Nameless Series Boxed Set (72 page)

“Justin’s had
the hots for Mac for years,” Anna chimed in with mischievous cheer. “He finally
got balls enough to ask her out.”

Seth
immediately tensed up again.

“Anna!”
Mackenzie wailed. She put her hands over her face. “He doesn’t have the hots
for me. He just asked me out.” She looked like she about to crack under the
pressure of having her privacy disturbed so completely. “It’s not a big deal.”

Obviously, they
all knew it was a big deal to Mackenzie, but the need underlying her plea was
clear to Erin. Mackenzie didn’t want this to become a huge issue—to be talked
about, dissected, and analyzed from every angle.

Erin couldn’t
blame her. In most homes, a teenage girl’s date would be a typical, everyday
event.

But it was the
first time it was happening to them.

“She’s right,”
Erin agreed, giving her husband a discreet elbow to the ribs. “It’s no big
deal. Just a date. And it’s getting late.”

He must have
faced an internal struggle, but Seth followed her lead. “Right.”

Anna frowned.
“That’s it? I was hoping for at least a little screaming and maybe a few
tears.”

Erin couldn’t
help but chuckle, although the jibe earned a snarl from Mackenzie. “Why don’t
you go back to your room, Anna?”

“Fine,” Anna
grumbled, getting off the chair. She was wearing man-style, cotton pajamas in
deep purple and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers. “What a letdown.”

Anna had left
the room and Erin had started to pull her husband away when Seth ducked his
head back into the bedroom. He caught Mackenzie’s eye. “Do I get to meet this
paragon of virtue and fortitude?”

A wisp of a
smile passed across Mackenzie’s mouth. “If you have to.”

“I would like
to meet anyone who intends to take out my daughter.”

“Maybe right
before we go out on Friday,” Mackenzie suggested.

“She doesn’t
want you to scare him off beforehand,” Anna called out from down the hall.

“Friday evening
will be fine,” Seth agreed, ignoring Anna’s amused commentary. He paused for a
moment, just looking at his daughter. Something about his expression struck
Erin as poignant. Then, “You like him?”

After a brief
flicker of reluctance, Mackenzie nodded. Admitted, “Yeah, Dad, I like him a
lot.”

Seth released a
short breath. “All right. I’m sure he’s improved since the first grade.”

As Erin closed
the bedroom door behind them, she caught a glimpse of her daughter’s face.
Mackenzie’s delicate features had softened into a relieved smile.

Erin smiled too
and snuggled up to Seth’s side as they walked back to their bedroom. She was
about to say how pleased she was by his reaction to the entire event, when he
interrupted her.

“If the little
bastard touches her,” he gritted through his teeth, “I’ll destroy him.”

***

The mood in the Thomas household
for the rest of the week progressed in a similar way—transitioning from light
teasing to tense interrogation to sustained efforts to be casual and reasonable
about the whole thing.

Erin knew Seth
was trying to be good, trying not to upset his daughter, and trying not to
overreact. She also knew he was having a really hard time handling the
helplessness he felt with this aspect of his children’s lives.

So she was
relieved when Friday evening finally arrived. Once this first landmark was
passed, maybe things would return to an even keel.

She dropped by
Mackenzie’s room a half-hour before Justin was set to pick her up. Mackenzie
was in the process of getting dressed, but she let Erin come in.

“Do you think
this is all right?” Mackenzie asked, looking at herself in a full-length
mirror. She was wearing a flattering blue top and a casual skirt that revealed
a lot of her long, bare legs.

Erin hoped Seth
wouldn’t freak out about the amount of leg exposed by Mackenzie’s outfit. “It’s
perfect. You look beautiful.”

Mackenzie
didn’t look convinced. She kept staring at herself, fidgeting with her clothes.
“Do you think I should wear a skirt? Maybe he’ll think I’m trying too hard.”

“I think you
should wear what you want. But that’s a good balance. It doesn’t look too
dressy, but it will work with anything he might wear.”

To Erin,
Mackenzie looked perfect—lovely, well-dressed, and stylish. Exactly as Erin had
always wanted to look in high school.

“Okay. I’ll go
with this then.” Mackenzie sat down to put on a bracelet, appearing completely
composed.

Erin knew she
was still nervous, however. She just had Seth’s ability to hide her feelings.

“How many times
have you changed so far?” Anna asked from the doorway.

Mackenzie
scowled at her sister. “Fewer times than you do every morning, just to go to
school.”

Anna frowned at
this and didn’t reply, and Erin wondered if her feelings had been hurt. It had
been nothing more than typical sisterly give-and-take, but sometimes one of
them would hit a nerve and wound the other.

“Don’t be
snippy,” Erin said, aiming her words at both of them.

“Dad’s not
going to like that skirt.” Anna’s earlier expression had disappeared, and she
was grinning now.

Mackenzie’s
brows drew together, tugging on the hem of her skirt. “It’s not that short.”

“It’s fine,”
Erin assured her. “Your outfit is perfect. If your dad says anything, it’s just
because he has a hard time seeing you look so grown up.”

“I’m sixteen,”
Mackenzie muttered.

“I know. He
knows that too. But you’re still his little girl.” Erin stroked her daughter’s
long hair. “You’ll have to give him time to adjust.”

When Erin
looked back at the door, Anna had disappeared. Her unexpected departure caused
a prickle of worry, but Erin didn’t have time to dwell on it.

Mackenzie’s big
blue eyes slanted her an almost teasing look. “So
you're
not having to
adjust?”

The question
caught Erin by surprise. “Don’t get me started. I’m doing my best to act
laidback about the whole thing, and I really am excited for you. But still…”
She smiled wistfully, remembering Mackenzie as an infant, holding onto Seth’s
finger. Mackenzie as a toddler, throwing her Cheerios on the floor in stubborn
resistance to Seth’s authority. Mackenzie as a little girl, holding her sister
by the hand.

“Oh, God,”
Mackenzie groaned, “You aren’t getting sentimental on me, are you?”

Erin blinked
and swallowed. “Certainly not.” She managed not to sniff.

“It’s just a
date.”

“I know. It
just means there's more of this sort of thing to come.” The comment gave her an
uncomfortable thought—a small, insistent, uncomfortable thought that Erin would
rather ignore. But she wasn't in the habit of avoiding things just because they
were hard. So she cleared her throat and asked, “So you’re all right about
everything? About the date, I mean. Anything you want to—”

She broke off,
feeling a wave of embarrassment and self-consciousness. She was acting exactly
like every other parent she’d always considered clueless and awkward.

Mackenzie
actually chuckled. “I’m not going to have sex, Mom.”

Despite her
attempts to be mature and reasonable, Erin blew out a long breath of relief.
Then said immediately, “You know, you never have to lie about that to me—”

“Mom, I’m not
lying to you. I assume I’ll have sex later.” When Erin stiffened, Mackenzie
clarified, “Not later tonight. Later on.” She gestured with one graceful hand
to convey some unspecified time in the future. “But I’m not going to have sex
now.”

Erin relaxed
again, mentally berating herself for acting so ridiculous about all of this.
“Good. I guess I don’t have to tell you that I’m glad to hear that. I know
girls your age and younger have sex all the time, though. And I’d rather you be
honest with me when you make the decision so you won’t end up in a difficult
situation on your own.” She sighed. “You know I had sex really early.”

“I know.”

“And I didn’t
feel comfortable talking to anyone about it, so I was all alone with it. It was
hard.”

“I know.”

“I wish I had
waited longer.”

“I know.”
Mackenzie reached out and touched Erin’s forearm. It was only the faintest of
touches, but it was a lot for someone as contained as Mackenzie.

“And, even if
you’re careful, birth control isn’t a hundred percent effective. Just remember
how you were conceived.”

“Mom,”
Mackenzie broke in. “Please don’t remind me of that story again. Hearing it
once was enough for a lifetime. We’ve talked about all of this before. This is
my very first real date. I’m not going to jump into bed with him.”

Erin leaned
over and gave the girl a brief hug. “How did you get so smart?”

Mackenzie
grumbled incoherently, which was a clear sign that the serious discussion had
gone on long enough. So Erin got up.

“You look
beautiful,” Erin told her again, not quite able to let her go yet.

“Thanks.”
Mackenzie stood up and studied herself in the mirror again. “Can you…can you
make sure Dad knows.
That
. I mean, if you can…I don’t want him to sit
there worrying that I’m…”

“I’ll make sure
he knows.” Erin was oddly touched and felt a lump of emotion in her throat.
“He’ll still worry. But it will help.”

She gave her
daughter one last look. She was so lovely, so grown-up. Her baby. “I hope you
have a wonderful time tonight.”

“Thanks.
Unfortunately, first I have to get through poor Justin’s interview with Dad.”

***

Erin headed off to find Seth so
she could give him a few reminders on how to behave with Justin. But, as she
was passing Anna’s room, an instinct compelled her to knock on the closed door.

When a muffled
response signaled she was allowed to enter, Erin went in and found her younger
daughter flopped on her stomach on the bed.

“Is everything
all right?”

Anna just
grunted. Her head was turned toward the wall, so Erin couldn’t see it.

Erin sat on the
edge of the bed. “Anna, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

From the stiff
look of Anna’s back and the hoarseness of her voice, Erin knew the answer was a
lie. She reached out to stroke the tousled blond hair but Anna jerked away from
the touch.

The prickly
response was so unusual for Anna that Erin was immediately worried. But she
didn’t press any further. She just sat silently and waited.

Unlike
Mackenzie, Anna would always open up to her eventually.

Finally, Anna
flipped over onto her back. She stared blankly at the ceiling, and her pretty
features was twisted with a frown. But she hadn’t been crying, as Erin had
suspected.

“Do you think
I’m pretty?” Anna asked without prelude.

Erin’s mouth
fell open. “What? Of course you’re pretty! Why would you ask such a thing?”

Anna frowned
more deeply—this time aimed at her mother. “Why shouldn’t I ask it?”

The faint
flickers of worry Erin had processed over the last week coalesced into sudden
understanding. “Does this have to do with Mackenzie going on a date?”

“No! Why does
everything have to be about Mac?”

“It doesn’t.
But you’ve never seemed to be insecure about your appearance before. So I was
just wondering—”

“No one ever
wants to go out with me.” The words seemed to be forced out of Anna
involuntarily.

Erin swallowed.
She wanted to put an arm around her daughter but resisted the temptation,
knowing Anna would just pull away. “She’s older than you—”

Anna snorted in
disgust. “What does that have to do with anything? I’m old enough to date. The
only reason Mac didn’t go out before was because half the guys were scared of
her and she turned all the others down flat. Everyone thinks she's gorgeous.
They always have.”

“She is very
pretty,” Erin said carefully. “But you’re very pretty too.”

Anna was
pretty. Just as pretty as Mackenzie in her own way. She looked a lot like Erin,
except she had Seth’s nose and eye-color—which, in Erin’s mind, only made her
even prettier.

Anna just
sneered. “Then why do guys not like me?”

“They do! You
hang out with guys all the time.”

“They like me
as a
friend
.” Anna said the last word like a curse. “They don’t really
like
me.”

The pang in her
chest was so sharp it made Erin gasp. She knew exactly what Anna meant, exactly
how she felt.

She’d felt the
same way all through high school.

“Well, it’s not
because you’re not pretty,” Erin declared, trying to search her memory of those
long-past feelings to land on the right thing to say. “And they might like you
but you just don’t know it.”

“They don’t.”

Erin was silent
for a long time, aching as much as if she were feeling it herself. Finally, she
said, “You look like me.”

Anna turned her
head to look up at her. “Mom—”

“You do,” Erin
said matter-of-factly. “And, to tell you the truth, I had a similar experience
in high school.”

“No one liked
you either?”

“Oh, they liked
me. But not the way I wanted them to. And the only ones who were interested in
me were…losers.”

“So I’m
doomed.”

The words were
so sincerely melodramatic that, despite her sympathy, Erin had to hide a
snicker. “Not forever. What I finally figured out is that some women aren’t
appreciated in high school. It doesn’t have anything to do with not being
attractive. It has something to do with the guys being too immature to
recognize it or act on it.”

Anna was
frowning again, but this time thoughtfully. “It’s a nice idea, but I’m not
buying it.”

“Do you think
I’m ugly?”

“Mom!” Anna
groaned in exasperation.

“I know it’s
not a fair question but try to take it seriously.” Erin was thinking as quickly
as she could, hoping she was using the right strategy. So often, raising
teenagers was like walking between landmines. “I know I’m your mother so it’s
hard to be objective. But do you think I’m attractive at all?”