“It is a huge issue to her.” The rain was falling harder now, sliding through the thick canopy of leaves. “She’s feeling desperately vulnerable and insecure.”

“She lost her mother.”

“And that has made her insecure about her place in the family. She’s scared.” She didn’t want to add to the pressure he was already feeling, but how could she not speak up about this? “I believe that you don’t think about it. And maybe it doesn’t matter to you, but it matters to Izzy. And it matters to me! If I’d known sooner, it might have helped me understand her.”

“There’s nothing to understand. She’s mine. That’s the end of it. There was no reason for her to ever tell you.”

The words were a slap. “So you’re saying that you would never would have told me? If Izzy hadn’t mentioned it, I would never have found out? Oh Jack—” Her whole chest ached. Her throat ached with the emotion she was holding back. How could they ever be a family? She’d been kidding herself. She wanted to curl up in a ball and sob, but she couldn’t do that because there was Izzy to think of, and Jack still wasn’t hearing her. “Forget it. Right now you need to focus on Izzy. She needs to be able to talk to you, Jack.”

“She knows she can talk to me!” He was bruised, insulted by the suggestion that he’d been a less than perfect father and she felt him withdraw even though neither of them had moved physically. And all her instincts made her want to reach out, and say something that would bring the warmth back into their relationship.

She hated confrontation. It made her palms sweat and her heart race. She was eight years old again and standing in front of her aunt. She wanted to say whatever needed to be said to diffuse the tension and keep things the way they were, but that wasn’t going to happen this time. She pictured Izzy’s face and stood up a little straighter.

“She doesn’t know that, Jack. You can’t talk to someone who doesn’t want to listen, and you don’t want to listen. You’re so sure that she doesn’t have a problem, but I can tell you she has a big problem. There is a lot worrying her. And maybe she’ll be mad with me for telling you this and never forgive me but I’ll take my chances on that because this is more important than anything.”

“Becca was five months pregnant when we met. I was there when Izzy was born, when she took her first steps, started school. I’ve been there for her whole life. She knows I think of her as my daughter.”