had settled around her waist and thighs. The stretch marks that silvered her belly. The fact that she was old enough to know that love didn’t always last forever, that sometimes good people with the best intentions couldn’t find a way to make it work, no matter how hard they tried, and it was always the children who paid the price.
That wasn’t going to happen to Hannah or Kelly, not if she could help it. When she and Aidan married, they would marry for keeps.
“So how did you like the wedding gowns?” he asked as he edged the Jeep into traffic on Main Street.
“I didn’t,” she said. “I can’t see buying a dress that costs more than a used car.”
“I thought all women dreamed about wearing a long white gown and a veil.” He waved thanks to Bob Heffernan from the auto body shop for letting him in. “The Princess Di thing.”
“And you saw how that ended up,” Maddy said. “I never dreamed about getting married. I was too busy planning how my Barbie and I were going to rule the world.”
“Kelly was like that, too. She wrote inaugural addresses for Malibu Barbie.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she was writing an inaugural address for herself one day. You did a great job with her, Aidan.”
“Not me,” he said, deflecting the credit the way he always did. “All I ever had to do was point out the right road and watch her do the rest.”
“I know that’s not true. You’re a wonderful father.”
“She made it easy for me. If it hadn’t been for Claire’s help, I wouldn’t have known my ass from my elbow.”
There was no denying that Claire had been a rock for Aidan to lean on during the first few years of Kelly’s life, but she knew who had done the real parenting.
“Hannah’s lucky to have you in her life,” she said. “And so am I.”
He wasn’t good with compliments. He didn’t say anything, just stared straight ahead at the cars moving slowly up the main drag, but he was smiling, and she found herself smiling, too. He had already done the heavy lifting where Kelly was concerned and done it splendidly.
In a few weeks she would graduate high school as valedictorian of her class and then before they had a chance to take a deep breath, she would be off to school in Manhattan on a full scholarship, well on her way to the life of happiness and accomplishment she deserved.
In the midst of the chaos that came with planning a wedding, how wonderful to know there was one part of their lives that was perfect and likely to stay that way.
Chapter Six
THERE WAS ONE thing adults didn’t tell you when they gave you the great facts-of-life speech. They told you about eggs and sperm, about fertilization and the division of cells. They told you about wombs and embryos, about missed periods and the nine months that followed, but the one thing you really needed to know you had to find out on your own.
The first time she and Seth had made love, Kelly knew instantly what no adult had ever been able to tell her. Sex changed everything. You couldn’t pretend it never happened. You couldn’t go back to the way you were before, not even if you wanted to. That decision changed you forever. The last whisper of childhood faded, and you were left all alone in the strange world adults called home.
She could barely look at her father for weeks afterward. Every time she did, she was torn between the fact that he was a sexual being—something too gross to contemplate—and the knowledge that she could never again be his innocent little girl. Those days were gone. The balance between them had been irrevocably altered, and he hadn’t a clue. He talked to her the same way he had always talked to her, small talk about dinner, about Aunt Claire, about somebody at the bar, and he didn’t even notice the difference. She kept her secret well, and he trusted her so implicitly that he didn’t suspect a thing. Somehow that made her terribly sad, although she couldn’t explain why, not even to her
That wasn’t going to happen to Hannah or Kelly, not if she could help it. When she and Aidan married, they would marry for keeps.
“So how did you like the wedding gowns?” he asked as he edged the Jeep into traffic on Main Street.
“I didn’t,” she said. “I can’t see buying a dress that costs more than a used car.”
“I thought all women dreamed about wearing a long white gown and a veil.” He waved thanks to Bob Heffernan from the auto body shop for letting him in. “The Princess Di thing.”
“And you saw how that ended up,” Maddy said. “I never dreamed about getting married. I was too busy planning how my Barbie and I were going to rule the world.”
“Kelly was like that, too. She wrote inaugural addresses for Malibu Barbie.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she was writing an inaugural address for herself one day. You did a great job with her, Aidan.”
“Not me,” he said, deflecting the credit the way he always did. “All I ever had to do was point out the right road and watch her do the rest.”
“I know that’s not true. You’re a wonderful father.”
“She made it easy for me. If it hadn’t been for Claire’s help, I wouldn’t have known my ass from my elbow.”
There was no denying that Claire had been a rock for Aidan to lean on during the first few years of Kelly’s life, but she knew who had done the real parenting.
“Hannah’s lucky to have you in her life,” she said. “And so am I.”
He wasn’t good with compliments. He didn’t say anything, just stared straight ahead at the cars moving slowly up the main drag, but he was smiling, and she found herself smiling, too. He had already done the heavy lifting where Kelly was concerned and done it splendidly.
In a few weeks she would graduate high school as valedictorian of her class and then before they had a chance to take a deep breath, she would be off to school in Manhattan on a full scholarship, well on her way to the life of happiness and accomplishment she deserved.
In the midst of the chaos that came with planning a wedding, how wonderful to know there was one part of their lives that was perfect and likely to stay that way.
Chapter Six
THERE WAS ONE thing adults didn’t tell you when they gave you the great facts-of-life speech. They told you about eggs and sperm, about fertilization and the division of cells. They told you about wombs and embryos, about missed periods and the nine months that followed, but the one thing you really needed to know you had to find out on your own.
The first time she and Seth had made love, Kelly knew instantly what no adult had ever been able to tell her. Sex changed everything. You couldn’t pretend it never happened. You couldn’t go back to the way you were before, not even if you wanted to. That decision changed you forever. The last whisper of childhood faded, and you were left all alone in the strange world adults called home.
She could barely look at her father for weeks afterward. Every time she did, she was torn between the fact that he was a sexual being—something too gross to contemplate—and the knowledge that she could never again be his innocent little girl. Those days were gone. The balance between them had been irrevocably altered, and he hadn’t a clue. He talked to her the same way he had always talked to her, small talk about dinner, about Aunt Claire, about somebody at the bar, and he didn’t even notice the difference. She kept her secret well, and he trusted her so implicitly that he didn’t suspect a thing. Somehow that made her terribly sad, although she couldn’t explain why, not even to her
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