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JP acted attentive, though clueless, and willing to learn. He also had terrific support in that crazy family of his. Though she’d been concerned when she’d learned he hadn’t even held the baby for a few days, she had to cut him some degree of slack. Who knew how they’d react in a situation like his until faced with it?
As much as it pained her to admit, she had to remember Mary Anne was the one who’d done wrong. So many things wrong. And that was a detail her parents struggled to accept. So much that they’d rather send their other daughter to spy on the man trying his best. Believing JP to be a no-good manipulator who’d seduced and impregnated their innocent daughter was more palatable than the truth. Finding dirt on JP would only strengthen their conviction that their infallible daughter had been hoodwinked by a no-good Casanova.
But the truth was their daughter did a horrible, deceptive, straight-up immoral thing. And her actions had a high cost, forever altering the lives of many people. As much as she loved and missed her sister, Hannah couldn’t shed the small amount of resentment she felt at the way all their lives had been upended without consent.
What a mess.
Her phone rang just as she decided to pull the covers over her head and try for another hour of sleep. With a resigned sigh, she sat up. The fluffy comforter pooled at her waist. Lying on the empty side of the queen bed, her phone rang and rang with the word Mom flashing at the top.
“Here goes nothing,” she whispered as she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hello, darling,” her mother responded. “I’ve got you on speaker. You’re dad’s here with me.”
Great. For whatever reason, her dad’s grief and agony gutted her more than her mother’s.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Catch us up, please,” her mom ordered, speaking over her father when he tried to give his greeting. “We’re so eager to hear what you are learning. I imagine it’s unpleasant having to interact with any of those Bensons.”
Sitting in the middle of the bed, Hannah rolled her eyes. No how are you, or we miss you. Just straight to the point.
“Well, I got to meet JP last night. Looks just like he did in the photos online.” No point in commenting on how the man was the furthest thing from unpleasant when it came to his appearance.
Her mother gasped. She could imagine her dad rubbing his hand up and down her mom’s delicate spine. There’d been a time when Hannah thought her mother’s stringent parenting a sign of strength. Once she’d hit adulthood, she realized it was the opposite. All the suffocating rules and over-the-top limits to her social life hadn’t come from a woman trying to instill unshakable values in her children. It’d been one hundred percent driven by fear.
Fear of the unknown.
Fear of things she did know.
Fear of failure.
Fear of pain.
Fear of loss.
Now, that wasn’t fair. Her mother learned the horror of loss at an impressionable age. She’d also struggled to get pregnant for years, suffering numerous losses and heartbreak. But maybe if she’d agreed to therapy to work through her grief, they all could have lived a happier, more typical life.
“Tell us everything,” her dad said in the gruff voice that had comforted her so many nights as a child. Now edges of sadness and heartache had taken over and made it difficult to speak to him.
“Yes,” her mother agreed. “Everything. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to keep from ripping Kayla from his hands and running back to Colorado.”
Great. This should go over well.
For crying out loud, she hadn’t even had a sip of coffee yet.
After massaging her forehead, she took the plunge. “I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but the Benson family is…”
Soften the blow or rip off the Band-Aid?
“They’re wonderful.”
Band-Aid it is.
Neither of her parents said anything. If she didn’t know them better, she’d have assumed the call dropped.
“Um, we had dinner at Michaela Hudson’s last night. Mom, she isn’t anything like you read or see on television. She’s warm and kind and loves Kayla. The entire family does. They’re just smitten with her.”
“And the father?” her mother asked, ice dripping from the question.
A half-smile tilted Hannah’s lips as she recalled the flustered way he’d tried to figure out the highchair. “He’s in over his head,” she said with a chuckle.
Her mom sucked in a breath. “I knew it. We have to get Kayla awa—”
“Like any first-time parent, Mom. He’s tired and overwhelmed and has no idea what he’s doing. But he’s trying.” She left out the part about him not holding the baby for days after she’d arrived. They didn’t need to know. While she didn’t fully understand his initial reaction either, the man she’d seen last night was dedicated to his daughter. “He’s a good man, Mom. They’re a good family. And they love her.”
