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“Why do some things have to be so painful?” I’d asked once.
“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
I liked Dr. Payne, but he was the master of the cliché.
Of course, clichés were clichés for a reason. They made a lot of sense.
For the first time, I was thankful for my junior year.
It had led me to Brad.
I laughed out loud. My life sure was heading in a different direction from where I’d assumed it would head. Married at eighteen? Who did that anymore? Mother at nineteen?
This was my life now.
No time to plan any kind of wedding, and my parents couldn’t afford it. Brad and I would probably be married at city hall. I could live with that. Not like I had a choice.
Still, what girl doesn’t dream of being a princess in white for a day?
I’d had those dreams once, when I was younger. Before I had other more important things to think about—like keeping my memory intact.
Now silly girlhood dreams seemed like exactly that—silly girlhood dreams.
I’d been forced to grow up quickly, and now I was doubling down. Soon I’d be responsible for another person—my little dove who I already adored.
I’d rise to the challenge.
Continue to find the joy in everything.
Because my little dove needed me.
“Daphne?” Dad opened the screen door leading to the deck. “You ready, sweetheart?”
I nodded.
Whether I was ready didn’t matter. I’d go see my mother. I’d set foot in the hospital. I’d be strong.
I had no other choice.
Chapter Thirteen
Brad
Lucy was asleep the whole time we were at the hospital. Daphne sat with her for a half hour, holding her hand. I didn’t pressure her.
Finally she said to me, “We need to get back to campus.”
I nodded. We said goodbye to Jonathan, and I gave him my address and phone number in case he wanted to reach me. Then we drove back to college. Daphne was quiet, but she seemed okay.
“Do you want to stay with me tonight?” I asked.
“No, I need to talk to Patty. Tell her what’s going on. I guess tomorrow after classes I’ll go talk to the registrar and the campus housing person. Patty will probably be thrilled to have a single room for the rest of the year.”
“Probably only the rest of the semester,” I said. “They’ll most likely fill the room with a transfer student in January.”
She nodded. “Well, she can have her fun for a few months, anyway. The girl gets around.”
“She does?”
“You know she slept with Sean the first night we were on campus. She also slept with her first nighter—who’s a pig, by the way—and still sees him. Whatever happened between her and Sean?”
“Murph likes to play the field,” I said. “I love him like a brother, but I don’t agree with everything he does.”
“Patty seems okay with it. I think she likes playing the field too. She’s not actually dating Rex, the other guy. Just screwing him when they both feel like it.”
“A lot of people do that in college,” I said. “It was never my thing. Not long term, anyway.”
“I suppose you were always with…”
“She’s gone now,” I said. “Wendy and I are over. She won’t be bothering either of us for a long time.”
“How can I be sure?”
“Trust me.”
Wendy had been committed for psychiatric evaluation and treatment after she pulled a gun on Murphy a few weeks ago. I owed my dad for this one. When the Madigans had refused to take charge of their daughter, my father stepped in, found a psychiatrist willing to sign the documents, and then paid the Madigans to sign affidavits testifying to what Wendy had done. Murph also signed an affidavit. No one had to lie. They just told the truth, and the psychiatrist took care of the rest. He guaranteed that Wendy would be hospitalized for at least a year.
In a year, Daphne and I could finish the school year. I would graduate, we’d get married, have our baby, and settle on the ranch.
The timing worked perfectly.
And Wendy would be gone for more than a year. I’d manage it somehow, even if I had to get my father involved again.
My father…
How would he feel when he found out I was getting married and having a baby? He’d met Daphne and seemed to like her okay, though my dad was difficult to read. He was an asshole, had treated my mother like crap for years. At least he didn’t hit her anymore.
My mom would love Daphne. They had a lot in common. Daphne had loved Mom’s greenhouse. I felt like she and Mom were similar souls. They’d be close, and my mom would adore our baby.
Yeah, we were young. It wasn’t what either of us had planned or what our parents had planned.
But we’d do it.
We’d bring our child into this world, and we’d thrive.
I’d see to it.
