Maggie smiled. "Yes, so don't worry. And speaking of
Jed, I was hoping that you and Leah might be able to post-
pone that dinner engagement with Barbara Harris until I get
back-if it works for everyone."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll mention it to Leah. By
the way, how are things with you and Jed lately?" Her tone
seemed to implicate concern. "I don't mean to interfere, but
it seems to me that something's not quite the same between
you two. Anything I should be aware of?"
Maggie hadn't told her mother about their decision to
slow down their relationship for the time being, and she
wasn't sure she wanted to discuss it now. Besides, she was
*still hoping Jed might answer her email and decide to con-
tinue their relationship electronically. But she had to say
something. "No, we're doing okay. We just thought for
Leah's sake that we should cool things down a bit-give her
more time to adjust to everything, you know."
Audrey's brows arched. "Do you think that's such a good
idea?"
Maggie studied her mother's face. Was this the counselor
or the mother speaking? "I don't really know, Mom. I mean,
the truth is, I'm not too thrilled with the whole arrangement,
but then Leah has so much to adjust to.. .1 guess it just seems
more fair to her. She's had such a hard life..."
Audrey nodded. "Yes, I understand about her life. But do
*you realize that it's not up to you and Jed to make all that
up for her?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Leah is bound to have a lot of needs-it's to be
expected after all she's been through with that irresponsible
mother of hers. And I'm absolutely certain that Jed is being
a wonderful father to her now, but he needs to realize that
there's no way he will ever replace or make up all the years
that have gone by. And if he tries to do it all now, he may be
setting a precedent that will be very hard to maintain in the
years to come. Do you know what I mean?"
"I think so... maybe..."
Looking for You All My Life147
"For Leah's sake, she. shouldn't expect that Jed is always
going to be her superdad, the guy with all the time in the
world for her. He needs to be able to have a life of his own.
Anything else is just not normal-not to mention humanly
impossible. Having such elevated expectations will only hurt
her in the long run.. .when she discovers that, like her mom,
he's only human."
"But he's certainly doing a lot better than her mom
defended Maggie.
"Yes. But Leah needs to keep standing on her own two
feet. Of course, Jed's her father and he'll always love her. But
she's a young adult who needs to continue getting on with
her life. She needs to accept that Jed can't be her all in all."