second to consider putting it back but didn’t change her mind. Today, she was thirty, damn it. Sure, she didn’t need the calories, but her girlfriend was in Chicago on business, and she had told her parents she didn’t want anything special this year. That had been her way to avoid seeing them. Her mother was wrapped up in her own life, and Ciera had never been close to her father.
    Ciera navigated her cart to the aisle where she could get candles and found a tiny girl staring up at them with interest. The sweet little thing wore a huge pink flower in curly sienna hair that looked like it was silky and soft. Ciera guessed she was a mixed baby from her smooth light caramel skin. A pink pearl necklace hung from the girl’s neck and extended almost to her knees. Her mama must love her very much to let her come to the grocery store having ransacked the costume jewelry, Ciera thought, and she knew she would have probably done the same. If she had had the chance to have kids, that is.
    “Which one do you want?” Ciera asked. “I’m getting the blue. I bet you would like the pink?” Ciera pointed to the box of twelve candles, but the little girl shook her head. She pointed a tiny finger, and Ciera’s heart stirred. “Oh, I see. The three. Are you turning three?”
    The girl nodded. Ciera longed to hear her voice, figuring it was high-pitched and sweet as little girls’ voices were prone to be. She handed over the three candle, and eager fingers grasped it.
    “Can you say thank you?” Ciera encouraged her.
    Joy on the small face changed to alarm, and Ciera kicked herself. She started to tell the girl it was fine, when a deep voice interrupted their exchange.
    “Can I help you?” he said.
    Ciera popped up and promptly banged her head on a coupon holder. She grunted and rubbed the top of her head. The man winced, embarrassing her even more. “Um, sorry, no. I was just helping her get a candle.” Ciera rattled her own box. “I was getting mine. Today is my birthday, and I bought a cake so I thought why not.”
    Why the heck was she telling him all that? He didn’t care. A peep from below caught her attention, and she glanced down. The girl’s face was bright again, and she pointed to herself with the cutest smile on the planet. That’s when Ciera noticed the scar on her throat and figured out what it meant. This precious flower couldn’t speak.
    Ciera sank to a knee and grinned. “No way, it’s your birthday? I’m turning three, too.”
    The little girl frowned in disbelief, and Ciera chuckled.
    “Three decades. That means thirty.”
    This time, the girl nodded as if that was more like it. Ciera tried not to let it get to her that she probably looked her age.
    “Happy birthday,” the man