The Beach Quilt by Holly Chamberlin

Author:Holly Chamberlin [Chamberlin, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2014-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 59

The tinkling of the bell over the door alerted Adelaide to the arrival of a customer. Except that it wasn’t a customer. It was her daughter.

“This is a surprise,” she said. “A pleasant surprise.”

“Dad dropped me off.” Cordelia looked around the shop. “Where’s Mrs. Bauer?”

“She had an errand to run.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Why is it good?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you about something. I suppose it could wait until tonight when you get home but . . .” Cordelia shrugged. “I’m kind of worried about Stevie.”

Adelaide felt a tightening in her chest. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well,” Cordelia began, looking over her shoulder and then back again. “Promise me you won’t say anything?”

“Now, how can I promise that without knowing what it is you’re going to tell me? Did something bad happen to Stevie? Did someone hurt her? Because then I’ll have to—”

“Oh, nothing bad happened,” Cordelia said quickly. “Really. It’s just that Stevie told me she’s worried about the future. She feels she might have to be responsible for Sarah someday, and the baby, like if her parents aren’t around. And, if Sarah makes another—you know, mistake.”

Adelaide felt enormously relieved. Her imagination had scurried into overdrive for a moment. Still, she felt sorry for Stevie. “Oh, the poor girl,” she said. “She shouldn’t be burdened with fears like that.”

“That’s what I told her. That she should just concentrate on being a kid while she can. But Stevie’s like Sarah. She’s a deep thinker.” Cordelia smiled a bit. “Unlike me!”

“Well, deep thinking is all well and good until it becomes a morbid obsession.”

“Oh, I don’t think Stevie’s anywhere near morbid obsession ! But I do feel bad for her. She told me she hasn’t talked to her friends about Sarah’s situation.”

“Did she say why?” Adelaide asked. Maybe, she thought, Stevie felt embarrassed by her sister. Or maybe she was trying to protect her sister’s privacy.

Cordelia sighed. “Not really. Maybe she thinks they won’t have anything helpful to say. But I guess she thinks I’ll have something helpful to say—someday.”

“Well, she trusts you, and that’s a good thing. But listen, if she says anything that frightens you, or if you think she’s in real trouble, you have to promise to tell me.”

“I promise,” Cordelia agreed. “Okay, I guess I’ll head home now. Or maybe I’ll go down to the beach for a while, if you don’t need me here.”

“No, go ahead,” Adelaide said. “Things are slow today. But why don’t you come back at six and we can drive home together.”

Cordelia waved and went off.

Adelaide had noticed that her daughter was spending more time with Stevie than she had before Sarah had gotten pregnant, apart from their quilting sessions that was, but she had supposed they were simply passing the time, talking about trivial things or watching Clarissa do her acrobatics. She hadn’t considered that Stevie might be sharing serious emotional concerns. She hadn’t considered that Cordelia might be doing the very same thing.

Adelaide paused. She wondered if she should talk to Cindy about Stevie’s worries.

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