“So does a woman.” Bea put her hands on her hips. “And if that means organizing produce at the Food Farm for a few months, then that’s what I’m going to do. I can’t just think about what I want anymore, Dad. I have to think about the baby.”

A baby Caroline would never get to see. A fleeting image of Caroline holding a baby and smiling up at him flashed like lightning in his brain, and he took a step back from the table. It hurt. It hurt so much.

He had to make Bea see how much potential lay ahead of her. “You’re only twenty-one. I don’t want you to waste your life—”

“Waste my life?” She dropped her hands and clenched her fists. “That’s what you think about my being pregnant? Mom was my age when she had me. Did she waste her life?”

His voice rose. “No, of course not.”

She narrowed her eyes. He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to say. What he wanted. He just knew this was nothing like how he pictured his life, or Bea’s, three years ago.

“And what about you, Dad? You mope around here like an old man. Talk about wasting your life.”

“We’re not talking about me.”

“No, of course not.” Bea slapped the table with an open palm. “We’re not ever allowed to talk about you. But you don’t have a say in my decisions anymore. Don’t have a right to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do.”

“I’m still your father, and I don’t want to see you give up. College is still an option.”

Her chin quivered. “You don’t understand. You don’t know how hard it was for me.”

His brow furrowed. She’d never shied away from hard work, and her grades had been good that year at Georgia State. “And you thought getting married would be easier?”

“No.” She flinched. “I don’t know. I missed Mom.”

“So you settled for the first guy who came along?”

Her cheeks were bright red now. He shook his head. That wasn’t what he meant. “I—”

“Real nice, Dad.” Her eyes flashed with fire. “You don’t know anything about it.”

“Because you never told me. I can’t stand how you never tell me anything anymore.” He took another step back and tripped over Steve, who yowled and ran off. “And I can’t stand having that cat around.”

“Well, that’s an easy problem to fix.” She spun around in a huff and called over her shoulder. “We’ll all be out of your hair as soon as possible.”

He held up a hand. “No, that’s not—”

She marched out of the kitchen and down the hall.

“Where are you going?” He hurried after her. “B.B., wait.”