out a hunch. Had she been shocked, or were the results exactly what she expected?
“You mean she told you?” he asked Charlie, incredulous.
“I don’t think she meant to, but she was all sad and she told me.”
Cameron felt a dart of rage at his mother, but the anger had nowhere to go.
“I’m afraid Coach Duncan will take Ashley away,” Charlie said.
“That’s not going to happen. She’s our sister, and I’ll be the one to take care of her, whatever it takes.”
Babe came roaring back and dropped the ball at his feet.
“That’s not the same ball you threw,” Charlie said.
“You’re right,” he said, stooping to pick up the shiny blue racquet ball the dog had yielded up. “Doesn’t matter. A ball’s a ball.” He didn’t throw it but held it gingerly in one hand and grabbed Charlie with the other. With Babe loping along, they went back inside just as marble-size hailstones began striking the roof. Almost the moment they got inside, the storm passed. As Cameron fixed his sister a bowl of cereal, he felt curiously relaxed. At peace. It wasn’t his job to spend each moment of his life worrying about this family. He wasn’t worried anymore. He had a plan.
chapter 49
Lily had never invited Sean over to her house. Given the events of the summer, that seemed strange. She had let this man get closer than anyone into her life, perhaps even Crystal. There were things he knew about Lily’s heart that no one else had discovered, perhaps not even Lily herself.
It was time. Violet had insisted on keeping Charlie and Ashley for the evening and the girls were delighted to be back in the RV, this time with children to play with. Cameron was out with Becky; she was officially his girlfriend now. So when Sean called and asked to see her, she had invited him over—into her home, into her heart.
And she was a wreck. She’d straightened and cleaned all afternoon. She’d tried on and discarded four different outfits. What did you wear to tell a man you were in love with him?
She settled on a pink sundress and matching sandals and resisted the urge to pull her hair back into a ponytail, because he seemed to like it hanging loose. She put a six-pack of beer in the fridge. Then she paced and wrung her hands. She was setting herself up for all kinds of hurt, maybe even a rejection. He’d never actually told her he loved her. Maybe their connection was based on their mutual concern for the children. And sex, of course. Like a hormonal teenager, she couldn’t stop thinking about that. True love had to be more than that, she thought. Didn’t it?
This was absurd. She shouldn’t be doing this. A few months ago, her life was going completely according to plan. Since Crystal had died, and Sean and the children had come along, she’d lost control of the reins. And now this? Now she wanted to bare her heart to him? Was she out of her mind?
In the midst of pacing the floor, she came up short in front of the framed photo of herself and Crystal at Haystack Rock. Those shining eyes and laughing faces seemed so terribly young to her, as though they belonged to two strangers. In that moment, the grief struck her like a fist in the dark, as intense as it had been the morning Sean told her about the accident. Lily wrapped her arms across her middle and sat down as the waves swept through her. It happened like this sometimes; just when she began to think she’d adjusted to her loss, the grief came smashing through again like a destructive storm, a natural disaster.
There was a knock at the door and she shot to her feet. As she hurried to answer it, she wiped at her eyes. She was an idiot. She had no business telling this man she loved him. It would only complicate the situation.
He seemed distracted when she greeted him; his kiss was perfunctory and his mind was clearly on something other than her. She studied his face and realized it was more than distraction. “We need to talk,” he said, striding into her living room. He seemed to fill the whole place with his presence.
Well, thought Lily. So much for romantic declarations. “All right,” she said, determined not to let him rattle her. “Sit down and we’ll talk.”
He sat on the sofa but didn’t relax. Instead he leaned forward like