Cheap Tears
Unpublished first chapter of a Claire Conrad / Maggie Hill novel
©2003, Melodie Johnson Howe

“Maggie? Maggie Hill?”
“Yes?” Mumbling into the phone, I blinked the clock on my nightstand into focus. 3:30 in the morning.
“Are you her, Maggie?” Tears in a woman’s voice.
“Who is this?”
“Peggy Brock.” A sad familiar love song played in the background.
“Who?”
“Neil’s wife.”
“Neil?”
“Neil Brock. Your ex-husband.”
My ex? I pulled the covers up around my naked body.
“Are you her?”
“Who?”
“The other woman.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said.
“No. Are you?”
“No.”
Silence except for her jagged breathing and the love song. She hung-up. Still holding the receiver I waited, staring into the darkness of my bedroom. “Are you on the line, Boulton?”

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