Read Online The Good Daughter by Jean Brashear - Free Book Online Page A

Her mother’s voice was so faint, Chloe could barely hear her.
    “I understand that you’re upset, but surely you see that there’s an easy solution.”
    Strain invaded her tone. “Chloe, I have to go. Promise me you won’t take any steps yet.”
    “What? How can you possibly rationalize waiting? How can you jeopardize Daddy’s health?”
    “I should never have mentioned this. Your father will be furious.”
    “Mother—”
    “If you love me, you will not say one word about this to your father or anyone else until I have time to think.”
    “Think about what?” It was so unlike Mother to be irrational. “What can you possibly need to consider?”
    “I can’t discuss this anymore with you tonight, darling. Please.” Weariness and sorrow coated every syllable.
    Pity stirred in Chloe. “I don’t want Daddy to die.”
    “A few days won’t hurt anything, but he’ll be upset if—please, Chloe, promise me you’ll wait.”
    Chloe had never heard her sound so defeated, had never heard her plead. Dolores St. Claire was always in control, always composed.
    Her parents were not demonstrative with each other, their relationship restrained but cordial. As a little girl, she’d assumed every couple was like that. In junior high, she’d secretly yearned for passion and grand sweeping gestures but had always known better than to voice those longings. St. Claires did not air their dirty laundry, she knew that, and the base emotions were not allowed rein.A lack of disturbing passions was part of who they were. Who she was supposed to be.
    But sometimes…she wondered. Only once had she seen that restraint breached, when she was in junior high. She’d overheard an argument between them that had opened her eyes when she learned that her mother had been wealthy, while her father had struggled his way up from a poverty he had loathed. As she grew older, she’d had inklings of a subtle competition between them, a delicate balance of power.
    If they weren’t affectionate with each other, however, each had lavished Chloe with attention. Their love was accompanied by high expectations, yes, but Chloe had no reason to doubt that her parents cared for her. Her mother had built her whole life around the only child she would have.
    Still, she knew her father did not receive the same devotion. “You are absolutely certain that you’re not endangering Daddy’s health by asking me to wait?”
    Her mother’s response was quick and cutting. “Do not ever doubt my loyalty to your father, Chloe.”
    Shame rose. “I’m sorry.” She might wish for a different relationship for herself, but marriages came in all shapes and sizes. She held out an olive branch. “Of course you want what’s best for Daddy. It’s just that this—” Tears burned her eyes. “He’s always been so strong,” she whispered.
    “I understand,” her mother said. “He’s seeing the best doctors, and you can be certain money won’t be an object.”
    “But I don’t understand why you don’t want me to—”
    Her mother cut in. “Please, darling. Your father could never accept any risk to your health, and there would be risk.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “But he does.” Her mother’s voice held firm. “And so do I. I’ll talk to him, but I want your promise that you won’t speak to him about this yet.” Then her mother’s voice quavered again. “I don’t want anything to happen to him, either, Chloe.”
    Chloe could not deny the real concern in her mother’s voice and chided herself for all her doubts about their marriage. “All right, Mother. But I’m going to worry every minute.”
    “I understand, darling. Now—” her mother hesitated for a second “—I do need your help with this dinner party.”
    Love warred with the urge to scream that dinner parties didn’t matter, that nothing mattered but her father’s return to health. But Chloe stifled the words straining to emerge from her lips. All Chloe’s life, her mother had made