already?"
"Yes. Did you sleep well?"
Leah climbed stiffly from the couch. "Yeah, I think I must
have, especially since I don't remember a single thing since ~
said goodnight." She picked up the water on the table by the
couch and quickly downed it. "I'm thirsty."
"Come have some orange juice," urged Maggie. "I'm
fixing us some breakfast right now, then I think we had
better head into town before someone sends out a search
party."
Leah drank the juice, then looked at Maggie. "Would you
*mind very much if I stayed at your house-just until Jed gets
back?"
"Of course you can stay at my house. You can stay for as
long as you like, Leah. You know that."
She smiled faintly. "Yeah, I guess I know.. I'm just not
sure why." She set down her empty glass and her smile
faded. "Maggie, there's something I really need to tell you."
Maggie flipped the bacon over and looked up. "What is
it?"
"I need to apologize." Leah sighed loudly. "This isn't
easy, but I suppose it'd be best just to get it out. And if you
hate me when I'm done, well, then it'll be all my fault
anyway." She looked directly at Maggie. "You see, I have Looking for You All My Life273
been really, really jealous of you because of Jed. I know it
probably sounds pretty stupid and totally selfish. But I was
afraid that he loved you more than he loved me. I mean, he'd
actually loved you longer-even before I came along. And it
was no secret that he didn't even really seem to like me very
much right at first-"
"He liked you," defended Maggie. "He's always liked
you."
"Well, you know-he was all worried that I was a bad
influence on Spencer and stuff like that. I knew all about it
then, I just didn't realize at the time that he was my father.
Anyway, when he found out he was my father, then it did
seem like he really loved me. But still not as much as he loved
you..."
"But those are two totally different kinds of love, Leah. I
don't know how you can even compare one to the other. It's
like apples and oranges-both good and special in their
uniqueness. The way I love Spencer is just.. it'S just unex-
plainable. I mean, I'd love him no matter what he did, and
I'd probably even kill to protect him if I had to. That's just
the way a parent loves-"
"Not all parents." Leah's eyes grew dark now, the edges
brimming with tears. "Not my mother."
Maggie turned down the flame beneath the bacon and
moved closer to Leah, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry about that."