Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

produce what was clearly a box holding a ring. I held my breath as he opened it to show Lucille.
    “Oh, Teddy!” she cried, putting her wine down and carefully plucking the ring out of the box. Even from where I was sitting, I could see it was a very large diamond. She slipped it on her finger. “Perfect fit.”
    He knelt to kiss her. Then he turned to me. “Well, Semantha, you witnessed it, the moment Lucille and I got engaged.”
    I saw he was waiting for me to say “Congratulations,” but it was as if Cassie had her hand over my mouth. I struggled to offer a smile.
    “Semantha?”
    “It’s a bit of a shock to her, I’m sure,” Lucille said. “And it’s been a very long day.”
    “It should be your day,” Cassie whispered. “Not her day. You graduated!”
    I nodded, still speechless. I had known this woman less than twenty-four hours, and she was soon to be my stepmother, my father’s new wife. This was unfair. Why couldn’t it have waited until I had spent some time with her? Why hadn’t Daddy thought of that?
    Daddy started to turn a shade of crimson, which was a clear indication that he was becoming angry. Cassie would have said, “Here it comes! Hold your ears.”
    “You’re a young lady now. We brought you up to know the social graces. You could have the sense to offer us your congratulations, Semantha.”
    “I’m sorry. I was just about to, Daddy. I was taken by surprise. Congratulations, Mrs. Bennet. And you, too, Daddy,” I said, forcing a wider smile, but he still didn’t look satisfied by my reaction.
    I couldn’t help that it must have looked forced. I was second in line again! I had always been jealous of the affection Daddy had for Cassie. I had always known Cassie was his favorite, the more perfect daughter. After all of his discoveries about her and her death, I thought he would really get to know me, really look at me. We would finally get to be a real father and daughter.
    Just when I thought all of that would happen now, Daddy inserted Lucille Bennet between us. I recalled when he had first told me he was going on a date with her. It didn’t seem that long ago. How could he make such an important decision as marriage so quickly? Daddy was never impulsive. Was it simply because of his loneliness?
    And why couldn’t Daddy see what bothered meand understand? Weren’t fathers supposed to be able to understand their children more easily than anyone else? What did I have to do to get him to see my pain? Burst out in tears?
    “Please, call me Lucille, Semantha. I do hope you and I will be on a legitimate first-name basis. I’d like to be more your friend than just a stepmother.”
    “And you’ll be a lucky girl to have a friend with Lucille’s wisdom and experience,” Daddy said. “I hope you have the sense to appreciate it,” he added firmly, his eyes beady with angry authority. It was the same as his saying, You had better appreciate it, or else.
    “She will, Teddy. Give the girl a chance.”
    He relaxed but still shook his head and continued to look annoyed with me. I felt my eyes tearing and looked down as I sipped my wine.
    “Why don’t I leave you two for a little while to talk?” Lucille said, rising and putting her wineglass on the bar. “I’d like to take a hot bath and relax anyway, Teddy.”
    “You don’t have to go,” he told her. “We’re not going to keep secrets from each other ever, from this day forward,” he declared. From the way he looked at me, I could see that was a comment made more for my benefit than hers. It sounded more like a threat, too.
    She smiled and looked at me as someone who had just won a serious argument might.
    “I’m sure we won’t,” she said. “See you in a while. Good night, Semantha.”
    “Good night.”
    She walked out, and for a long moment, the silence that followed echoed in my ears.
    “I’m very disappointed in you, Semantha,” Daddy began. “I was hoping another year of private school would have matured you. I realize you’ve been through quite a lot, but you can’t wallow in the misery of the past forever. Heaven-stones don’t give up, don’t surrender. Every one of them up on these walls either was heroic or had the grit to make a better life for his or her children. It’s in our blood.
    “For a long time after all that happened, I was almost like you, so depressed and unhappy I could not enjoy anything or anyone. My footsteps echoed in this house and riled up the bad memories constantly.