Death of a Snow Ghost by Linda Norlander

Author:Linda Norlander [Linda Norlander]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 2022-05-06T00:00:00+00:00

Adoption

After I tidied up the cabin and ate a late lunch, I was so tired I collapsed on the couch into a deep sleep. While I slept, the temperature outside warmed up to five below zero. I woke up two hours later to the sound of snowmobiles on the lake. When I peered out the window, I saw something I’d never experienced before. It looked like two glowing lights with faint rainbow colors on either side of the sun.

“Hey, Bronte. You have rivals. Two sundogs outside.”

Bronte lifted her head with little interest. She didn’t understand that winter, even at its worst up here in the Northwoods had an ethereal beauty I didn’t have the words to explain.

“And you call yourself a poet,” I uttered under my breath trying to conjure couplets to describe the view outside my window.

I watched the snowmobiles on the lake circling each other like a couple of kids playing keep away. It actually looked fun until I thought about how cold it must be. I’d learned that Minnesotans loved to talk about the windchill. What had Mavis said? “Windchill at thirty below.” After my night in the snowstorm, I could believe it.

“Time to go to work.” I took out C.P. Dowling’s manuscript. After two pages describing Levy’s trek through the burning sand, my mind wandered back to the last week and everything that had transpired. Baby born, a mother died, refugee women, kidnapping, weird website. Oh yes, I added, smashed car.

Instead of editing, I set the manuscript aside, poured myself a glass of wine and opened the laptop. Nothing had changed on the Viaje Seguro webpage. It was still filled with dead presidents.

Thinking about adoptions reminded me of my college roommate Madison who had been so focused on having a baby. I still had an email address for her. I sent a message asking if she’d been able to adopt and if she had time to talk with me. I included my phone number.

Fifteen minutes later she called me. “Jamie, long time.”

“Wow, that was a quick response.”

She laughed and I pictured how her eyes came alive when she was amused.

“You caught me during my ‘mope’ time. I’m feeling sorry for myself because it’s cold outside and the snow is nothing but crusty dirt. Welcome to Boston.”

We spent time catching up. I told her about my divorce and move to northern Minnesota. I omitted details of my adventures since coming here and told her I was living happily with my dog and occasional visits from a state trooper named Jim.

She told me about her divorce. “I think it was the tension over having a baby. We gave thousands of dollars to fertility clinics but it never worked. We even looked at surrogacy. Then we spent more time applying to adopt but in the end, it turned out Mannie, my ex, really wanted a child of his own seed.” She sighed. “He’s now got three of them.”

“I’m sorry.” I told her about Mary’s Place and Viaje Seguro and wondered if she knew about the organization.

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