Read Online Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green - Free Book Online

had Andi, but back then, that made them ancient, at least one generation older than the other parents.
    And when the parents of her class friends got together for impromptu barbecues and drinks, Andi’s parents were never included. When Andi’s friends came over, her parents didn’t gossip at the kitchen table over coffee but attempted to engage her friends in discussions about what books they loved, or what plays they had seen.
    Andi was mortified. Why couldn’t her mother be like all the other moms? When Andi had a sleepover, her mother had packed them a midnight feast, but instead of dime-store candy and chocolate like all the other kids, she had made sandwiches, and given them apples. One time there was cottage cheese. Andi wanted to die.
    When she grew up, she determined at a very young age, she was going to have a huge family. Tons of kids, and all their friends. She was going to have a freezer filled with pizza, and a pantry filled with Campbell’s Mushroom Soup and Lipton’s Onion Soup Dip. She was going to fill her house with people, and she would let her kids have the basement all to themselves, and once they were down there, she was never going to disturb them.
    And she would never, ever, ask them their opinions on books or current affairs.
    As an adult, Andi adored her parents. She used to tease them that she grew into them, but in part that was true. They were educated, sophisticated and, as she discovered when she was older, tremendous amounts of fun. None of which were qualities she was able to see, or appreciate, as a child.
    When she was small, Andi decided she was going to have the life she couldn’t have when young. Even though she didn’t meet Ethan until her late thirties, even though he already had two daughters, even though one of the daughters hated her, and she is going through perimenopause, which means her moods are horrific, and she probably won’t ever have children, she still thinks there is some hope for them to be the happy family she has always wanted.
    If Ethan would only set some boundaries. If Emily would only learn to accept her and be happy. If … if … if. There has to be a way. Andi is almost, almost sure of it.
    *   *   *
    “Emily, honey?” Andi, determining to make an effort, leans into the car. “Want to come with me and see Isabel’s dress? It’s so beautiful. She said she—”
    “Where’s Dad?” Emily interrupts, sharply.
    “I think he’s helping set up the bar,” Andi says as Emily climbs out, deliberately pushes past her, and walks off.
    “See?” She turns to Drew. “See? I try my damnedest to be nice all the time, and she’s just a total bitch.” She inhales sharply. She may think the word, but she doesn’t ever say it out loud.
    “She is,” Drew says, as Topher walks around the car. “I agree. You were being lovely, and she was awful.”
    “Maybe that’s part of the problem,” Topher says slowly.
    “What do you mean?”
    “You try too hard. Emily knows she’s got you wrapped around her finger. She knows she has all the power because you give it to her.”
    Andi shakes her head. “How? How do I give her the power?”
    “ Emily, honey? ” Topher does a surprisingly good imitation of Andi, and Andi instantly hears the fearful, pleading tone in his voice.
    “Oh, God,” she says. “Did I sound like that? I was just trying to be loving.”
    “I heard fear, which means so did Emily, and that empowers her.”
    “So what do I do? Ignore her?”
    Topher shrugs. “That’s a good start, I’d say.”
    “But … I was kidding. I can’t just ignore my stepdaughter.”
    “Yes, you can. Right now, you’re giving her total control of your mood. Try detaching from her. She is who she is, which is nothing to do with you. You didn’t cause her mood, you can’t control it, and you certainly can’t cure it.”
    “But I always think if I’m supernice she’ll love me.”
    “I know,” Topher says kindly. “That’s the root of all