The Accidental Mother by Coleman Rowan

Author:Coleman, Rowan [Coleman, Rowan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2007-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

The tramp sitting on her doorstep took the shine off Sophie’s triumphant glow. When she saw him, she sighed and considered walking past her own home and lurking about around the corner for a bit in the hope that he would get bored and move on. She watched him for a second from behind a plane tree. He was a hulking big man with one of those seriously suspect beards that look as if they might harbor mini-ecosystems all their own. He was leaning back, resting his elbows on the steps, looking for all the world as if he were enjoying the view from his balcony across the Italian Alps.

It wasn’t that Sophie didn’t have sympathy for homeless people, she did. After all, she gave five pounds ninety-nine a month to Shelter and ticked the box about the tax refund bit, so she knew that she cared. She just didn’t care for one of them being on her doorstep. Nevertheless, he looked like he was there indefinitely. There was no way around it, Sophie decided. She’d just have to go over there, ask him very politely to move, and hope he wasn’t the belligerent type. She scooped up the loose change in her pocket and held it in her fist.

“Here’s three twenty-eight,” she said, holding out the change. She was alarmed to see that she made the tramp jump, which she thought could never be a good tactic. “Move on, please, my husband’s a policeman. He’ll be home in a minute.”

The tramp looked her up and down with a distinct air of bewilderment. “Fuck,” he said, half-laughing. “You really startled me. But anyway, you’re here now, thank God. I’m freezing.”

Shit, Sophie thought, he isn’t belligerent but he’s delusional. And he sounded younger than the average tramp, although, to be honest, Sophie had no idea what the average tramp age was.

“Look,” she said, wondering if he looked yellowish because of the streetlight or if he was in fact yellow. “I understand that it must be hard being homeless and everything, but…”

The tramp stood up abruptly, causing her to stumble backward down the step and lose her balance momentarily. She felt the man’s arm encircle her waist and steady her before withdrawing to a respectable distance. It was then that she realized he smelled rather nice for a tramp.

Sophie took a step back and squinted hard at the vagrant in the glow of the streetlamp. “Oh,” she said bluntly. “It’s you. Hello, Louis.”

He looked older than Sophie remembered, which would be partly because of the beard and partly because of the fact that he was older, six years older, as was she.

“Your mum wouldn’t let me in at all,” Louis said amiably as they stood in the shared hallway. “She said you’d kill her if she did and that I’d better wait until tomorrow to talk to you. But I’ve waited so long—I couldn’t wait until then. So I sat here until you came back. At least it’s warm in here. It’s freezing outside.

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