The Good Daughter Read Free Page A

wish…and if that one wish could come true…what would she do?
    She’d save Mom, of course.
    The oncologist was astonished that Marilyn Brennan had lasted this long, but couldn’t imagine her making it through the spring. It was January 8 now. That meant Mom had what? February? March? Maybe Easter? Easter came late this year, mid-April. Would Mom be with them then?
    The thought made Kit’s insides churn. She wished she hadn’t had that second sliver of birthday cake. Wished she was already home in bed instead of still driving at ten o’clock at night.
    Kit’s phone rang. It was Meg, her oldest sister. “Home safe?” Kit asked, answering.
    “Just got back a few minutes ago. Sorry we left you with all the dishes.”
    “Not a big deal. Dad helped. Gave us a chance to talk.”
    “He’s okay?”
    “Seemed like it. But it’s hard to tell with Dad. He doesn’t ever complain.”
    Meg sighed. “He doesn’t like to burden us.”
    “I know. But I almost wish he would. It’d make me feel better. Make me feel as if I was helping him somehow.”
    “Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t help him. Now you can help me.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I’m upset. I’ve been upset ever since leaving the house.”
    “Mom?”
    “No. Cass. Tommy. The whole baby thing.”
    “It’s a mess, isn’t it?” Kit said.
    “I’m worried about them. I can understand why Tommy doesn’t want to do the IVF anymore, but his stand on adoption is ridiculous.”
    Kit changed lanes to let a faster car pass her. “I agree.”
    “He’ll lose Cass if he’s not careful.”
    “I know.”
    “Now’s the time for them to explore all their options if they want to become parents. But I don’t think Tommy wants to be a parent at this point. I think he’s decided that he’s okay without kids.”
    Dad had said something similar to Kit while they washed dishes. Apparently Tommy had told Dad tonight that he was ready to move forward and just get on with life, as he’d come to terms with Cass’s infertility and he was good without kids. “He’s worn out,” Kit said. “He needs a break from the focus on making babies.”
    “Which is great, but Cass is a labor and delivery nurse. She wants a baby of her own. Needs to be a mom.”
    Kit understood. She loved kids. It’s one of the reasons why she’d become a teacher. She’d been in the classroom seventeen years now, the last sixteen at Memorial High, a Catholic school in east Oakland, not far from San Leandro. She’d recently been promoted to head of the English department, which would look great on a résumé, but wasn’t much of an honor if you knew there were only three English teachers at Memorial. “What do you think about them using a surrogate?”
    “I don’t have a problem with it,” Meg said. “Do you?”
    “No.”
    “I don’t think anyone in the family does. I wish they’d lookinto it. It’s expensive, but Cass and Tommy already have the frozen embryos.”
    Remembering her conversation with Dad, Kit rubbed at her brow, easing the tension headache. “I just can’t see Tommy ever agreeing to it. I don’t know if it’s a control thing, or a society thing, but Tommy’s against taking any more extreme measures to make a baby.”
    “Adopting isn’t extreme. I’d adopt, if I couldn’t have kids.”
    “I would, too. Let’s just hope Cass can convince Tommy to reconsider all their options.”
    M onday was Kit’s least favorite day of the week. It was hard to rally Monday morning after a weekend away from school. She knew her students felt the same way, and so she made a point of making each Monday morning’s lessons interesting, trying to hook her students’ attention quickly, painlessly. Or as painlessly as possible considering that most of her students were sleep deprived and school started early.
    Fortunately, as the head of her very small department, Kit was able to pick the classes she wanted to teach and she chose to teach everything—from basic