California Wine by Casey Dawes

they loved return their feelings? Had their lives worked out or had they struggled?
    A knock on the door disturbed her.
    “Yes?” she said when she opened the door.
    A young Hispanic woman stood there. Elizabeth’s first thought was how beautiful she was.
    “I … I … my name is Serena.”
    “Hello, Serena. How can I help you?”
    “I knew Joe.”
    Elizabeth’s stomach flipped. A lot of people had known Joe; he’d lived in Costanoa all his life. But somehow, she didn’t think that’s what this woman meant. “How did you know my husband?”
    The woman shrugged shoulders, her elbows bent with her palms facing skyward.
    “Would you like to come in?” Elizabeth asked, the knot in the pit of her stomach growing worse.
    Serena nodded and entered.
    Elizabeth gestured to the sofa and said, “Would you like something to drink?”
    Serena shook her head and sat. “I don’t know how to say this. I know it was wrong, but I loved Joe so much. We knew each other when we were little. In Los Baños.”
    Vaguely, Elizabeth remembered Joe’s grandmother having a house in the small town in the San Joaquin Valley.
    “We ran into each other in the tacqueria one day.” Serena shrugged again. “We had dinner and things happened.”
    “How … how long?” Elizabeth’s heart pounded.
    “Three years. Up until he passed.”
    Three years. Elizabeth sank into the living room chair. Silence filled the room.
    “Why are you telling me this now? Joe’s been gone for over a decade.”
    Serena looked at the floor. “There was a child. A daughter.”
    Elizabeth’s heart went through the floor. “He … I … he told me he’d had a vasectomy.”
    Serena shook her head. “He did. But only after … .” She looked up, her brown eyes pleading for understanding. “It was an accident. He said he was tired of having accidental children and went the next day.”
    “But we made love. I could never get pregnant again. There was nothing wrong with me.”
    “I believe Joe … ” A wan smile crossed Serena’s face. “His sperm, they had a mind of their own. Not many. But enough.”
    Enough was an understatement. Elizabeth gulped for air; there didn’t seem to be a lot in the living room. But Serena hadn’t really answered the question.
    “But why are you telling me this now?” Elizabeth repeated.
    “My daughter, she is sixteen now. She has gotten in trouble in Los Baños.” Serena glanced up at Elizabeth. “Pregnant. I have brought her to live with her grandmother in Watsonville. I hope it will be better for her here.” She shrugged again. “I work all day and have a second job at night to make ends meet. I cannot supervise her. My mother is strong.”
    “Didn’t Joe do anything for you?”
    “Oh, yes,” Serena said. “He put aside money. But it’s gone. Living is more expensive now than it was.”
    “What do you want?” Elizabeth couldn’t stand the conversation a moment longer.
    “My daughter will be going to high school that accepts girls like her. They have a place for the babies … afterwards. But she needs a job. Her dream is to be a cosmetologist.” Once again Serena’s eyes pleaded.
    “And you want me … to … ” Elizabeth couldn’t complete the sentence. She stood and started pacing the room. The audacity of the woman! To try to foist her pregnant daughter off on Elizabeth.
    “I thought you, of all people, would understand,” Serena said, rising. “I guess I was wrong.”
    “Wait. Wait.” Elizabeth said, her mind a jumble of hurt, incredulousness and bewilderment. She did understand, but this was Joe’s child, a child she never knew about. How could Joe have done this to her?
    “I can’t make this decision right now,” she finally said. “I need to talk to someone. Is there somewhere I can reach you?”
    “
Si, si
.” Serena scribbled a phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to Elizabeth. “Thank you.”
    “I haven’t said yes,” Elizabeth said.
    “But you didn’t say no,