Page 54 of Twins for the Silver Foxes

Did I dare risk talking to her? I took in the slumped posture and defeated look. Without the makeup and pretty dress, she looked like any other kid, one that I could relate to. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

Megan’s head shifted a fraction toward me. “I don’t hold anything againstyou.” Calm. Quiet. It seemed the anger she’d thrown at Arthur died when not in his presence. “It’s Dad I can’t stand.”

“Why?” I sipped my tea and let the question dangle.

“Because.” She spat the word while sitting up, her eyes flashing against the warm glow coming from the light over the stove. Just when it seemed like she’d refuse to continue, she dragged her cup closer and spoke. “Every time I give him a chance, he does some shit like this and proves how little I really mean to him.” One hand left the cup to point over her shoulder. “Like staying in bed all day with his lovers when he knew I’d be here.”

“To be fair, he wasn’t expecting you. It was my understanding you had made it clear in an email that you weren’t coming.” I held up a hand to stop her protest. “And I kind of dropped the baby news on him this morning out of the blue. I had no idea you were on your way or I’d have waited.” We all assumed Megan wasn’t coming based on the venomous email she had sent.

Megan hugged her cup to her chest. I wouldn’t swear to it, but I was pretty sure I saw hope come to life in her eyes. “My original flight got canceled. I found an earlier one and booked it.” Her voice faded to a whisper. “I thought it might be a nice surprise to arrive a few hours early so we’d have more time together.” A sarcastic chuckle twisted her lips to one side. “Big mistake.”

“I’m going to be a bitch here and say that it was kind of rude to barge into your father’s bedroom. Kind of like you were hoping to find him doing something you could be pissed about.” I ate another cracker.

Megan jumped up from the stool. “You’re way off base.”

“Am I?” I met her anger the same way I did Liddy’s whenever she pitched a tantrum. “All I know is that Arthur loves you. He talks about you all the time, and he’s been so excited to see you.”

“Could have fooled me.” Her words were muttered into the depths of her cup, but I was making progress. She returned to her seat with a dramatic sigh. “Dad never talks about his feelings. He says he loves me, but how am I supposed to believe that when he never tried to see me?”

“Do you know that for a fact? Do youknowor have you beentoldthat Arthur hasn’t made any effort to see you?” My goal to challenge her mother’s teachings might backfire, but I had to try. “He might not have won custody of you, but that has not stopped him from loving you as well as he can. He cares about being your father, and you’re old enough to make your own decisions about things.” I stopped before I called out her mother for being a heinous bitch. That would push Megan further away and invalidate all my potential progress.

Her thumb ran back and forth over the rim of the cup. “He’s asked me to spend summers with him. I wanted to, but what would we do?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” I carried my empty cup to the sink and washed it after throwing away the tea bag and empty cracker wrapper. Megan’s silence carried the weight of deep thought. Late night talks had always been my favorite. I hoped that when Liddy reached this age, we were still able to talk about anything and everything.

When I turned, I saw that Megan had joined me at the sink and I stepped aside. She washed her cup with the same kind ofmethodical precision I’d seen in Arthur. “You’re a lot like him, you know. You don’t see it, but I do. You’re careful with your heart. Afraid you’re going to be hurt. He’s scared too, Megan. He loves you so much that losing you almost ruined him.” I took a chance and rested a hand on her shoulder.

She allowed it longer than I expected, only moving away after she’d put her cup on the counter. “Thanks, Hannah.” One step back took her out of reach.

I stayed put several minutes after her steps faded into oblivion and prayed to every possible deity that I’d made a good choice.

29

RYLAND

I’d always loved Christmas, but this year made it obvious to everyone that we were celebrating more than usual.

It was decorating day. I wrapped twinkle lights around the pergola, plugged them in, and stepped back. “What do you think?”

Scott was finishing the final touches on the swing he’d put together for Liddy. “I’m thinking we could’ve hired people to do this for us.”

“Could’ve, but it wouldn’t have been half as special.” I raked up a handful of snow from the table and threw it in his face. He spluttered and spat snow in my direction, but I’d already moved out of the way.

“Right.” After brushing snow from his hair, he held out his arms. “Are we done now?”

I surveyed the yard we’d spent all morning preparing. Snow had fallen thick and heavy overnight, coating everything in six inches of powder. My breath fogged the air as I laughed. “Yeah, we’re done.”

“Great.” He yanked out his phone and dialed. “Hannah, can you and Liddy come down to the backyard?”

Arthur stood beneath the pergola, his entire face a mask of pretend indifference. He’d worn that look since Megan’s arrival, and the only time he took it off was at night when Hannah joined us.

Squeals and bright laughter snapped me back into the present. Liddy leaped off the top step and ran straight for the giant lighted snowman in the center of the yard. “Wow. He’s huge.” She made a complete circle, her hands clasped beneath her chin. “Can we make a real one?”

“Of course. Let’s get started.” I rolled a snowball between my gloved hands.

Liddy mimicked my actions and plopped the lopsided lump on the ground. “Let’s make ten snowmen.” She held up her mittened hands and attempted to splay her fingers out. “This many.”

“That’s a lot of snowmen,” Scott said as he helped created another ball. “Why so many?”

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