Plain Paradise by Beth Wiseman

couldn’t have children. Or, they didn’t think they could at the time.”
    Linda was relieved to know that Josie had wanted to keep her, but equally as relieved to hear her speak of God. “I only found out about all this yesterday. My parents never told me that I was given to them.”
    “I know. Your father told me that on the phone when we arranged this meeting. I’m sorry, Linda. I know this must have been a shock to you.” Josie took a sip of her coffee, then leaned back against the blue cushion. “But not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you. I wanted you to be old enough to understand why I did what I did, and to know that I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.” Long black lashes blinked feverishly to keep more tears from falling. “I have a whole box full of pictures that I took that first two weeks after you were born.”
    “You do?” Since photos were not allowed, Linda had no idea what she looked like as a baby.
    “Do you want to see them? Do you think your parents would mind?”
    “They won’t mind. Ya , I’d like to see them.” Linda thought for a moment. “Do you have other pictures? Of you?”
    Josie’s eyes lit up. “I have lots of photo albums of me as well, but do you really want to see those?”
    Of course I do! “ Ya , I do, but . . .” Something was still looming over them.
    “What is it, sweetie?”
    Maybe it was the way Josie called her “sweetie,” but Linda felt warm inside and comfortable enough to ask, “What about my father? What happened to him? Why did the two of you not get married?”
    Josie rubbed her forehead with her hand, the one with the big ring on her finger. “We didn’t love each other. He was older than me . . . and I didn’t want to do what he wanted to do, but he forced me to, and . . .” She paused. “Linda, are you following what I’m saying?”
    Linda shook her head. “No.”
    “Linda, he forced me to have sex with him, and that’s how I got pregnant. He was not a very good man. He died a long time ago. I’m sorry to tell you this.”
    Linda could feel the flush in her cheeks. “Oh,” she said softly, unsure how she felt about this news. They were quiet for a few moments. “Did he hurt you? This man who is my father.”
    Josie reached over and placed her hand on top of Linda’s, and it felt strange, but nice. “My biggest hurt was losing you. And all that matters at this point is that we are becoming friends, and that you know that I always loved you, and never wanted to be away from you. Each year on your birthday, I’d have a cake, and I’d light candles for however many years old you were, and I’d sing to you.”
    “Really?”
    Josie nodded. “Do you want to look at pictures now, while we have time before we go to lunch?”
    “ Ya , I would.”

    Linda had helped Josie lug several photo albums from her bedroom to the kitchen. Josie looked at them, scattered all over the kitchen table, most of them she hadn’t opened in years. She’d tried not to bring the albums with pictures she wouldn’t want Linda to see, like the one of her with her girlfriends at a bachelorette party when she was in her twenties, the time when a male dancer showed up. It was innocent, but Linda might not understand. Then there was the one when she and Robert were in Mexico, and Josie remembered the skimpy bikini she’d bought for that trip. Her mind was racing when Linda reached for one of the photo albums and opened it.
    “Is that me?” She pointed to a baby in a pink T-shirt that said, Mommy loves me . Linda’s eyes were glowing and hopeful.
    “No, sweetheart. I’m afraid that’s me.” Josie remembered putting her two weeks’ worth of photos in a little blue album, only big enough to hold single shots of Linda. She picked it up and handed it to Linda. “These are pictures of you.”
    “But the name on the front says Helen.” Linda looked up at Josie with big blue, questioning eyes.
    “That’s what I called you. For