“Shh.” Rory hugged her tighter, closer, and she leaned her head against him.
“Sorry,” she said, wiping the back of her hand across her wet cheek.
“What for?”
“Dumping on you. You’re the only person I’ve told.”
“Hey, I’m glad you could,” he said softly.
“Even though I know you told me about the accident to convince me that Shelly’s judgment is poor. But there’s a huge different between screwing up in the middle of a crisis and longing to know who your parents are. Don’t you agree?”
Daria closed her eyes. Of course he was right. “I suppose so,” she said weakly.
She felt him turn his head to look toward the beach road, and she followed his gaze with her own. Zack and Kara were walking into the cul-de-sac. They looked almost like one person, they were so close together, their arms wrapped around one another.
“They don’t see us,” Rory whispered.
Zack and Kara stopped in front of the Wheelers’ cottage, turning to face each other, locking themselves in a long, intense embrace.
“Guess I’d better go make my presence known,” Rory said. He squeezed her shoulders.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, standing up.
“I’m fine.” She smiled at him.
“Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
“That’s what friends are for.”
Daria had no nightmares that night. Instead, she dreamed that she and Rory were in Africa, riding together on the back of an elephant, crossing a golden plain so wide and flat that it looked as though it went on forever. Other people were there, riding elephants behind them. Shelly was there. Jill, from the cul-de-sac. Daria’s mother. And people she didn’t know, the line of elephants and riders streaming far behind her and Rory, curling toward the horizon. But she hadn’t been interested in the other people. She was sitting behind Rory, her arms snug around his waist. The elephant’s rhythmic walk, the bulk of his spine between her legs and the feeling of Rory’s body beneath her hands excited her, and all she could think about was arriving at their destination. There, they would find a cabana, where she and Rory would have privacy.
She awakened before the chain of elephants reached the cabanas, and groaned with disappointment at finding herself in her blue and white, sea-air-filled bedroom. Her body was still charged from her erotic, surreal ride across the plain, and she allowed herself to relive it as she lay in bed awhile longer.
Finally, the scent of seaweed and coffee had grown so strong in her room that she had to face reality and get out of bed. Downstairs, she found Chloe and Shelly already eating breakfast at the picnic table on the porch. She sat next to Shelly and busied herself pouring cereal, slicing a peach, struggling to let the dream go. She was still bursting with the physical sensations of it, and her gaze was drawn again and again across the street to Poll- Rory.
If only she could confide her feelings for Rory to her sisters and get some sisterly advice, but that was impossible. She’d always avoided speaking to Chloe about love and desire. It didn’t seem fair to talk to Chloe about that sort of thing, when Chloe, by virtue of her vow of chastity, could not experience those feelings for herself. And Shelly would make entirely too much of it. She might even say something inappropriate in front of Rory. Anyway, what advice would Shelly have to give?
Shelly was filling the porch with her chatter. She’d found a tiny, perfect starfish on the beach that morning, she said. And dozens of pieces of cobalt-blue glass.
Chloe was silent. Oddly silent. Finally, she interrupted her youngest sister.
“Shelly,” she said gently, “can you tell us why you suddenly want to know who your real mother is? You never seemed to care before, and I don’t understand why it’s suddenly so important to you.”
The change in Shelly’s features was abrupt. She looked into her bowl, dipping her spoon in and out of the milky cereal. There was a sheen of tears in her eyes that surprised Daria, and her own throat tightened as she waited for her younger sister to speak.
Shelly looked up at them.
“I always wanted to know,” she said.
“I just never said anything about it. I didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings.
But now that Dad is gone, I thought it was time for me to find out.
You both know who your mother and father are. I loved Mom and Dad and I’m really glad they were my parents, but I need to know more. ” A tear spilled over her lower lashes and slipped down her cheek.
Chloe leaned forward to cover Shelly’s hand with her own.
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed,” Chloe said.
“I don’t want you to get your hopes up and then have them shattered.”
“I know,” Shelly said. She wiped her nose with her napkin.
Daria’s heart ached. They had accepted Shelly’s good nature and ever-present cheer at face value. They’d never seen the pain behind that facade.
“Just know,” Chloe said to Shelly, “that no matter what you learn or what you don’t learn, we love you. Daria and I love you and adore you.
Nothing you find out will ever change that. “
