Anne took a step back, but Zoe just kept coming.
“My dad is not a toy! You can’t just pick him up and then put him down again when you get bored of him!”
“I know that! I’ve known him a lot longer than you have!”
“Do you haveanyidea how much you hurt him when you left?”
“He wasn’t even here when I left!” Anne shouted back.
“Poor you, right? He abandoned us, so you abandoned me. That’s such a crock! First you drove him away. And he didn’t reallyleave. He just left for work.”
“I left for school.”
“He came back!”
“So did I!”
“Visits don’t count! You were never really here!”
“I know!” Anne closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her anger melt into the pain and remorse that lay beneath. She opened her eyes and said, “I’m trying to make up for that now.”
“Too little, too late.” Zoe stormed out, slamming the screen door behind her.
Pete peered through the window, staring at his mother with wide blue eyes, and Anne’s remorse doubled.
“What was all that?” Dawn asked, coming down the stairs.
“Just Zoe being Zoe,” Anne said.
Her mother didn’t reply.
“I don’t know how to get anywhere with her. She won’t let go of things that happened ages ago! And now she’s going off on me because she thinks that she needs to protect her dad? That’s crazy.”
Dawn was silent.
“What?” Anne demanded.
“Just don’t hurt him again,” Dawn said.
“Are you serious right now?”
“You broke his heart when you left.”
“He’s a grown man. He can look after his own heart.”
“He’s still my kid.”
“I’m your kid!” Anne raged. She cut herself off and looked at the window, but Pete had disappeared. In a quieter voice she said, “I’m your daughter. Me. Noah came to stay a few times. That’s it.”
“They’re all my kids, Annie. Everyone who took shelter here.”
“Right. Thank goodness for Saint Dawn.”
“Don’t be nasty.”
“You always cared about them more than you cared about me. You still do.”
“Not more. Just… equal.”
