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waiting for you to do something wrong.”
Lucy’s throat worked as she swallowed. “I don’t care about that.”
“You’ll care. Believe me. It’s a terrible thing to lose your privacy, and that’s what you’ll be doing. You’ll have Secret Service following you everywhere—when you’re with your friends, the first time you’re on a date, wherever you want to go. You’ll never be able to go anywhere by yourself.”
“You did.”
“This has only been temporary. I knew from the beginning that I’d have to go back to my real life.” She rubbed Lucy’s knuckles. “And it’s not just the big things in your life that will be destroyed; it’s the little things, too. Think about how much you love going to the mall. You won’t be able to do that without causing all kinds of trouble, and pretty soon you’ll realize it’s not worth it. You’re going to miss things like that a lot.”
“I never said I had to go to malls.”
Nealy needed to make her understand exactly what she was walking into. “Wait until you screw up, Luce, because that won’t be just between the two of us. The whole world will know about it.”
Mat took a step closer to the windows, Button limp in his arms, his expression growing more foreboding. He should be her partner in this, not her adversary, and her resentment deepened.
She returned her attention to Lucy. “If you curse in public, or talk too loud, or decide to go back to that awful purple hair, it’s going to end up in the newspapers, and then everybody will starting criticizing you. One day you’ll turn on the television, and some psychologist will be analyzing your personality for all of America.”
“That blows.”
Her words had finally penetrated. “It really does. And it’ll happen, I promise you.”
“Did people say a lot of bad things about you in the newspaper while you were growing up?”
“Not too much.”
“Then why do you think they’ll say them about me?”
She gave Lucy a sympathetic smile. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I was an angel compared to you. My father wouldn’t have had it any other way. And that’s another big problem. My father.”
“Is he mean?”
“Not mean, but he can be very difficult. He’s a big part of my life, though, so you’ll be stuck with him, too. And even if I tell him not to, he’ll give you lectures about how you have to set an example. When you do something wrong, he has this way of looking at you that makes you feel bad about yourself. He’ll always be comparing the way you are to the way I was, and he’ll make sure you come up short. You’re not going to like him very much, but you’ll still have to put up with him.”
Lucy’s chest quivered as she took a breath. “You really mean it, don’t you? You’d adopt us like . . . forever?”
“Oh, sweetheart, I know this is what you think you want more than anything, but it’s not going to be easy. And here’s the thing . . . you have to make this decision for two people, not just for yourself.”
“For Button, too.”
Nealy nodded. “At least you’ll remember what it was like to live as a normal person, but public life will be the only life she’ll know. And I promise you, the day will come when she’ll blame you for that.”
Lucy studied her for a long time. “You’re really serious?”
“I’m serious. Unfortunately, you don’t have much time to think it over, even though this is probably the biggest decision you’ll ever make.”
“My mind’s already made up.” She jumped up. “We’re coming with you!”
Nealy wasn’t surprised, and she almost wanted Mat to object, but when she glanced at him, his expression was stony.
“Go get your things together,” she said quietly. “We have to leave soon.”
Lucy rushed toward the door, only to stop. “There’s something you should know. Button’s name. It’s really . . .” She grimaced. “It’s . . . Beatrice.”
Nealy managed a smile. “Thanks for telling me.”
For a moment Lucy simply stood there, and then those abused fingernails shot to her mouth. “I know why you want to adopt Button—because she’s so cute and everything. But . . .” She withdrew her fingers, picked at her thumb. Her voice became small and defenseless. “Why do you want to adopt me?”
Nealy rose from the ottoman. “Because I love you, Luce.”
