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.“You can’t prove me wrong until you get back out there.”***Leah looked up from her notes on the forms of democracy when she heard a faint knock on the door.“Come in,” she said.Allie poked her head through.“You busy?”Leah patted a spot on the bed in invitation for Allie to join her.She watched as Allie hiked up her fancy pants and sat Indian style facing Leah.“How’s the studying going?”“Pretty good.I think I’ve got it down.”“Did you want to talk about something before I go home?”“Yes.I wanted to ask about your stepmother.Are you close with her now?”Allie seemed surprised at the question.Her eyes bulged and she made a funny fish like expression with her lips.“Not really, but that’s mostly because I didn’t make it easy for her.I was upset about the divorce, and she was the best person to blame.”“Did your parents split up because of her?”“No.My parents split up because they didn’t have anything to say to one another when they weren’t fighting.”“Oh,” was all Leah could think to say.“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”“It wasn’t.” Allie reached over and patted Leah’s knee.“My stepmother, Suzanne, she was always nice to me, making cookies and offering to make my favorite meals.I didn’t like the fact that instead of listening to my mom and dad argue about my mom working all the time, my mom just stayed at work all the time.I didn’t like the fact that my dad could move on and get happy when I was so miserable.And when Suzanne got pregnant, I didn’t like the fact that they would have their own family when he still had me.So I was never very nice to her, even though she was always nice to me.My dad couldn’t understand my behavior, well…he never really tried, and things just went from bad to worse.”Allie unfolded her legs.“I’m not trying to scare you, Leah, I’m just trying to make you understand that you have a big say in how successful this relationship with Carolyn is.My situation was different because I wasn’t always with my dad and Suzanne, so I didn’t have to change my behavior.I got to escape for a while until my next visit and my mom, because she hated my dad, always backed me up.Carolyn will be here with you and your dad all the time.The harder you try to make it work, the easier it’ll be on all of you.”“Uncle Craig said that Carolyn’s probably as scared as I am of her living here.”“He’s probably right.Looking back, I can see that Suzanne was scared.She was always trying to make me like her because she loved my dad and he loved me.I’m the one who made it hard.”“It’s weird to see him with her,” Leah admitted.“Kissing and stuff.”“Yeah, but that’s just because you’re not used to it yet.”Leah twisted the pencil in her hand and tried to think of how to admit what she felt without it sounding strange.“I sort of feel like I’m being replaced.Like I wasn’t enough for him.”“Oh, Leah.” Allie put her hand on Leah’s shoulder.“Your dad’s not replacing you.He’s fallen in love again and that’s a wonderful thing.He’s a young man with a big heart and a lot of love to give.Just because he loves Carolyn doesn’t mean he loves you any less.”“But I don’t need anyone else.”Allie crossed her arms over her chest and stared down her nose at Leah.“You’re not planning to have a boyfriend? Ever?”“Well, yeah.” Leah felt her cheeks heat.“At some point.”“And when you get this boyfriend, do you think you’ll stop needing your dad?”“No, of course not.”“Then why would you think your dad doesn’t need you just because he has a wife?”Leah took a deep breath.She thought of her dad and all the ways they took care of each other.It wasn’t going to be the same with Carolyn around to take care of her dad the way Leah was used to doing.“I do a lot of stuff for him.He’s always calling me his conscience and his alarm clock.”“Maybe, instead of thinking of all the bad ways things are going to change, you can think of the good ways things will change.”“What good ways?”“Come on,” Allie said.“I’ve heard you complain about having to make dinner.I know sometimes you’ve felt left out because other girls complained about their mothers and you couldn’t complain.”“So now I’ll have someone to complain about?”“And someone to share girl stuff with.”“Hummm.” Leah slid down her bed and stared up at the ceiling.She’d never let her dad paint over the clouds her mom had painted when she was a baby.“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”“Nobody said this was going to be easy, Leah.But it’ll be a whole lot easier if you start off with a positive attitude.”“Okay,” she said.“I can do that.For my dad.”“For you, too, okay?”“Yeah,” Leah admitted.“For me, too.”Chapter 12Craig saw the Mercedes pull up to the curb and knew he only had a minute or two more to use the clamp saw before Davis swept in for his weekly review.The kitchen demo was well underway, so if Stacy had changed her mind again, she was out of luck.Craig cut the power and lifted the safety goggles from his eyes as Davis rounded the walkway whistling like a man without a care in the world.“Hey, man,” Davis said as he surveyed the damage.“Wow.This is going to cost me some serious time and money.”Craig wiped his brow with his sleeve.Even with the cooler air outside, he’d worked up a sweat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“You can’t prove me wrong until you get back out there.”***Leah looked up from her notes on the forms of democracy when she heard a faint knock on the door.“Come in,” she said.Allie poked her head through.“You busy?”Leah patted a spot on the bed in invitation for Allie to join her.She watched as Allie hiked up her fancy pants and sat Indian style facing Leah.“How’s the studying going?”“Pretty good.I think I’ve got it down.”“Did you want to talk about something before I go home?”“Yes.I wanted to ask about your stepmother.Are you close with her now?”Allie seemed surprised at the question.Her eyes bulged and she made a funny fish like expression with her lips.“Not really, but that’s mostly because I didn’t make it easy for her.I was upset about the divorce, and she was the best person to blame.”“Did your parents split up because of her?”“No.My parents split up because they didn’t have anything to say to one another when they weren’t fighting.”“Oh,” was all Leah could think to say.“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”“It wasn’t.” Allie reached over and patted Leah’s knee.“My stepmother, Suzanne, she was always nice to me, making cookies and offering to make my favorite meals.I didn’t like the fact that instead of listening to my mom and dad argue about my mom working all the time, my mom just stayed at work all the time.I didn’t like the fact that my dad could move on and get happy when I was so miserable.And when Suzanne got pregnant, I didn’t like the fact that they would have their own family when he still had me.So I was never very nice to her, even though she was always nice to me.My dad couldn’t understand my behavior, well…he never really tried, and things just went from bad to worse.”Allie unfolded her legs.“I’m not trying to scare you, Leah, I’m just trying to make you understand that you have a big say in how successful this relationship with Carolyn is.My situation was different because I wasn’t always with my dad and Suzanne, so I didn’t have to change my behavior.I got to escape for a while until my next visit and my mom, because she hated my dad, always backed me up.Carolyn will be here with you and your dad all the time.The harder you try to make it work, the easier it’ll be on all of you.”“Uncle Craig said that Carolyn’s probably as scared as I am of her living here.”“He’s probably right.Looking back, I can see that Suzanne was scared.She was always trying to make me like her because she loved my dad and he loved me.I’m the one who made it hard.”“It’s weird to see him with her,” Leah admitted.“Kissing and stuff.”“Yeah, but that’s just because you’re not used to it yet.”Leah twisted the pencil in her hand and tried to think of how to admit what she felt without it sounding strange.“I sort of feel like I’m being replaced.Like I wasn’t enough for him.”“Oh, Leah.” Allie put her hand on Leah’s shoulder.“Your dad’s not replacing you.He’s fallen in love again and that’s a wonderful thing.He’s a young man with a big heart and a lot of love to give.Just because he loves Carolyn doesn’t mean he loves you any less.”“But I don’t need anyone else.”Allie crossed her arms over her chest and stared down her nose at Leah.“You’re not planning to have a boyfriend? Ever?”“Well, yeah.” Leah felt her cheeks heat.“At some point.”“And when you get this boyfriend, do you think you’ll stop needing your dad?”“No, of course not.”“Then why would you think your dad doesn’t need you just because he has a wife?”Leah took a deep breath.She thought of her dad and all the ways they took care of each other.It wasn’t going to be the same with Carolyn around to take care of her dad the way Leah was used to doing.“I do a lot of stuff for him.He’s always calling me his conscience and his alarm clock.”“Maybe, instead of thinking of all the bad ways things are going to change, you can think of the good ways things will change.”“What good ways?”“Come on,” Allie said.“I’ve heard you complain about having to make dinner.I know sometimes you’ve felt left out because other girls complained about their mothers and you couldn’t complain.”“So now I’ll have someone to complain about?”“And someone to share girl stuff with.”“Hummm.” Leah slid down her bed and stared up at the ceiling.She’d never let her dad paint over the clouds her mom had painted when she was a baby.“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”“Nobody said this was going to be easy, Leah.But it’ll be a whole lot easier if you start off with a positive attitude.”“Okay,” she said.“I can do that.For my dad.”“For you, too, okay?”“Yeah,” Leah admitted.“For me, too.”Chapter 12Craig saw the Mercedes pull up to the curb and knew he only had a minute or two more to use the clamp saw before Davis swept in for his weekly review.The kitchen demo was well underway, so if Stacy had changed her mind again, she was out of luck.Craig cut the power and lifted the safety goggles from his eyes as Davis rounded the walkway whistling like a man without a care in the world.“Hey, man,” Davis said as he surveyed the damage.“Wow.This is going to cost me some serious time and money.”Craig wiped his brow with his sleeve.Even with the cooler air outside, he’d worked up a sweat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]