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“You’re the one he didn’t want”

Madelaine felt the anger rush out of her at the simple truth “That’s true,” she said softly “It was me he didn’t want, me he didn’t love But he also didn’t want …” Madelaine stared at her daughter, not knohat to say, which truth to tell

“Me?” Lina whispered

“No” Madelaine’s voice was quiet, barely a whisper “He didn’t want to grow up and make hard choices and sacrifices He just wanted to have fun, and parenting at seventeen is definitely not fun”

Lina wrenched her gaze away and crossed her arrownup now,” she said stubbornly “He’ll want me”

Madelaine stared at her daughter’s profile, at the tre mouth and pale skin, at the tears that streaked unchecked from her eyes She moved closer, pressed her warm palm to Lina’s cold cheek “I want him to love you, Lina, I want him to want you, but…”

Lina turned to her “But what?”

“I’m afraid, Lina It’s as simple as that”

She blinked A tear rolled down her cheek “Is he violent?”

“No, never that” Madelaine brushed Lina’s tear aith her thumb “He’s … selfish I’m afraid he’ll break your heart”

Lina stared at her “Don’t you understand, Mo my heart now”

Madelaine sighed, thinking suddenly of all the pros, a dinner missed here, a ht Lina and Madelaine to this hter who loved each other, and hurt each other, and didn’t kno to change “I know you don’t believe ht thing”

“I want to believe you, Mom,” Lina said

Madelaine heard the quietly spoken words, and they gave her a tiny, sparking ray of hope She thought of a dozen responses, but in the end it all came down to empty words, promises made by a woman who’d broken too many

Finally she said the only thing that really mattered “I love you, Lina”