Sea Glass Island

Emily looked as if she was struggling to accept the truth of Samantha’s words, but it was plain she was wasn’t there yet.

“I know that doesn’t match your perceptions, but you can ask Grandmother,” Samantha told her gently. “She knew exactly how thrilled Mom was about having you.” She grinned. “In fact, if anyone should have been jealous of losing Mom’s affections, it should have been me or Gabi. Once you came along, you became the center of her universe. She doted on you.”

“She did not,” Emily denied, though she looked intrigued by the possibility.

“Did, too,” Samantha retorted. “To make up for the attention Mom was giving you, I retreated into a world of make-believe, which is probably what led me to acting. Gabi became obsessed with trying to win Dad’s attention, and we both know how that turned out.”

“Seriously?”

“Think about it. You know it’s true.”

“Why didn’t I see any of that back then?” Emily asked.

“Because you were the youngest. And you were the princess. That’s heady stuff.”

“Are you saying I was self-absorbed?” Emily asked, instantly defensive.

“No, I’m just saying that your role in the family was defined for you by Mom, just the way mine was or Gabi’s. We each had a different experience growing up, even though we were in the exact same household.”

Emily’s expression turned thoughtful. “I heard Grandmother say something like that once. She said every sibling grows up in a different family. I had no idea what she meant.”

“And now?”

“After what you’ve just said, I think maybe I do.”

“Can we put this behind us?” Samantha pleaded. “Can you accept that I am genuinely thrilled for you and Boone, that I want to be in your wedding and that nothing is going to drive me away?”

“Not even the meddling?” Emily asked, the sparkle slowly coming back to her eyes.

“Well, you might not want to push your luck with that,” Samantha warned. “I’m feeling pretty mellow and tolerant right this second, but it might not last if you decide to test it.”

Emily nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t the airtight commitment Samantha had been hoping for, but it was a start. And with less than two weeks until the wedding and a mountain of details to attend to, perhaps the meddling would land on the bottom of Emily’s list.

* * *

“You don’t look so hot,” Debra said when Ethan arrived at the clinic. “Late night?”

He frowned at the personal question, though he knew it wasn’t in his bubbly young receptionist’s DNA to censor herself. “Busy morning,” he countered tightly. “What’s the schedule look like here?”

“Two drop-in patients waiting, more appointments on the books and your afternoon with the kids. Greg called in. He said he’d be here before you take off.”

Ethan nodded distractedly as he glanced through his messages. “Give me five minutes and have Pam send in the first patient,” he said just as he noticed that one of the pink slips had a message from Marty Gray indicating that Cass wouldn’t be coming on this afternoon’s hike with the rest of the kids in his positive self-image group. “Hold that. I need to call Marty back. I’ll let Pam know when I’m ready for the patients.”

In his office, he dialed Marty’s number. “Got your message,” he told the harried mother, who was most likely trying to get kids off to school. “What’s up with Cass?”

At seventeen, Cass was the oldest member of Project Pride. Two years ago, she’d lost her arm when it had been crushed in a riding mower accident. Though she managed well with her prosthesis, she was rebelling against everything these days. It was tough enough being a teen, he knew, without seeing herself as a damaged misfit. Cass and the others like her were precisely the kids he’d been hoping to help with his program. He wanted them to believe that their self-worth was not tied to any disabilities they might have. On occasion, he actually saw the irony of setting himself up as that particular messenger.

“Nothing new, really,” Marty said with frustration. “Could be the usual teen mood swing.”

“Or something happened at school,” Ethan guessed.

“Always a possibility,” Marty said. “But I have zero luck when it comes to getting her to open up. Teens can be notoriously tight-lipped, but Cass has raised the sullen silence to an art form.”

“Which is why she needs to be here this afternoon. It’s not just about going on a hike. It’s a chance for these kids to open up with other kids who’ll understand.”

“Ethan, I know that,” Marty said impatiently. “So does Cass. She says she won’t go. What am I supposed to do? Get my husband to drag her over there and leave her on your doorstep? Believe me, that holds a lot of appeal for me when she’s acting out, but it’s not up to you to deal with her moods or to fix this.”

“It may not be up to me, but I think I can help,” Ethan said. “Mind if I pick her up after school? I don’t think she’ll be able to say no if I’m right there.”

Marty hesitated. “Are you sure about this? She could be embarrassed in front of her friends. It could make things worse.”

“I can be diplomatic when I need to be,” he assured her. “I’m not going to toss her over my shoulder and haul her off, even if she behaves like a real brat.”

“I’d actually like to see you try that,” Marty said, her sense of humor kicking in. “Two stubborn wills colliding could be highly entertaining.”

Ethan thought of this dance he and Samantha were performing. Stubborn wills were playing a role in that, too, he conceded before snapping his attention back to the moment.

“So, it’s okay if I pick her up? If she refuses, I won’t cause a scene. I’ll let you know she’s heading home.”

“Thanks, Ethan. You really are a saint for putting up with Cass.”

“I’m not just ‘putting up with her.’ She’s a good kid. She just needs to remember that she still has a lot to offer the world.”

It was a lesson that had been a long time coming for him. In fact, it was one with which he still struggled from time to time, especially when it came to opening his heart. Just look at how determined he was to keep Samantha at arm’s length. It must be a hundred times harder for an insecure teen who’d just been figuring out her own identity when the accident happened.

* * *

With Debra, Pam and Greg keeping an eye on the other kids in Ethan’s program until he could get back, Ethan stood outside the high school and watched for Cass to emerge. It wasn’t hard to spot her.

While the other kids spilled out in chattering clusters, she exited alone, an angry expression on her face. Ethan suspected only he saw the desperate longing in her eyes as she surreptitiously glanced at her classmates.

When she spotted him, though, her frown deepened, but she didn’t turn away or try to avoid him.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, confronting him belligerently.

“Waiting for you,” he said, falling into step beside her.

“I’m not going hiking, so you might as well take off.”

“You know that hiking, at least the way we do it, is nothing more than going for a walk, right?”

“Which makes it a dumb way to spend the afternoon,” she retorted.

“Not if you’re one of the kids who has trouble walking at all,” he reminded her.

“But I’m not,” she countered. “My legs are perfectly fine. It’s my arm that’s gone, remember? Or do you not see what’s right in front of you?” She waved the arm with her prosthesis to emphasize her point.