Free The Beach Quilt by Holly Chamberlin

participation in the Teens and Elders program (once every two weeks a group of kids were bused to a local home for seniors where they read to the residents or played cards or simply talked), might be considered more well-rounded and might therefore be more eligible for scholarships. Cordelia’s family had more money than Sarah’s; Sarah might be considered more eligible for financial aid. But who knew? They would just have to wait and see which girl was awarded what opportunities. One thing is certain, Adelaide thought with a smile. Neither girl is ever going to get an athletic scholarship!
    Adelaide looked at the framed photo of the girls on the shelf over her desk. Next to it sat a photo of Cindy and Adelaide at The Busy Bee, on the occasion of the store’s fifth anniversary. Hmmm, Adelaide thought. Maybe the four of them—or the five of them if Stevie were interested—could take a girls’ excursion before the summer season hit hard, and Adelaide and Cindy would be glued to the shop. Just a day trip, maybe to the Farnsworth Art Museum or to the Winslow Homer Studio in Prouts Neck, or even just up to Portland. They could easily spend a full day in the city, visiting the museum, shopping, taking a tour of the Longfellow House, and having lunch somewhere fun. There was a good French-style bistro she had read about, though it might be a bit too pricey for Cindy and her girls. Well, Adelaide thought, there is nothing wrong with fish and chips!
    The thought of fish (if not chips) brought to mind Sarah’s boyfriend, Justin. He hadn’t gone to college. In fact, to hear Cordelia talk, he had barely graduated high school. There was certainly no love lost between Cordelia and Justin Morrow. She called him the Idiot.
    â€œNow, Cordelia. Why would Sarah go out with an idiot?” Adelaide remembered asking.
    Cordelia had just shrugged. “Don’t ask me. But she is.”
    True, the relationship was a bit curious, but Sarah seemed happy, so she must be getting something from all the time she spent with Justin. Sarah wasn’t the sort to waste her time with someone entirely lacking in merit.
    Yes, Adelaide thought, she would suggest to Cindy that the five of them take a day trip some Saturday. And if Saturday was the day Sarah usually spent with Justin, well, it wouldn’t kill her to change her plans this once. Boys and men could wait.
    Adelaide hefted the stack of wastepaper she had gathered and headed down to the basement, where the recycling bins lived.

Chapter 16
    It was almost two in the morning, and Cindy was wide-awake. Joe was in a characteristically deep sleep; the man always slept soundly, no matter the worries of the day gone or ahead. Still, this time might prove an exception, so as not to disturb him with her tossing and turning and sighing, Cindy had gone down to the living room and was sitting there now in the dark, alone with her troubled thoughts. She didn’t know how Sarah was sleeping and half expected to see her daughter glide into the room, wrapped in her warmest robe, a fuzzy orange thing she had found at Goodwill a few years back.
    It seemed like a century since Sarah had told them she was pregnant, though in reality it was only a matter of hours. But in those few hours everything had changed radically. Assumptions had been proved faulty, assurances had been shown to be empty, and certainties had turned out to be uncertainties.
    Cindy felt another wave of guilt overcome her. She had talked to Sarah about protection, but she hadn’t forced her to go to the doctor to get a prescription for the birth control pill. She should have. She simply had never considered the possibility of Sarah’s having sex without being completely prepared.
    She had been stupid, Cindy thought now. And ignorant. She had put too much faith in her daughter; she had assumed Sarah was more mature than she had proved. Sarah was a teenager. No matter how smart and responsible she was she