not the most outgoing kid.”
“She’s great! Now why didn’t you tell me that Patrick was such an expert on the diving board?” Patrick swam to the end of the pool and back so fast that Anna was truly amazed. “And that?” She pointed to his fast-moving figure in the pool. “Dang, he’s good.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said, a note of disappointment in his voice. “He was.”
“Was? I think he still is,” she countered, emphasizing the two verbs. “Want to talk about it?” she asked. Anna had been avoiding discussing Patrick and whatever his issues were, but now, being in the condition she was, she truly wanted, needed to know what had happened to take him away from a sport he obviously excelled at.
“It’s not something I like to talk about. Maybe later?” He turned to her, a smile on his face. “I want today to be perfect, nothing negative to ruin it for me.”
Anna sighed. “Okay, but I truly would like to learn more about your children, what made them become the people they are now. But if you’d rather wait, I understand.”
Ryan pulled her close to him, his forehead touching hers, though he had to stoop down to do this as he was much taller than her. “That’s what I love most about you, Anna. You’re so understanding. Patrick doesn’t like me to talk about this, but later, I . . . No, forget that. Step over here,” he said, guiding her to one of the four tables with giant blue-and-white-striped umbrellas. They sat down and he pulled his chair as close to hers as he could. “This is between us, okay?”
“Of course,” she replied.
“The summer before Patrick’s junior year, he met this girl, Rosalee; they were inseparable, they were madly in love. You know how first love can be?” He paused, as if he needed her to answer.
“Sure,” she said. Did she ever.
“One thing led to another, and Rosalee was pregnant by the end of the summer.”
“Oh, I had . . . no idea.” Anything but that, she thought, but she let him continue with this story before the rest of her hodgepodge family made their first appearance.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a good time for either of them.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Her family went ballistic, as you would expect. I wasn’t happy, but as a guy, I understood.”
Would he be as understanding when she told him of her suspicions?
She nodded encouragingly.
“Ryan wanted to marry her, said he would quit school, get a job. He wanted to take care of Rosalee and their baby. While I admired him for accepting his responsibility, as his father, I couldn’t allow him to ruin his life over one summer love, since, as we both know, first loves last like a paper to a flame. They’re hot and exciting, then most die out as fast as they began. Logan, his swimming coach, got word of this, not sure how, but he came to me, told me it was highly probable that if Patrick continued on the swim team, he’d get a full scholarship to a college of his choice. So, of course, I was thrilled to hear that, but I knew it wasn’t possible if he dropped out of school and took a damn job selling hamburgers. He had a bright future.” He took a deep breath.
“I met with Rosalee’s parents; they’re a good Spanish family, very moral. Catholic. I explained to them that Patrick had an awesome future ahead of him. His coach even talked Olympics, but Patrick shut his mind off to his future. Unless Rosalee and his child were a part of it, he wouldn’t listen to her family, and certainly I was the bad guy, so he wouldn’t listen to me, either. We were all at a crossroad, we wanted what was best for the kids, even if they thought they knew better. They were barely sixteen. Her parents refused to allow her to have an abortion, which is what I suggested, thinking it was best. Her family wouldn’t hear of it, so they sent Rosalee to live with a cousin. In Spain, of all places. The baby was adopted, and we’ve never discussed it since. Patrick’s way of showing his disappointment was to quit the swim team. Today’s the first day he’s been in a pool since.”
“Ryan, that’s so sad, but I understand Patrick’s frustration, how horrible this must’ve been.” Anna took a moment before she spoke, needing to absorb all he’d told her. “He has no