“I think he’s lying to me, Annie.”
“About what?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. It’s just this feeling I get. But how can I call him on something that has no factual basis?”
“Just ask him if there’s anything he’s not telling you.”
“I did.”
“He denied it, of course. But what teenage boy wouldn’t? Let’s face it, he’s fifteen years old. There are going to be things he isn’t going to tell his mother.”
“Like about the magazines under his bed?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever tell him you found them?”
“No.”
“Are they still there?”
“I have no idea.”
“So what do you think the lies are about?”
There was a long pause. Staring at the shadows cast by the low lighting in the mostly empty room, Annie waited. And then asked, “Do you think it has to do with Katie?”
“Probably.”
“I haven’t seen any sign of him around here.”
“He got caught there once. He’s smart enough not to let it happen a second time.”
“And he still denies having any association with her?”
“Completely.”
“You’re at school several times a week. Is there any way you can do some checking around?”
“Not without violating his trust. And I don’t think I’m ready to do that yet.”
The pain and confusion in Becky’s voice jolted Annie’s heart.
“If you had it to do over again, Bec, would you still have had Shane?”
“Absolutely.”
“Even being a single parent?”
“It wouldn’t have been my first choice by a long shot. It’s a lot harder raising a child without someone there to back you up. But yes. I absolutely would do it all over again.”
They’d had the discussion before. Many times. A lot recently, as Annie had started entertaining the idea of having a family of her own. But things looked different when you were in the middle of them. And those were the times Annie most needed to be prepared for.
And she’d been thinking about them a lot in the last forty-eight hours.
“Do you ever think about what kind of father Luke might have been, if things had worked out differently and you’d married him instead of Danny?”
“Not anymore.” Becky’s reply was too quick and too loud.