“It’s bad enough that Radcliffe girl is dogging his steps. Sometimes I’m afraid Becca went to help with that school to get away from her.”
“Radcliffe?”
“Simone. The one who leads that tap dance
club. Glittery little …” Sarah’s upper lip curled up for a moment.
“Simone. Right.” Eden had to think for a
moment, before recalling a thin, sharp-faced girl who always had something
glittery on her clothes, no matter the weather or season. She showed up in
Conrad’s shadow more and more often lately, whenever Eden saw him. “I can’t
imagine Becca running away from anyone, least of all a rival.”
“Oh, there was some nasty mess when they were
in middle school, and Simone blamed her, brought it up constantly. Another girl
was hurt by a boy who was trying to romance her and Becca and
Simone, all at the same time. Now what was his name …” Sarah’s lips pursed as
she thought. She sighed and shook her head. “He’s gone, the girl’s gone, and
Simone keeps using the whole ugly mess to try to slap Becca around, even though
it was never her fault. And Becca can’t seem to shake off the guilt that she
never should have felt in the first place.”
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
“I adore the girl. If Conrad ever slows down
enough to figure out what’s good for him, I’m hoping those two make a permanent
partnership. They’re good for each other.” She nodded for punctuation. “And
then he found out he was adopted, from that idiot, Frank.” She sniffed. “That’s
one of my three stubborn, self-righteous sons. The nerve of them, waltzing in a
week after their father’s funeral and declaring themselves in charge, I should
just step aside. And then stopping just short of threatening legal action when
Conrad stood up for me and wouldn’t let them in the office, much less hand over
the passwords and keys and checkbooks.” She shuddered, visibly shaking off the
icy fury that cracked some of her usual sweet serenity. “I’m worried for Conrad.
You’ll help me look out for him, won’t you?”
“You know I will.” Eden grasped Sarah’s hand
and squeezed it.
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