Page 9 of Lost Memories (Secrets of Mackinac Island 1)

“I just don’t understand why you never talk about him,” Elise offered, her voice croaking.

“I didn’t know how much you wanted to know,” Allison returned.

“Only as much as every other kid,” Elise had said. “It’s right here in the script, isn’t it?”

Allison had chuckled. “You’re a little too smart for your own good. You’ve already written two scripts of your own. No wonder you’re taking cues from this plot.”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Elise had said. “I’m just dying to know.”

“I know. It’s okay,” Allison said, her voice lowering. “Your father was a very kind, very generous man.”

Elise’s insides had clenched with fear.

“Why isn’t he here with us?” Elise asked.

“Because he lives somewhere else,” Allison had said.

“Why doesn’t he want us?”

“He has so much else to do in his life,” Allison had said. “And I don’t think we really need him, do we? After all, we’ve been through. Think of all our memories, Elise. Think of all the times we went camping in the mountains or swimming in the ocean. Think of the time we decided to paint your bedroom pink and then painted it different a week later because we hated it. Think about all the times we ate cotton candy for dinner and watched chick flicks and sang songs. All of those memories would have been very different with your father around.”

Elise had considered this. Was it possible that she wouldn’t have liked her life as much with her father around? Was it possible that she and Allison actually benefited from his absence, rather than the other way around?

At that moment, someone had snapped their knuckles against the trailer door. Allison had rushed toward it, her eyes still on Elise.

“What’s up?” Allison had asked.

“You’re on set in five,” the woman had called.

“I’ll be right out,” Allison had returned.

Her eyes had remained on Elise for a long time. “Do you really think you would be happier with him around?”

Slowly, Elise shook her head. Her eyes turned toward the ground. She’d suddenly felt terribly selfish; how had she thought that she deserved some other life than the one her mother had given her?

**

IN THE YEARS AFTERElise’s big break in that film, which had received middling reviews, Elise had gotten several other acting gigs, in commercials and TV shows and even a few other films. When Elise had had one of her screenplays made into a film in her late-twenties, she had made sure that her mother had had the role of the late-40s, early-fifty-something woman who ultimately had a nervous breakdown half-way through the film. “This is a really gritty part, Elise,” Allison had said excitedly as she had read over the script for the third time. “I can’t believe I’m allowed to have such a role, especially at this stage of my career.”

Allison hadn’t been a huge fan of Sean, so much so that on the eve of Elise’s wedding, Allison had yanked her to the side after the rehearsal dinner to tell her if she said, “RUN,” she would do everything in her power to get Elise out of that wedding as soon as possible.

“We can go anywhere, Elise,” Allison had said. “We can get in my car and just drive to Mexico. Heck, in twelve hours, we could be drinking margaritas and eating tortilla chips. We’ll both turn off our phones so that nobody can get ahold of us. What do you say?”

But Elise had been idealistic and in love. It had bothered her a bit that her mother hadn’t wanted her to marry Sean. She’d wanted to say,I’m not like you, Mom. I want a partner in all of this.But she had held it back.

“I think you’ll warm up to Sean,” she’d said instead. “He’s a really good guy, Mom. A brilliant writer with a philosophical mind. Maybe if you just took the time to get to know him...”

Her mother’s lip had quivered with sadness. Finally, after a long gasp of air, she’d said, “Maybe I’m just upset because I don’t want you to grow up like this. I never got married; I guess I assumed you would be like me.”

“I’ve always wanted to get married,” Elise had told her. “But I don’t think it’s the end for me, Mom. I think it’s only the beginning. Sean and I have dreams and goals for ourselves. We want to have babies—of course, we want to have babies. But not until we both have our screenwriting careers underway.”

Her mother had honestly looked as though she was on the brink of collapse.

“Well, I guess you know what’s right for you, Elise,” she’d said, lifting her half-drunk champagne glass into the air. Her eyes had seemed hard and defeated. “I know you’ll find a way to happiness. You’re strong enough for it. Maybe stronger than I ever was.”

Naturally, her mother had been right.

The pregnancy had been a happy accident. Obviously, Elise hadn’t wanted to give birth to twins before she had even graduated from college, but then, about eleven months after the wedding, there they were in their separate bassinets. While Sean continued on at college—ultimately switching his degree from screenwriting to accounting and business, Allison had remained by Elise’s side. Those babies had known two mothers in their earliest years, especially as Allison’s career had dwindled down.

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