Free The Beach Quilt by Holly Chamberlin Page A

was still a child. Children weren’t equipped to make the best decisions for themselves. That’s why they were legally dependent until the age of eighteen. And even then they could act wildly and irrationally, take dangerous risks and shrug off the possibility of disaster. The sense of being fully human—flawed and mortal—didn’t come until later in life. It just didn’t.
    â€œOh, Sarah,” Cindy whispered into the dark. “How could you have done this?”
    The purchase of new kitchen appliances she and Joe had planned would have to be postponed, maybe for quite some time. It was odd, wasn’t it? Cindy thought, staring into the dark. Only a day or two earlier she had been thinking about how she would hate to live far away from her grandchildren. And now, her first grandchild would be growing up just down the hall.
    She was sure that for as long as she lived she would never forget the moment in the kitchen when Sarah had told them her news. Cindy had watched her husband’s face carefully. He was the mildest of men, but neither of his children had ever been in such a situation before. She had felt suddenly afraid, as if for the first time in their marriage she had no idea of what her husband might do or say.
    And Justin! He had told Sarah that he would be there for her. It probably meant nothing. Of course it meant nothing. Cindy felt a flare of anger so intense she thought for a moment that she would pass out. Thank God Joe is retaining his composure, she thought. Because I’m not sure that I can.
    Cindy rubbed her eyes. She supposed that she should tell Adelaide the news very soon. Adelaide was her friend, she would support her through any trial, but still, telling her was going to be difficult. She didn’t really believe that Adelaide would judge Sarah. It was just that . . . just that Cindy had never, ever expected the words “my sixteen-year-old daughter is pregnant” would be coming out of her mouth.
    But they would be. And Cindy was sure that nothing would ever feel halfway normal again.

Chapter 17
    â€œCould I have the carrots, please?” Cordelia asked.
    â€œYou can and you may,” her father said, passing the bowl to her.
    â€œHow’s Sarah?” her mother asked.
    â€œShe’s fine,” Cordelia said, spooning the carrots onto her plate, but she wasn’t really sure that Sarah was fine. She was still being strangely quiet, not that she was ever boisterous, and Cordelia was now a wee bit annoyed. She had thought she was Sarah’s closest friend, so why wasn’t Sarah telling her what was wrong instead of making her guess and worry?
    â€œIt’s just that I haven’t seen her much in the past week.”
    Cordelia shrugged. “You know how she is. She gets—quiet—sometimes.”
    â€œI’ve been thinking,” her father said now. “This family deserves some time off together, an entire week someplace this summer. That is, Adelaide, if you think you can leave the store in Cindy’s hands.”
    â€œWhat a wonderful idea,” Adelaide exclaimed. “And I think Cindy’s totally capable of running the shop on her own. She might even enjoy the opportunity.”
    Cordelia restrained herself from clapping. Her mother had asked her not to clap at the table as she supposedly did it quite loudly. “Dad,” she said, “that would be awesome! Maybe we could rent a house on the beach somewhere. But with a cool town right nearby, with great shops.”
    â€œOr we might rent a house on a lake,” her mother suggested. “After all, we have a gorgeous beach right here. A change of scenery might be nice.”
    â€œAs long as it’s a lake with no bugs and a cool town nearby with great shops.”
    Jack grinned. “I’ll do some research, get some ideas that work within our budget, and then we’ll take a vote. I wouldn’t mind a lake with a cool town nearby