Things I Want My Daughters to Know_ A Novel - Elizabeth Noble [113]
AT 10:00 P.M. THE PHONE RANG BESIDE THE BED, AND HE PICKED it up on the second ring.
“Mark?” It was Andy.
“Is she there?”
“Yeah. She is.”
Andy sighed. “Okay.”
“Do you want me to get her for you?”
“No. I don’t want to talk to her. I just wanted to know…that she was okay.”
“She’s in terrible shape.”
“Not okay like that. Okay—safe. As in not lying in a ditch.”
“She’s safe.”
“Okay, then. Thanks, Mark.” His voice sounded tight. There was nothing of the warmth their relationship had had for years.
“Andy?”
He clearly wasn’t going to get into it now. “Do me a favor—don’t tell her I called. ’Bye.”
He hung up before Mark could say another word.
DOWNSTAIRS, LISA HAD FINISHED HANNAH’S HAIR, BUT THE TWO of them were still sitting in the same position. Hannah had dropped her braided head onto Lisa’s lap. The Apprentice was over, and now they were talking.
“How is life with you, little sis?” Lisa was glad of the distraction and wondered if Hannah might confess to her. Mark had told her, before Hannah came home from school, that he was having a few communication problems with her. Nothing specific, he said. He just thought she might be holding back from him. She knew he hoped Hannah might open up to her. “You only have to tell me if it’s illegal,” he’d half joked. “I just want to know she’s not doing anything too wild.”
“Brilliant.”
“In your O level summer? That’s highly suspicious. I had hives and cold sores at this point. What’s so brilliant?”
Hannah turned her head, and her eyes sparkled. “Promise you won’t tell Dad?”
Lisa nodded.
“I’m in love.”
“You are?!”
“I am.”
“Who with?”
Excited now that she had decided to confess, Hannah scrambled onto her knees and began….
Five minutes later, she stopped extolling Nathan’s virtues. Lisa couldn’t help smiling broadly.
“Are you laughing at me? What’s funny?”
Lisa shook her head. “Nothing’s funny. I’m not laughing at you. I’m smiling. It’s nice, Hannah, honestly. I’m happy for you. He sounds great. Really.”
Hannah nodded in agreement. “He’s perfect.”
God. Perfect. What a word. If nothing else gave away Hannah’s age and inexperience and innocence, it was the colossally absurd notion that anyone could be perfect. Life was going to slap her around the face a few times in the next few years, just like it did to everyone. Had she ever thought Andy was perfect?
“So why won’t you talk to your dad about him? Have they even met?”
“God, no!” Hannah sounded like she’d just suggested the earth was flat. She shrugged. “Nathan isn’t into parents.”
Lisa nodded. “Right.” She bet he wasn’t. “Does he actually have some of his own?”
“Yeah. I mean, I haven’t met them. But yeah—course.”
“So are you just afraid Dad will be really uncool? Is that it?”
“No. Dad’s not that bad. I just, I mean, I just—it’s all a bit new and a bit private. You get me, don’t you? I mean, you didn’t tell your dad stuff like that, did you?”
“My dad wasn’t really around at that point.”
“What about Mum?”
“God, yes. Try not talking to her. She made the Spanish Inquisition look like casual questioners. Always wanted all the gory details, did Mum.”
“Yeah, well…Mum’s not around to pummel me for my gory details, is she?”
And wouldn’t she love to be, thought Lisa.
“So…” Lisa did some gentle physical pummeling to emphasize her point. “Are there gory details you need to share with your big sister? Are there?”
Hannah laughed and pushed Lisa’s hands away. “One or two,” she said archly.
“Do we need to have the talk?”
“Ew. No, we do not.” Hannah looked like she’d been sucking lemons.