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Authors: Addison Fox
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years.”
“Stepmonster?”
“Pretty much. Add on, she was my stepmonster for those delightful years between thirteen and seventeen and you have a recipe for disaster.”
“Only four years?”
“She and my father couldn’t stand each other much past that.”
He nodded but avoided the usual platitudes she’d grown used to hearing about the perils of a “trophy wife.” “So what happened?”
“I’d put on weight going through puberty and was a bit chunky by fifteen. At that time I’d also developed quite the vocabulary and was openly defiant to said stepmonster and what I believed was her love of my father’s bank account.”
Abby mulled over the right words, suddenly feeling as clumsy as she did that terrible, awkward summer.
“I also had an unrequited love that took up every ounce of my time, energy and a mountain of tears sobbing that his feelings weren’t the same.”
“Love and loss in the American high school. I had a few of those myself.”
“You? Campbell Steele of the legendary Steele family? Grandchild of one of Britain’s most famous parliamentarians and a regular attendee of garden parties at Buckingham Palace?”
He snorted at that. “Like I’d have told anyone I attended garden parties. Besides, I was a beanpole for all four years of high school. Why else would I like computers so much?”
“Ah, yes. It’s almost Dickensian in its simplicity. Our greatest sorrow leads to our deepest joy.”
“Something like that. Of course, this beanpole became rather popular junior year when he hacked into the school’s computers and changed a grade for a poor beleaguered cheerleader.”
“You did not.”
“I most certainly did. It was my first glorious foray into hacking and, to be fair, her D in chemistry wasn’t deserved. But this story isn’t about me. Back to that unrequited love.”
“Gina and I had been fighting pretty much every day at that point. And I was invited to a party where said unrequited love was sure to be in attendance. She bought me an outfit for the event. Something that was intentionally unflattering and I didn’t realize it until I got there.”
“You didn’t put it on ahead of time?”
Even now, more than a decade and a half later, Abby remembered that moment. The sheer panic of being caught off guard. And the absolute pain of being found lacking. “It was a slumber party for the girls and we were getting our nails and hair done during the day. So she packed my bag and I wore jeans and a T-shirt for the prep.”
“And it was only when you got to the party that you realized the outfit didn’t fit.”
“Exactly. We fought about it later and she point-blank admitted to doing it. Said I needed to learn a lesson.”
“Hardly.” The word dripped with anger, matching the stiff set of his body. “You were a child and that wasn’t a lesson anyone needs to learn.”
“On her best days, Gina was never going to make stepmother of the year, but that one was particularly bad, even for her. So the next morning, I walked to the park and started running. I’ve never looked back.”
Abby knew she’d lucked out. Gina’s intentions had been cruel, but she could have ended up with an eating disorder. Instead, she’d simply learned to channel her pain and anger into something more productive, allowing her body to grow stronger as the distance between her and her father grew larger.
“So why are you still sad?”
“I started running with the intention of losing weight and that part came rather quickly.”
“But?”
“The lost pounds were only a side benefit. No matter how many miles I run, I always come back to the same set of problems.”
“They don’t go away, no matter how far we run. They just hang around until we deal with them.”
The comprehension in his gaze caught her up short and again, she saw a real understanding in those blue depths. While she knew she wasn’t the only one who’d dealt with grief in her life—and diligently fought the
“Stepmonster?”
“Pretty much. Add on, she was my stepmonster for those delightful years between thirteen and seventeen and you have a recipe for disaster.”
“Only four years?”
“She and my father couldn’t stand each other much past that.”
He nodded but avoided the usual platitudes she’d grown used to hearing about the perils of a “trophy wife.” “So what happened?”
“I’d put on weight going through puberty and was a bit chunky by fifteen. At that time I’d also developed quite the vocabulary and was openly defiant to said stepmonster and what I believed was her love of my father’s bank account.”
Abby mulled over the right words, suddenly feeling as clumsy as she did that terrible, awkward summer.
“I also had an unrequited love that took up every ounce of my time, energy and a mountain of tears sobbing that his feelings weren’t the same.”
“Love and loss in the American high school. I had a few of those myself.”
“You? Campbell Steele of the legendary Steele family? Grandchild of one of Britain’s most famous parliamentarians and a regular attendee of garden parties at Buckingham Palace?”
He snorted at that. “Like I’d have told anyone I attended garden parties. Besides, I was a beanpole for all four years of high school. Why else would I like computers so much?”
“Ah, yes. It’s almost Dickensian in its simplicity. Our greatest sorrow leads to our deepest joy.”
“Something like that. Of course, this beanpole became rather popular junior year when he hacked into the school’s computers and changed a grade for a poor beleaguered cheerleader.”
“You did not.”
“I most certainly did. It was my first glorious foray into hacking and, to be fair, her D in chemistry wasn’t deserved. But this story isn’t about me. Back to that unrequited love.”
“Gina and I had been fighting pretty much every day at that point. And I was invited to a party where said unrequited love was sure to be in attendance. She bought me an outfit for the event. Something that was intentionally unflattering and I didn’t realize it until I got there.”
“You didn’t put it on ahead of time?”
Even now, more than a decade and a half later, Abby remembered that moment. The sheer panic of being caught off guard. And the absolute pain of being found lacking. “It was a slumber party for the girls and we were getting our nails and hair done during the day. So she packed my bag and I wore jeans and a T-shirt for the prep.”
“And it was only when you got to the party that you realized the outfit didn’t fit.”
“Exactly. We fought about it later and she point-blank admitted to doing it. Said I needed to learn a lesson.”
“Hardly.” The word dripped with anger, matching the stiff set of his body. “You were a child and that wasn’t a lesson anyone needs to learn.”
“On her best days, Gina was never going to make stepmother of the year, but that one was particularly bad, even for her. So the next morning, I walked to the park and started running. I’ve never looked back.”
Abby knew she’d lucked out. Gina’s intentions had been cruel, but she could have ended up with an eating disorder. Instead, she’d simply learned to channel her pain and anger into something more productive, allowing her body to grow stronger as the distance between her and her father grew larger.
“So why are you still sad?”
“I started running with the intention of losing weight and that part came rather quickly.”
“But?”
“The lost pounds were only a side benefit. No matter how many miles I run, I always come back to the same set of problems.”
“They don’t go away, no matter how far we run. They just hang around until we deal with them.”
The comprehension in his gaze caught her up short and again, she saw a real understanding in those blue depths. While she knew she wasn’t the only one who’d dealt with grief in her life—and diligently fought the
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