Beach Baby. Joan Kilby

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СКАЧАТЬ Reid had come home from Yale for the birth and found out she’d given up their baby for adoption, they’d had a raging fight. Before her eyes, she saw his love for her shrivel and fade, like a wisp of black smoke. She’d felt angry then, too, and betrayed. After giving up their baby for his sake and for the sake of their future together, she’d lost his love anyway. Her sacrifice had been for nothing. Now all she had left were regrets.

      Forget Reid. Forget his quirky smile and intelligent eyes, the way he made her laugh, the way he’d made her shiver and burn when his hands moved over her skin.

      Forget Reid? Nina sighed. She’d never managed that.

      “Why did—?” she began then stopped. “I don’t even know her name.”

      “Amy,” Dora replied.

      “Amy,” Nina repeated. In her heart she’d always thought of her as sweetpea. That is, when she allowed herself to think of her at all. “Why did she run away?”

      “She found out accidentally that she wasn’t Elaine and Jim’s biological child and was angry at them for not telling her she was adopted.”

      “How did she find out?”

      Dora hesitated. “She gave birth to a child of her own, a little girl,” Dora said. “She had complications and—”

      “Wait a minute—Amy had a baby?” Nina whirled to face Dora. “I’m a grandmother?”

      “And I’m a great grandmother.” Dora blinked as if she could hardly believe it, either. “The child is nearly a year old. She’s called Bea or something. I didn’t quite catch it.”

      “I’m thirty-seven,” Nina said. “Which means Amy would have been only—” quickly she did the mental calculations “—eighteen when she had her baby.” Nina leaned her head against her hands. Like mother, like daughter. She tried to imagine Amy as an adult, but the face was a blank. Stabbed by that terrible sense of loss all over again, Nina asked, “Did she give her baby up for adoption, too?”

      “No, she left home to live with the baby’s father then she quarreled with him and came out west.” Dora bit her bottom lip. “She asked Elaine for your contact details and Elaine called me wanting to know if she should give Amy your name and address. I hadn’t heard from Elaine since they moved back east. It’s a good thing you’ve never managed to convince your dad and me to move to a fancy apartment or she might not have found us.”

      Nina looked up. “Did you give her my phone number?”

      “I wouldn’t do that without consulting you,” Dora said. “But I did manage to wangle Amy’s local address out of Elaine.”

      Her daughter was no longer a hazy memory consigned to the past but a real person confronting her in the here and now, maybe asking hard questions like Why didn’t Nina find a way to keep her? Despite having sworn off chocolate, Nina fumbled in the box and popped a rich dark piece in her mouth.

      The back door opened and Leo Kennerly came in from the yard. “Nina, I didn’t know you were here.”

      Leo worked as a handyman and gardener these days. His blond hair was graying but his blue eyes were still sharp; his work shirt was worn but his shoulders were still broad. He took a can of beer from the fridge and popped the tab.

      Nina rose to greet him with a kiss on his cheek. “Mom was telling me about Amy.”

      Leo took a long drink of his beer then pressed the cold can against his sweaty neck. “I’d think twice before you interfere in the girl’s life. She’s not your responsibility.”

      “I don’t want to interfere,” Nina said. “She wants to meet me and I’d like to meet her.”

      “This isn’t about obligation, Leo,” Dora said. “It’s about connecting with your own flesh and blood.”

      “Amy’s upset with the Hockings for lying to her,” Leo said. “How do you know she’s not angry with Nina for giving her up as a baby?”

      “You’ve got a point,” Nina conceded. “Amy might feel I abandoned her.” What if Amy rejected her? She didn’t know if she could bear it.

      “If Amy was angry she wouldn’t come looking for you, Nina,” Dora countered. “She deserves to know her biological family. Jim and Elaine never should have kept that from her.”

      “The Hockings are her real parents,” Leo said. “With Nina the link is only genetic, bits of DNA she has in common with Amy.”

      “You don’t mean that,” Dora protested. “Family is family.”

      Leo put his arm around Nina’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I just don’t want Nina to get hurt.”

      “And I want her to know the joy of having a daughter.” Dora’s face softened into a smile. “And a granddaughter.”

      Nina broke free of her father’s embrace and raised her hands to halt the exchange. “Dad, I know you want the best for me but if I can do anything for my daughter at all, even if it’s only to satisfy her curiosity, then I want to make up for the lost years. Mom, do you have her address?”

      Dora rose and went to the notepad beside the phone and tore off a slip of paper. “Here it is.”

      Nina raised her eyebrows when she saw the street name in the upmarket beachside community where she’d met Reid so many years ago. “Is she renting? How can she afford that area?”

      “I, uh, believe she’s staying with a friend of Jim and Elaine’s,” Dora said. Leo choked on his beer.

      “Are you all right, Dad?” Nina asked.

      “He’s fine.” Dora thumped him on the back and threw him a warning glare.

      Nina wondered briefly what that was all about but she didn’t have time to find out. She stuffed the paper into her purse and glanced at her watch. “I’m going to be late for my show.”

      “Call me as soon as you’ve made contact.” Dora put her arm around her daughter’s waist and walked her to the door. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

      Nina paused on the steps and turned to her mother. “Do you think she’ll like me?”

      “Of course she will. Everything’s going to be okay,” Dora said, hugging her. “Call me soon, okay?”

      When Nina had gone, Dora went back to the kitchen and sat in front of her chocolate box, pretending to study the guide on the lid.

      “As if you don’t know what’s beneath every swirl and squiggle,” Leo said. He straddled a chair and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Why didn’t you tell Nina that Amy’s staying with Reid Robertson?”

      Dora shrugged, averting her gaze. “She didn’t ask.”

      “Dora.” Leo shook his head. “That’s as bad as a lie.”

      “Oh, Leo.” Dora laid a loving work-roughened hand on his leathery cheek. “Nina will find it hard enough to face her СКАЧАТЬ