Читать книгу Hero Dad - Marta Perry - Страница 12

Julie was still struggling with Seth’s words when she arrived at the firehouse on Monday. She’d gone over and over it, and she couldn’t come to any other conclusion. If Seth knew who she was, he’d hate her.

My wife had…a sister who deserted her. Was that really how Lisa had seen Julie’s actions? Pain clutched at her heart. Was it?

She took a deep, steadying breath and willed the pain away, trying to regain her detachment. Lisa was gone, and she couldn’t change anything she’d done or neglected to do. She’d concluded a long time ago that they’d both just done what they thought was necessary to survive emotionally.

For her, that meant keeping the shield of her detachment in place. She’d finally figured out how to do that with her father, so that she could see him every month or two, like a dutiful daughter, and still come away whole.

For Lisa, surviving had meant severing the ties completely, so Julie had respected her sister’s decision. At least, she’d told herself that was what she was doing when she hadn’t attempted to stay in touch.

Had Lisa interpreted that as desertion? Seth had said so, and Seth should know.

The pain flared, like flames shooting up from dying embers. She quenched them again. This wasn’t about her pain, or her past.

This was about assuring herself that Davy was in the best situation for him. She’d take that step by methodical step, as if she was researching an article about any child.

On the surface, the answer seemed obvious. Davy had plenty of people who loved him, like the children in the books she’d read to Lisa when they were little.

She and Lisa hadn’t quite believed in those big, happy families, but the Flanagans obviously did exist.

Still, she had questions, starting with Seth’s determination to continue in what had to be a dangerous job. The Flanagans seemed to take firefighting for granted. She didn’t.

She couldn’t just accept Seth’s view that the rigorous training he and the other firefighters went through would keep them safe. She had to see that for herself—and that meant going with them on a fire call. So far Seth had done an excellent job of evading that request.