The Someday Daughter by Ellen O'Clover

Author:Ellen O'Clover
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

30

Maren’s gone by the time we get to the lake. When Silas texts her, she says they left to get ice cream. The beach is small, not quite Chicago’s North Avenue—just a sandy stretch along one little blip of the waterline, busy with spread-out towels. We brought some from GG’s house, a mismatched collection she seems to have acquired at Disney World. When Mick unfurls his towel, it has a giant cartoon ant on it.

“Just my style,” he tells Silas, who shrugs.

“Everything in that house is for the grandkids.” He shakes out his own towel, two tigers in a jungle. “Seven older than me, eight younger.”

Both my parents are only children, both the parents of an only child. I don’t have a single cousin or sibling. The only family I have that’s not on this tour is essentially Dad, who’s been so busy since Austin I’ve hardly heard from him—and Fallon and Ethan, if they’re allowed to count.

I pull out my phone and take a picture of the water, debate sending it to both of them before opening a text to just Fallon instead. Not our Colorado, but close, I send. Miss you.

“Can we all picture Camilla on one of these for a sec?” Cleo says. She sits on Rapunzel’s face, crossing her legs. “Imagine her dismay, if she were here.”

“The opposite of her aesthetic,” I agree, tucking my phone back into my bag. “All of her towels are neutral Turkish cotton.”

Cleo shudders. “The opposite of my aesthetic.” She’s in the same blue bikini from Chicago and a bucket hat covered entirely in rhinestones that makes it almost impossible to look at her—the sun’s reflection in it makes her blinding.

“I’m going in,” Mick says, and before I can even get my sunscreen out of my bag he’s hoisted Cleo over his shoulders and started running toward the water.

Silas shouts, “It’s cold!” But there’s no way they can hear over Cleo shrieking. When they plunge into the water her bucket hat flies off, floating on the lake’s surface like a beacon. I glance at Silas to find him shaking his head but smiling, Puddles bookended between his knees.

“I think I messed up,” I say, and he turns to me. His eyebrows draw together, head tilting to one side. He’s got his GG’s Gardenshare hat on and a pair of dark swim trunks and no shirt. I draw a steadying breath. “I kind of snapped at Sadie during our obstetrics visit and she’s been acting really weird ever since.”

“You snapped at her?” he says, and I fight my body’s urge to fold into itself. “About what?”

I bite my lip. Worry it between my teeth until it stings. I could lie, but I don’t. “My mom’s book. How she’s been writing notes in it.”

Silas hesitates, glancing at the water before turning back to me. I get the sense that he’s weighing something, that maybe he’ll push me away now, too. “What did she say?” he asks finally.

“Nothing,” I tell him. “That’s the problem.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.