“I was too angry with you.”
“I loved Pamela, too, you know.”
“I know you did,” she admitted.
“As much as I die And you didn’t know she was sick, just like I didn’t kno^ it. She loved flying—I can’t deny that. You might have encouraged her to do it more than I would have liked, bi it was her choice. You only gave her that choice.”
Eddie lowered his head, and she knew he was strugglin for composure.
“Thanks for saying that,” he said. H leaned back against the sofa.
“The girl,” he said.
“What’ her name?”
“Shelly.”
“Shelly. If you truly believe Shelly is your daughtej and if she and her unborn baby are… at risk, then you have to tell her. Or, at least tell her sister so she can get her evaluated and started on any treatment she might need. You have to do that.
Grace. “
“But what if she’s not my child?” Grace asked.
“She’s a bit fragile. I don’t want to confuse her.”
“Does Shelly have a widow’s peak?” Eddie asked.
Grace shook her head.
“Don’t all the women in your family have one?”
“Most, but not all.”
“Did you ever try to find the nurse?” Eddie asked.
“It seems that she’s the missing link in all of this.”
“There’s no way to find her,” Grace said.
“All I remember about her was that her name was Nancy and she worked in the oncology department of a hospital in Elizabeth City, twenty-two years ago. That’s not much to go on.” Grace was suddenly overwhelmed by the hopelessness of the situation.
“I was using a… friendship with Rory Taylor to stay close to Shelly,” she admitted.
“I can’t believe I did that, but I did. But now he’s involved with Shelly’s sister, so I have no reason to go up there anymore. I want to see Shelly again. I miss her already.”
“Let me help you with this,” Eddie said.
“Let me take on some of the burden you’ve been carrying around all summer, okay?”
She didn’t know what he could do to help, but she was far too tired to fight on her own anymore.
“Okay,” she said.
He gently pulled her closer, lowering her head to his shoulder, and for the first time since before Pamela’s accident, she let her body relax against his.
Uaria rolled onto her back, still trying to catch her breath She stared at the ceiling of her room, while Rory tracec her profile with the tip of his finger.
She had cried out. That was a first. No one had eve:
elicited that from her—surely not Pete—and she’d wondered if that sort of intensity ever truly happened fo:
women outside of books and movies. Now she knew. Shf had never thought of lovemaking as a talent before, bu Rory certainly had it, and she was glad no one else hac been home at the Sea Shanty when he’d revealed it to her “Well,” Rory said, the tip of his finger circling her lips “I think Zack is on to us.”
“You mean … that we’re lovers?” Zack certainly knew she and Rory had been seeing each other for the past tw( weeks, but Rory had been careful about concealing th physical side of their relationship from his son.
“Uh-huh. This morning he asked me if I’d been sure t( use a condom when I was out with you last night.”
She laughed.
“Touche, huh? What did you say?”
“I said I’m an adult in an adult relationship and that i wasn’t appropriate for him to ask me a question like that Then he called me a hypocrite and went out to the beach Not sure I handled it the right way.”
“I think you did,” she said.
“He needs to know then are some boundaries between you and him.”
The past two weeks had been a mixture of joy an worry. Being with Rory, being able to openly acknowledge her feelings for him, had been glorious. Everyone on the cul-de-sac knew about them and approved. Shelly was delighted. Only Chloe seemed less than enthusiastic.
“He’ll be leaving in a few weeks,” she’d say to Daria.
“Don’t throw yourself into this so freely.” Chloe was only trying to protect her from being hurt, Daria told herself. Yet she felt as though there was something less noble in Chloe’s admonitions, and she wondered at times if Chloe was simply jealous. After all, Chloe’s lover was dead, her life in a serious state of disarray.
