Page 26 of Beached Wedding

I bit the inside of my cheek. “I’ve seen what it looks like if people get married who aren’t in love.” I glanced at her, saw I had her attention. “I’m American.”

“I know.”

“Half the time I pick up the Aussie accent so not everyone realizes that. I was born near Seattle. My mom died when I was a two. She wasn’t with my dad and I’ve never been able to find him.” Vicky had told me she thought he was White, but I didn’t even know that much about him.

“I thought your mom lived in Australia.”

“I call Vicky ‘Mom,’ but she was my mom’s best friend. My mom didn’t have any family so she asked Vicky to take me if anything happened to her, so I wouldn’t go into foster care. Vicky promised she would because who thinks it will really happen?”

“She didn’t want you?”

“It’s the difference between planning a tropical wedding and being married,” I said dryly. “One’s a very romantic idea, theother is a lifelong reality. Vicky was a really good mom to me. She did her best and Gary—they were only dating when she took custody of me. He did what he thought was the right thing and proposed. They were already fighting by the time the wedding happened and their marriage turned out to be a huge mistake. Not violent or anything, but it was a lot of pressure. Kids are hard and marriage is hard. If you don’t really love each other and it’s not even your kid?”

“Shane and Auntie Ashley don’t have kids.”

“No, but have you met Sandy? They would have started a family pretty quick if she had anything to do with it. Then what happens if the marriage doesn’t work out? I was eight when Vicky and Gary divorced. Gary was having an affair with Stephanie. She’s his wife now and Vicky married Mitchell a year later. Mitchell and Stephanie never really understood why I had to be part of their lives. They wanted to have their own kids and make a fresh family that didn’t have a weird foster kid in the background.”

“That’s mean.”

“People want things to be simple.” But yes, it had felt cruel. I was pretty sure Mitchell had taken the job in Sydney as an attempt to distance me from his life with Vicky. Or, at the very least, he hadn’t cared that that would happen.

“Why did you go live with Vicky?”

“I bounced back and forth every week between them in the first two years, before Vicky and Mitchell moved to Sydney. I was going to stay with Gary because, you know. American.” I pointed at my chest. “But his life got complicated and he sent me to Vicky. It was supposed to be temporary, but Eddie and Sandy moved in next door and they didn’t mind having an extra kid hanging around.” I’d been a bit of a placeholder, but Shane and I got on so I’d been welcomed very warmly. “Anyway, the moralof the story is, being married to someone you don’t love ends in divorce and it’s not fun for anyone, especially the kids.”

“You don’t think Shane loves Auntie Ashley?”

“I think he loves having her around. She’s chill and funny and thoughtful. He loves her like you love a good friend.”

“Is that howyoulove her?”

Pow. That one crashed like the full weight of a wave, one that would have pinned me to the bottom of the ocean and kept me there. I hadn’t seen it comingat all.

She took a long swig of whatever she was drinking, but kept her eyes on my as though she knew exactly what bomb she’d dropped.

Note to self, don’t underestimate the preteen.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” My lungs felt compressed, like I’d been winded and talking was an effort. “Because I hate myself for hurting her, but I still think I did the right thing.”

Her brows went up, unimpressed by my willingness to die on that hill. She chucked her chin toward a fresh plume of mist in the distance.

I acknowledged the whale, then smeared a couple of crackers, gave her one and ate one myself.

“What doyouthink she should do? Come home?” Fliss slanted me a look that seemed to genuinely want my thoughts on the matter.

I pondered every conversation I’d ever had with Ashley. Thought about all the times she had gone along with whatever Shane wanted.

“Can I ask you something?” I offered another cracker. “I get the impression that your mom and your grandma have strong opinions. That Ash is the peacemaker. Goes along to get along. Is that accurate?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Mom and Grandma argue a lot. Grandma doesn’t approve of Mom’s choices.” She liftedsuperior brows. “Grandma is a nurse. She likes everything organized and tidy and we should all be prepared for an emergency and don’t take dumb risks or make your life harder than it needs to be. They fight about how to be a good parent.”

“Is your mom a lot older than Ashley? Because?—”

She shook her head. “Just three years. She had me when she was seventeen.”

“That’s young.” And made sense, because the few times I’d seen Whitney on the tablet, she hadn’t looked much older than Ash.

“My dad was the same age. Grandma could tell he wasn’t ready to be one.”

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