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“Maybe. Or she’ll find
a way to make it all my fault, somehow. She’s pretty good at that.”
“She doesn’t quite understand you, you know. Maybe she rewrites your life so she can identify with you a bit more easily.”
“Maybe. That doesn’t make it right,” Kim said.
“She definitely lives in her own little universe, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, she does. And she allows the rest of us to join her there only if we play by her rules.”
Tate shrugged. “My mother has her own little world, too. It’s a bit more grounded in reality than Betsy’s, but Mom likes to maintain her comfortable illusions, especially when it comes to Lynette and me. Maybe it’s a mother thing. Maybe someday you’ll do the same with Daryn.”
“Not the way my mother does.” She was appalled by the very suggestion.
Tate laughed. “No. Not like your mother.”
He parked at the curb of her mother’s house.
“We won’t be staying,” she told him. “Mom invited us for dinner, but I told her I just want to get the rest of Daryn’s things and head home. We can stop to eat somewhere along the way, if that’s okay with you.”
Already it was going to be around 9:00 p.m. by the time they got to her house, and that was if they didn’t dwell long over dinner. Daryn would sleep in her car seat, but still she needed to be in her bed. Besides which, Kim had taken just about all of her family she could deal with for one weekend.
“Whatever you want to do. I’m not hungry yet, anyway.”
With Bob helping Tate load up, it took only a few minutes for everything to be ready to go. Betsy was a bit more subdued than usual as she watched them prepare to leave. Whether because she was truly sorry to see them go, or because Grandma had given her a hint of what was to come, Kim couldn’t have said.
Carrying Daryn and trailed by Tate, Kim searched out her brothers. Stuart was already on the couch with his computer again, his expression more distantly sullen than usual. He looked up when Kim stood in front of him.
“I’m leaving now,” she said. “I wanted to say goodbye to you first.”
He nodded. “Okay. See you.”
She frowned, finding his brusque words unsatisfying. Granted, she hardly knew Stuart, since he’d been just a kid when she’d left home, but it would have been nice if they could have treated each other as a little more than strangers.
“Good luck with starting college next week. I’m sure you’ll do very well.”
“Yeah, thanks, Kim. I, uh, used the money you sent me for graduation for supplies. Thanks again.”
He had sent her an awkwardly worded thank-you note at the time. She’d received it with a pang of sadness that they had never had a chance to grow closer. “You’re welcome again. See you later, Stuart.”
He nodded, giving a little wave to Daryn. “See you, kid.”
“Say bye-bye to Uncle Stuart, Daryn.”
Stuart blinked, and Kim thought he looked startled to hear himself referred to by that title. Had he not thought of himself in that manner before with Daryn?
Kim stood back to allow Tate to step forward and offer a hand to the teen. “It was nice to meet you, Stuart.”
“Yeah. So…I’ll see you around. Maybe.”
Without giving Tate a real chance to respond, Stuart turned his attention back to his computer, letting his shaggy hair fall over his face to hide his expression.
Torn between regret and annoyance, Kim turned to Julian. “So long, Julian.”
He surprised her by brushing a kiss against her cheek. “Tate seems like a decent guy,” he said quietly. “I hope things work out for you two.”
“Um, Julian, you need to talk to Mom when we leave, okay? And before you do, let me just say ahead of time that I’m sorry.”
