I squeezed her hand. “I get what you mean.”

“But she’s not drinking now, which she’s never done, and I don’t get what that means. But, whatever.” She shook her head, dismissing her mother’s efforts at recovery and I again thought that it might be a good idea for Rhiannon to share. “I took advantage of her being, you know, just her so when she was all, you know, there she could meet you when we went out shopping and see you’re really cool and it could all be good. Does that make sense?”

I nodded. “It does, blossom.”

“Polly’s never going to stop picking on me,” she went on. “Even if Pippa isn’t at her back acting like she’s the greatest thing since Beyoncé. She’s going to keep coming at me because that’s how she is. She picks on people who have things she can pick on. Like me being fat.”

“You’re not fat,” I told her.

For once, she held my eyes steady.

“I’m fat, Amy,” she whispered.

“You’re not fat,” I stated firmly on another hand squeeze. “I mean that. You’re beautiful and I don’t think this Kellan whoever-he-is would like you and defend you to the resident Queen Bee Meanie if you weren’t.”

She looked away. “I didn’t know about him.”

“Now you do,” I said and she looked back at me. “So if you don’t believe me, which you should, or your father who thinks you’re gorgeous, or your brother who loves you like crazy, then believe in some sophomore junior boxing league prizefighter who wants to go out with you.”

Her eyes twinkled with teenage girl thrill at that very idea.

Now, that was what I liked to see.

I lifted our hands out to our sides, swayed back and gave her skirt a glance. “Too bad he isn’t here to see how cute you look in that skirt.”

She lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug, which was the first time I thought it was cute and not troubling.

Then her hand tightened in mine and she gave me her eyes. “If Pippa breaks with Polly, it’s gonna be extreme.”

I held her eyes. “That’s not your issue.”

“You were…” She looked to my closed door then back to me. “You were tough on her out there.”

God, Mickey’s girl was sweet.

“She needed that lesson.”

“Maybe. But seriously, Polly can be really bad.”

“Dogfight,” I said.

She stared at me then looked at my shoulder and said, “She gets the cute guy.”

“She did but his name isn’t Kellan,” I replied.

She looked back to me.

There was a knock on the door but before I could call out, Mickey came in and closed it behind him.

He looked to me then his eyes went to his daughter and stayed there. “You okay?”

I let her go as she answered, “Yeah, Dad.”

“You wanna go home?” he asked.

She flipped a hand out to me. “We were just deciding that.”

Mickey looked to me and I felt the weight of all that had happened start crushing me. “Should take my kids home, babe.”