After Micah Ridley left town
without me, I swore I’d
never put my fate in the hands
of a man again. So
when I finally moved to the
city, I turned myself
into a woman who needed
nobody and took what
she wanted. I socialized my
way up the ranks of the
elite and married a wealthy
lawyer. He was fun when
he was drunk. After about a
year, he died suddenly,
and I inherited it all.
I moved to Rome and spent
the money for a living. I
took a lover, a man
ten years my junior. Not much of
a brain, but gorgeous to
look at. He flattered me with his
attention until I
foolishly agreed to marry
him. I should have seen that
he’d do to me what I’d done to
my husband. And now I’m
back in Spoon River. Our fates are
never fully our own.