“You think you understand? You have no idea how I’m feeling. None.” She turned her fury and frustration on Flora, snarling like a rescue dog who hadn’t yet learned to trust. “And you pretend that you care, but you don’t. You’re just desperate for me to like you because you’re crazy about my dad and you need my approval if you’re going to stay together. And you’ll do anything for that, won’t you? You’ll even do stuff you totally hate, including running, which half killed you. I mean, how far are you prepared to go to fit in? I don’t even know what you really like! But whatever you do, you’re never going to be my mom and sleeping with my dad doesn’t make you a member of this family, and—”

“Isabella!” Jack’s voice cut through her tumbled speech and he pulled Flora close, providing a physical barrier between her and the weaponized words. “That’s enough. Apologize, right now.”

“No way!”

“Then go to your room.”

“Go to my room? I’m seventeen, not six! Mom would never have said that to me.” Izzy’s voice was high and she was physically shaking.

Flora was shaking, too. Shaking and embarrassed. Izzy had made her sound so manipulative and cold. The implication was that she really didn’t care at all, and it wasn’t true. She cared a great deal. She’d been genuinely trying to get to know Jack’s children by sharing their interests. Did Izzy even know how much she admired her? Not just the way she’d handled the past year, but the way she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to fight for it. She wished she’d been more like her as a teenager.

She tried to rationalize her own behavior but Izzy’s words were stuck in her flesh like a thorn. How far are you prepared to go to fit in?

It was a fair and uncomfortable question.

I don’t even know what you really like.

And why would she? Flora hadn’t really shared what she liked. Once again, she’d been so desperate to be loved and accepted that she’d buried her own needs and thought only of other people. She hadn’t even told them how afraid she was of water. How ridiculous was that? What if they invited her sailing? Was she prepared to risk a panic attack just to fit in and be part of the family?

“I don’t understand.” Molly spoke in a small voice. “Flora sleeps in her own bed, not with Daddy. And if she didn’t care about us, she wouldn’t spend so much time playing with us?”

Izzy dumped her plate on the table, stalked away from them across the lawn and disappeared into the forest.

Aiden ran his hand over the back of his neck. “Maybe I should—”