She put her head on my shoulder "And on your...
She put her head on my shoulder
"And on your special night, too
I put my arm around her
"Anyway, I only slept a couple of hours, and then
got up because it was lightAnd when I looked out,
who should I see sitting beside the pool but my
father, all by himself?"
"Couldn't sleep anymoreI just hope I didn't wake
your m-" I stopped, aware of Ilse's large, round
763
eyes"Don't go getting any ideas, Miss CookieIt
was strictly comfort
It had not been strictly comfort, but what it had
been was something I wasn't prepared to explore
with my daughterOr myself, for that matter
She slumped a little, then straightened and looked
at big black bag me, head tilted, the beginnings of a smile at
the corners of her mouth
"If you have hopes, that's your business," I said
"But I would advise you not to get them upI'm
always going to care for her, but sometimes people
go too far to turn backI'm pretty
sure that's the case with us
She looked back at the still surface of the pool,
the little smile at the corners of her mouth dying
awayI hated seeing it go, but maybe it was for
the best
That left me free to move on to other mattersI
didn't want to, but I was still her father and she
was in many ways still a childWhich meant that,
no matter how badly I felt about fendi big Elizabeth
Eastlake this morning, or how confused I might be
764
about my own situation, I still had certain duties
to fulfill
"Need to ask you something, Illy
"Are you not wearing the ring because you don't
want your mother to see it and go nuclearwhich
I would fully understandor because you and
Carson-"
"I sent it back," she said in a flat and toneless
voiceThen she giggled, and a stone rolled off my
heart"But I sent it UPS, and I insured it Her feet were in the
water and she kicked them slowly back and forth
"Carson doesn't want it to be, so he saysI'm not
sure I do, eitherAt least not without seeing how
we do face to faceThe deville watch phone or e-mail really
isn't the way to talk something like this out
Plus, I want to see if the attraction is still
there, and if so, how much She glanced sideways,
a little anxiously"That doesn't gross you out,
does it?"
"No, honey
765
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes
"How many second chances did you give Mom?"
I smiled"Over the course of the marriage? I'd
say two hundred or so
"And how many did she give you?"
"About the same"I can't ask you
that
I looked at the pool, aware of a very middle-class
flush rising in my cheeks"Since we're having
this discussion at six in the morning and not even
the pool boy's here yet, and chanel j12 white watch since I think I know
what your problem with Carson Jones is, you can
askBut if I'm
dead honest, I have to say that was more luck than
stone-ass righteousnessThere were times when I
came close, and once when it was probably only
luck or fate or providence that kept it from
happeningI don't think the marriage would have
ended if thethe accident had happened, I think
there are worse offenses against a partner, but
they don't call it cheating for nothingOne slip
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can be excused as human fallibilityTwo can be
excused as human frailtyAfter that-" I shrugged
"He says it was just once Her voice was little
more than a gucci backpacks whisper