“Sure.” He stood up, his knee a bit stiffer than when he’d sat down.
They said goodbye to Jill and began strolling along the water’s edge again. Shelly stopped to speak to a woman who was hesitantly dipping her toes into the chilly water.
“It will feel warm and wonderful once you’re in,” Shelly said.
For the first time, Rory understood, and maybe even shared, some of Daria’s concern for her sister. Shelly was open to everyone, friend and stranger alike, and that could indeed leave her vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
“Did you hurt your leg?” Shelly asked when they started walking again.
“I hurt my knee a long time ago, when I played football,” he said.
“Is it very painful?”
“Not too much,” he said.
“It’s a chronic pain, so I’m used to it.”
“What does chronic mean?”
“It means ongoing. Not like banging your toe into a table leg. That’s a bad pain, but it’s over in a few minutes, usually. Chronic means it goes on and on.”
“Yuck,” Shelly said, and he laughed.
Shelly reached down to pick up a shell. She examined it, then dropped it on the beach again.
“I have a secret friend,” she said abruptly.
“Who might that be?” he asked.
“I’ll never tell,” she teased. Her gaze was still riveted on the sand in front of her.
“Daria’s been pretty sad lately,” she said in another rapid change of topic. The way she flitted from subject to subject with no thought of censoring herself reminded him of Polly.
“She has?” he asked.
“Why is that?” “Because Pete—he was her fiance—broke off their engagement.”
“Oh.”
“I never liked him very much,” Shelly said.
“He was one of those he-man types, you know what I mean?”
Rory laughed.
“I think so. You mean, sort of macho?” “Right. He even had tattoos on his arms, one of a sea horse.” She wrinkled her nose.
“But Daria loved him, and she was really, really upset when he said he wouldn’t marry her. They’d gone out together for six years. He moved away to Raleigh.”
“Do you know why they broke up?” He felt a little uncomfortable, as though this might be information Daria would not want him to know.
“Daria would never tell me,” she said.
“She said it was personal, so I figure it must have something to do with sex.”
Rory laughed again.
“There are personal issues that don’t have anything to do with sex,” he said.
Shelly looked at him coyly.
“Daria likes you,” she said.
“Well, I like Daria, too.” He hoped Shelly was not implying that there might be a romantic relationship between Daria and himself.
“She was a good friend when we were little kids,” he said.
“I’d like us to be good friends again.”
“You know what, Rory?” Shelly said. She raised her gaze from the beach to look at him.
“What?”
“I have chronic pain, too.”
“You do? Where?”
“No one knows about it,” she said.
“Can you tell me about it?” He felt some alarm. Was she ill?
“Only if you promise not to tell Daria or Chloe. It would upset them to know.”
“I promise,” he said.
“Well, it’s not an arm or a leg that hurts,” she said.
“It’s actually all of me. My body and my head and my heart. They all hurt from not knowing who my real
