Free Just Desserts by Barbara Bretton Page B

with his gambling and risk-taking. It wasn’t an easy thing to forget. She tried to be careful around Lizzie but unfortunately she was only human. Like it or not, the man was still her daughter’s father and always would be. She needed to remember that for Lizzie’s sake if not her own.
    â€œThat’s when you two were happy together, right?”
    â€œWe were trying, honey.” How young Lizzie looked, how innocent and hungry for bits and pieces of her family’s past. “Sometimes we were very happy. The day you were born was probably the happiest day of our lives.”
    Lizzie fell quiet, directing her attention to the plate of lasagna in front of her while Hayley picked at her grilled chicken and pretended it was shrimp scampi drowning in butter and garlic. The silence between them could be a brief one or it could last for hours. The last few months had been a roller-coaster ride of emotions where Lizzie was concerned and there were times when Hayley hadn’t a clue what to say or do.
    â€œHormones,” Michelle, her former sister-in-law had said. Michie was the mother of four teenagers and an expert on the subject. “There’s nothing you can say or do to make her hear you until she’s ready. Just sit back, strap yourself in, and wait for the storm to pass.”
    Hayley couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more than hormones going on. Lizzie had planned to visit her father in Florida over the Christmas/Chanukah holidays but Michael had begged off, saying he had some business to take care of in the Bahamas. He said winter break wasn’t good for him and then a month later he cancelled their plans for spring break. Easter and Passover raced by without acknowledgment. Eleven times he had promised his daughter—the daughter who adored him—that they would spend some time together and eleven times he had broken her heart.
    Lizzie had tried to put a brave face on it, but Hayley knew she was hurting badly. Given the chance, she could happily kill Michael with her bare hands and not feel one single second of regret.
    â€œDid you miss having a dad when you were growing up?”
    The question brought Hayley up short. “You can’t miss what you never had.” She aimed for bright and breezy honesty.
    Lizzie didn’t smile. “I mean, didn’t you ever wish you could have had a dad you could talk to?”
    â€œWhat makes you ask?”
    â€œI was thinking about Grandma Jane and how she’s coming home soon and I started wondering. That’s all.”
    â€œIs something wrong?”
    Lizzie shrugged and looked away. Hayley followed her gaze to the table by the window where a middle-aged father and his teenage daughter were talking earnestly over plates of spaghetti and meatballs. A small event in the scheme of things but one neither of them had ever experienced.
    â€œYou’re missing your dad, aren’t you?”
    â€œNot so much,” Lizzie said with a vigorous shake of her head. She looked down at her lasagna. “Maybe a little.”
    â€œI know he e-mails you. Has he been in touch?”
    â€œYou know.” Amazing how inarticulate her straight-A child could become when it benefited her. “Sometimes he leaves comments on my blog.”
    â€œAnything I should know about?”
    She shrugged. “Just regular stuff.”
    Whatever that meant. Hayley was constantly torn between wanting to keep close tabs on her daughter’s creative outlet and understanding the girl’s need for breathing room. It was a difficult and dangerous balancing act. She visited Lizzie’s blog every few weeks just to keep an eye on things but she knew that what she saw wasn’t necessarily all there was. The rest she had to take on faith.
    That wasn’t an easy thing for a worrier to do.
    â€œSchool will be over before you know it. Grandma Connie got a great deal on tickets. She can’t wait to see