And that’s where the worry came in. Chloe’s silence and irritability were evidence of the war going on inside her, and although Daria could think of no way to ease her sister’s suffering, that didn’t stop her from worrying about her. Then there was Shelly, who grew more attached to her unborn baby with each passing minute. Daria would never be able to persuade her to have an abortion, that much was clear, so some other arrangements would have to be made. She felt no rush to do that.
Right now, she wanted to focus her time and attention on Rory. With her sisters’ turmoil swirling around her, she had found a safe harbor in his arms.
“So, when do Ellen and Ted get here?” Rory asked her.
She rolled onto her side, resting her head against his shoulder.
“Early tomorrow morning,” she said, then added sarcastically, “I can hardly wait. They hadn’t planned to be here this weekend, but when I stupidly mentioned that the bonfire was scheduled for tomorrow night, they changed their minds.”
“I’m not going to be able to look at Ellen the same way now,” Rory said. “Well, I don’t think she was one of your favorite people to begin with.”
“Shelly was really lucky that you were the one to raise | her, and not Ellen.” | “I’ve thought of that,” Daria said.
“And I was lucky, 4 too. I can’t imagine my life without Shelly.” | “She hasn’t asked me if I’ve uncovered any more in| formation about who left her on the beach,” Rory said. |”How have you explained to Zack or the neighbors why * you suddenly stopped researching Shelly’s background?” she asked. ^ “No one’s asked me yet,” he said.
“When and if they ‘|| do, I’ll tell them I wasn’t able to come up with enough information to make it worthwhile. The person I worry about telling that I failed in my research is Shelly.”
“I know.”
“Have you thought about whether Shelly should know i the truth?” Rory asked.
“I think I would want to know the truth if I were in her shoes, no matter how hard it might be to hear.”
Daria smoothed her hand across his chest.
“Well,” she I said, “I’d have to confront Ellen with it first, and I have no desire to do that.
I hoped that someday she would come forward herself, but that’s never going to happen. It’s not Ellen’s style. Ellen has one person on her mind, and that’s . Ellen. I sometimes think she’s in denial about Shelly being her daughter. In a different sort of world with a different sort of mother, I would say that Shelly should be told the troth. But Ellen is such a bitch to her, that I can’t see how it would do Shelly any good to know. ” :” Maybe Ellen is a bitch to her, as you say, because she i resents her. Shelly was unwanted. The pregnancy got in Ellen’s way. “
“K
“I don’t know, Rory,” Daria said.
“I’ve tried analyzing Ellen over the years, and I’ve never come up with any very charitable perspective on her. I try to remind myself that
she was only fifteen. If something like that had happened to me when I was fifteen, I might have done the same thing.”
“I doubt that very much.” Rory rolled over and leaned on his elbows.
He smiled down at her.
“Not my Daria,” he said.
“You would have been too smart to get pregnant in the first place. But if you did, you would have probably delivered the baby yourself, cut the cord with your teeth and breast-fed her while saving three swimmers caught in an undertow.”
She laughed.
“I think you have me on a bit of a pedestal,” she said.
He was quiet a moment.
“You haven’t talked about your EMT position,” he said finally.
“After the incident on Andy’s pier, I thought you might want to get back into it.”
She drew in a long breath.
“I feel less afraid,” she admitted.
“I
haven’t had a nightmare about the pilot in a few weeks. But I still lied, Rory. I was involved in a coverup, and I just can’t get past that. “
“What would happen if you admitted what you did?” he asked.
“I’ve thought about it. You know, plead temporary insanity and beg for mercy. But the system doesn’t work that way. There would have to be an investigation. This sort of thing is taken very seriously, and it should be. I did it to protect my sister, and you and I both know she had no idea what she was doing and that she truly needed that protection. But if
He laughed.
“Glad I can help with your escape from reality,” he said.
