Daniel's Desire - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,63

“Right, Daniel?”

“Absolutely.”

Kendra finally managed a teary smile. “I guess we should go, then. Can I say goodbye to Retta?”

Daniel nodded. “Of course. I need to speak to her, too. I’m expecting some people here in a bit. I want them to know where I am.”

Molly heard a mix of anticipation and dread in his voice and knew at once exactly who he was expecting. “Are you sure you can do this now? Joe could take us.”

He glanced at Kendra, then shook his head. “Absolutely not. They knew I had some things to work out today. They’ll be here when I get back.”

His words spoke volumes about his commitment to Kendra…and to Molly. In that instant, knowing how long he’d waited for the reunion and that he was willing to wait a little longer to keep his promise to Kendra, Molly’s last remaining doubts fled. This was a different man from the one who’d run out on her years ago. And their love was stronger than ever.

“I’m scared,” Kendra admitted as Daniel pulled to a stop in front of a large Victorian house with a sprawling porch and a profusion of flowers spilling from window boxes on the railing. “They’re gonna be so mad at me.”

“I’ve called,” Daniel reassured her. “They’re grateful that you decided to come home, that you’re okay. They can’t wait to see you.”

“I missed weeks and weeks of school,” she whispered. “I’ll probably have to take all my classes over again.”

Daniel thought it a little odd that she didn’t sound especially distraught over that. “It’ll be hard, but you can do it,” he reassured her. “Maybe you can even take exams in some subjects and get credit. We’ll talk to the principal.”

“No!” Kendra said so heatedly that both Daniel and Molly were caught off-guard.

“Sweetie, why don’t you want to take the make-up exams?” Molly asked. “You studied while you were with me. I saw you with your books. I know you could pass the exams.”

“But that’s just it,” Kendra said, bursting into tears. “I don’t want to pass.”

Daniel exchanged a bewildered look with Molly. “Why not?” he asked. “I could understand if you were afraid of failing, but why are you scared that you might pass them?”

Kendra remained silent for what seemed like an eternity. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. “I want to stay behind.”

“You want to fail?” Daniel asked incredulously.

Kendra nodded. “I want to be with my friends, with kids closer to my own age. All the kids in my class are so much older than me. They treat me like a baby. I feel like some sort of freak.”

Daniel sighed as understanding finally registered. How had he and Joe managed to miss the fact that this overachieving kid had been pushed too hard? They’d seen only how proud her parents were of her accomplishments. She had great grades, so great that they’d never stopped to consider that she was only thirteen and already a junior. One more year and her parents would be sending a terrified fourteen-year-old off to college to cope with situations that were far too advanced for her social skills. She was smart enough to recognize that she wasn’t ready for that. It also explained her one repeated claim that her parents were going to send her away. They were…to college.

“That’s why you ran away, isn’t it?” he asked quietly, wanting to be sure he’d finally gotten it right. “So you would fail all of your classes and have to stay back?”

Kendra nodded.

“And that’s what all the talk of being sent away was about, right? They’re talking about college already, aren’t they?”

Again she nodded. “They’ve already taken me to look at some schools and told me I’d be cheating myself of a better opportunity if I stayed home and went to a local college. They really want me to go to some fancy Ivy League school. I don’t even want to go to college now.”

“Oh, Kendra,” Molly said, pulling her close. “I wish you’d explained this at the beginning.”

“I couldn’t. My parents are going to hate me. They’re so proud that I’m smart. I didn’t want to let them down, but it’s awful. Everybody teases me, and it would be a million times worse at college. All the girls can think about is going to dances and dating and stuff, but nobody ever asks me, because I’m too young to date. I don’t have any friends in my class because I don’t have anything to talk