Unexpected Attraction. Stella MacLean
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Название: Unexpected Attraction
Автор: Stella MacLean
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Контркультура
Серия: Mills & Boon Superromance
isbn: 9781474068369
isbn:
“No!” Andrea said without thinking.
“Mom. I have a right to see my father.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She struggled to remain calm. “Shannon, we can talk about this later.”
Shannon slumped in her seat, pressing her palms to her forehead. “I’ve made you angry, haven’t I?”
“Not angry so much as concerned.” Had Shannon and Kyle started dating? “Is Kyle going with you to your father’s house?”
“Of course not. He has family in Phoenix, and he thought it would be fun to visit them,” Shannon said.
Did Shannon’s sudden interest in visiting her father have something to do with Kyle? “If you and Kyle are involved, it’s okay. I really like him.”
Shannon gave a long sigh and closed her eyes. “No, Mom. Kyle and I are friends. He’s my math tutor, or don’t you remember? I wish you’d stop trying to find a boyfriend for me. Really. If I wanted a boyfriend, I’d have one. Now, can you stop interrogating me?”
“I didn’t mean to make it sound like an interrogation. But this hasn’t been easy for either of us.”
Shannon didn’t respond.
The only sound was the hum of the car as Andrea drove carefully down their street and into the driveway. Normally, Shannon would have hit the garage door opener on the visor and made some teasing comment about her mother nearly clipping the cedar hedge along the driveway. Not tonight.
As Andrea pulled into the garage, she was certain of one thing. She no longer believed that Shannon’s injuries were the result of a simple fall on the sidewalk. She didn’t believe that Kyle was an innocent bystander. She didn’t believe anything her daughter had told her. It was suddenly very clear that there was something going on in Shannon’s life. Something her daughter was hiding.
Shutting off the engine, she turned to Shannon. “Sweetie, you have to understand that I’m concerned about what is going on with you. The injuries the nurse described couldn’t have been from a simple fall on the sidewalk. You’re too good of an athlete to fall like that. Besides, you have no injuries or scrapes on your hands to prove you put your hands out.”
“I’m telling you the truth. Why don’t you believe me?”
“Shannon, you’re telling me that you hit the sidewalk hard enough to hurt your ribs, your forehead, to scrape your leg and hurt your shoulder. I don’t buy it, not for a minute. I need to know what happened.”
Shannon glared at her, tears flooding her eyes. “Why don’t you trust me? I fell. That’s all.”
There was no way she could let this continue. Knowing what had happened to Shannon left her with no choice but to show her daughter how serious this lack of truthfulness was and that it wouldn’t be tolerated.
Andrea held the wheel with a viselike grip as she stared straight ahead. “Shannon. You leave me no choice but to ground you until you’re willing to be totally honest with me.”
Shannon’s indignant gasp filled the vehicle.
SHANNON LIMPED AHEAD of Andrea into the house, dropping her backpack on the kitchen table before heading to her room. Needing answers, Andrea followed her. “Shannon, you have to understand. I can’t ignore what you’ve done. I can’t.”
Shannon stopped and stood perfectly still. “Mom, I wish you would trust me on this. I know what I’m doing.”
What was she saying? Why the secrecy? “Would you please explain that statement?” she asked, refusing to accept Shannon’s determination to shut her out.
Shannon turned. “Kyle and I were just walking along, fooling around, when I fell.”
“Who else was there?”
Shannon’s gaze dropped to her hands. “No one. Like I said, we were teasing each other. I stumbled.”
There was that evasiveness again, that guarded tone. “Why didn’t Kyle grab you? He’s bigger and stronger. Why didn’t he break your fall?”
Shannon continued to study her hands.
A horrible thought occurred to Andrea. No! “Did Kyle hit you?”
Shannon stared at her in shock. “Kyle isn’t like that,” she said. “Why can’t you just let it go? He wouldn’t do that.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he is my friend—a good friend. He would never do anything to hurt me or anyone else.”
Then why did Andrea feel so unsure about Shannon’s explanation? Something didn’t ring true even though her daughter hadn’t changed her story after being punished. Her head pounded as she considered the possibilities.
She peered at Shannon’s face, the unfamiliar lines of tension evident around her eyes and mouth. Andrea wanted to hug Shannon close and tell her that everything would be okay. But would it? Was there something seriously wrong in her daughter’s life, or was she simply overreacting?
“I love you, sweetie, and we’ll work this out. Let’s talk in the morning after we both get some rest.”
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it tomorrow or any other time. It’s over. I promise. Okay?”
Anger fueled by fear welled up in Andrea. “As far as I’m concerned, until you tell me what’s really going on, it’s not over. But it’s up to you. Without the truth, you’ll miss out on school and your friends. But if that’s the way you want it...” She shrugged as a show of bravado, but one look at her daughter told her in no uncertain terms she’d created a distance between them she might not be able to cross.
Shannon turned away, went into her room and closed the door.
The closed door and the change in Shannon’s attitude fed Andrea’s fear. Should she go after Shannon and insist on answers? Or would that only drive her further away? Should Andrea apologize to see if they could find a way to talk about what happened? They always talked before bedtime. Always.
A part of her wanted to scream in frustration. Another part of her simply wanted to forget everything in the hope that it would all go away—wishful thinking, but easier to deal with than the alternative.
She locked the house and put the security system on before going to her bedroom. As she passed Shannon’s door, she listened for any sign that her daughter was still awake. There wasn’t a sound. Making her weary way to her room, Andrea ran a bath and took the portable phone in with her. She’d talk to Gina, get her advice on what all this meant, then try for a little sleep.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Andrea went in to the office. “What are you doing in here? СКАЧАТЬ