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“Oh yeah. It’s a mutual lovefest.” She knew she sounded bitter but she couldn’t help it.
She waited for Aiden to say that it must be nice for Molly but for a few minutes he said nothing at all. He just stared at the water, thinking. Then finally he stirred.
“That must hurt your feelings. And the fact that she’s nice—that kind of sucks, too.”
“What do you mean?” It did suck, but she wasn’t about to admit that when she already felt as if she had a “mean girl” neon sticker on her forehead.
“Well, it makes hating her an uncomfortable experience, because she isn’t giving you good reason. Always assuming that you do hate her, which I probably would in your position.”
Izzy swallowed. “You would?” No one understood how she was feeling. Not her family, not her friends.
But Aiden understood.
“Yeah. I mean, your world is all screwed up and in she steps, Miss Perfect. And she’s not putting a foot wrong, from the sounds of it. If you want my opinion, I think it’s kind of selfish that she isn’t giving you a single reason to hate her.”
Izzy choked on a laugh. “I can’t believe you just said that. You’re so bad.”
“I’m not. And neither are you.”
“I feel bad. Like I’m a truly horrible person.”
“As you said—it’s a crap situation, and none of it is in your control. You’re not calling the shots. Flora has it much easier.”
Izzy thought about Flora, red-faced and out of breath trying to keep up with her. Flora, trying not to look at all the photos of Becca that adorned the house. Flora, looking a little lost. “I don’t think it’s easy for her.” She felt a flash of guilt. “I’ve made it pretty tough. The harder she tries, the more I withdraw. I can’t help it. I just don’t want her around and there is no real reason for that.”
Aiden swatted a fly. “Your family changed shape, and you’re not ready for it to change shape again. I’d say that’s reason enough.”
“How do you always know exactly what to say?”
“I don’t. But in this case it’s obvious.”
“You don’t think I’m terrible?”
“I think you’re human. So what did you do to Flora? Put a frog in her bed?”
Izzy tried to smile. “Went out of my way to make her uncomfortable mostly. Baited her into doing stuff she doesn’t normally do. But it hasn’t worked. Nothing I do seems to shake her. I mean, it has to be hard but she just endures it, like she’s willing to take the punishment. Or maybe she just loves my dad or wants his money or something and is willing to do whatever it takes.”
“Why do you think she wants his money?”
“I don’t know.” She knew for a fact that Flora had insisted on paying for her own flight ticket because she’d been in the kitchen when she’d booked it. “Ignore me.”
“Maybe she’s a realist. If she’s hanging out with a ready-made family, she has to take the good with the bad. And maybe she’s just not used to being part of a family. It’s like—” he thought about it “—like learning to play with an orchestra when you’ve only ever played solo.”
“Why does she even care what I think of her? Why is she trying so hard? It’s not like I’m the one she’s dating.” The journey and the jet leg suddenly caught up with her and suddenly Izzy felt exhausted and emotional.
“Because if she’s going to be with your dad, she knows she has to get you to like her, too.”
“And I can’t do it. I don’t know why. And it’s not like I want my dad to be miserable. I want him to be happy. So why can’t I just be happy for him?”
“Honest answer?”
“I don’t know. Am I going to hate your honest answer?”
“You could never hate me. I’m way too cool and handsome. And my family owns a boathouse, so that’s worth sticking around for.” He looped his arm round her shoulders. “So this is what I think. You’ve been through hell. You’re sad. Grieving. Surviving, day to day. And then suddenly your dad brings someone home and it all changes. He changes. Whether it’s true or not, he seems to be moving on. And now Molly is smiling for the first time, and seems to be moving on, too. And now you have all this change to handle again, and you feel threatened.”
“That sounds about right.” Her throat was clogged. “I don’t want to hate her, but I can’t make myself be nice because she’s—how did you describe it?—reshaping our lives and I have no say over it.”
“And you had no say over losing your mother, either. It’s okay to struggle with it, Izz. You don’t have to pretend it’s all okay and be this fake perfect person. You’re allowed to be angry and sad. You can yell and cry.”
