happened again?” Justine asked. “Listen, we haven’t come to the end of this story yet. This is all new. Many things could change. Your dad has a new business—maybe that will help him feel better about himself. Maybe...”
“Mom, everyone in town knows that kayak shack is a loser! It’s gone out of business a bunch of times!”
“Here’s what I hope,” Justine said. “Your dad was a good dad, and I always thought of him as a good man. Maybe he’ll come around enough so you and Livvie can spend time with him, have a good relationship with him. Maybe the woman he’s with will become more likable in time, who knows? I just want you to remember that very few things are forever. Maybe it seems like your dad is gone now, but maybe that changes in a few months or years.”
“The counselor said something like that, but it still hurts. It hurts that he left us.”
“What did the counselor say, honey?”
“Something like keep an open mind, but I’m allowed to have boundaries. Like I don’t have to go out to dinner with her. I don’t know what’s wrong with my dad. I can tell she’s not a good person.”
Justine felt at once relieved and guilty—her daughters didn’t know the half of it. She was hitting him! Scott was not a skinny, weak little man and Cat was small, though strong. Was Scott letting her hit him? Was he not fighting back? Oh God, imagine if they were beating up each other! She had that scrappy look about her.
“I had that same feeling, Amber. That suddenly I didn’t know my own husband. I’m hoping it’s temporary insanity.”
“But you won’t take him back?”
“Listen, we can still have good lives, your dad and me. We can be good parents and find a way to get along. Your dad is a smart man, he can work and make a living just like me. He just has to make some good choices.”
“He hasn’t so far,” Amber said, taking a final sniff. “And now you have a boyfriend.”
“If that worries you, I can tell Logan we can’t see each other anymore. I told you—you come first.”
“But you like him,” she said.
“Of course! So do you. I think he’s a good guy. But Amber, we’re not in love or engaged or planning a future together. Logan is not in the way of you having a good relationship with your dad. That can still happen if he just gets his head on straight.”
“I don’t like our chances,” Amber said. “I’ve never seen my dad act so stupid.”
She had to concentrate to keep from saying, If only you knew.
Chapter Sixteen
Adele enrolled in a couple of classes for the spring semester at Berkeley. When she was admitted to the master’s program, those classes would be applied to her transcript. One was from six to eight in the evening three nights a week, and the other was every Saturday, online.
The only person she wanted to tell was Jake. She dropped by the store, picked through some fresh produce, then went looking for him. She finally asked one of the produce managers.
“The last time I saw him he was hosing down the receiving dock out back.”
“I’ll go there,” she said.
“Well, since you’re not supposed to, leave your groceries with me and be very careful. It could be slick.”
She knew her way around the store, of course. It was one of her regular outings the entire time she lived in her parents’ house. She knew the store, the office, the dock, the storeroom, even the dumpsters. She found Jake in the shipping area, wielding his high-powered hose. She stood back, waiting for him to see her. He turned off the water.
“Adele Descaro, as I live and breathe.”
“Yes, Jake, it’s me. I left my cart in the vegetable aisle. How are you?”
“Doing fine, Addie. But how about you?”
She walked toward him. “I saw Bobby Jo at the Walmart the other day, and you’ll never believe what she asked me. She asked if we’d had a falling out. A