..”“What?”“I’m just ... uh ... I’m afraid if he finds out I’m not really his.”“He does love you, whatever the performance tonight, a...d that wouldn’t change. You wouldn’t believe how proud he is of you.”“He never says that.”“That’s just men, and families. I know he is because he’s always talking about you, and it’s why he’s so protective.”“Isn’t some of that cos he thinks I have his genes?”“He still raised you, helped form your values and how you are. And he just reacts to you, like everyone.”“I. One day she said to me that she wanted me to wear lipstick and nailpolish. There was no way I would do this I said. It was not a thingthat men did."I bet if your father did it you'd do it," Lucy said."Look if you persuade my father to wear lipstick and nail polish I willagree not only to me doing it but to Michael doing it too," There wasno way that my father would do this so I had called her bluff exceptthat I had forgotten to include a forfeit if she was unsuccessful or atime limit for her. Now she was telling me to be with Sandy and Ruth. Was she punishing herself for not coming to Chicago? I suspect that might well be it.“Kara,” I said gently, pulling her to me on the couch, “are you doing this because you changed your plans for college and for living with me and delayed things by a year?”She sobbed harder, and I was sure I was right. That’s what this was about. I had my suspicions about the ‘have fun’ comment now, too. Was that in response to me changing my plans for her? If. In the meantime, your cast is like a big Band-Aid. You know how you have to leave a Band-Aid on until the sore gets better? The cast is like that.”“Can I get down now?”I was just about to let her slide off my lap when I noticed something.“Hey! What’s this?” I asked.The cast had some writing on it in black marker. Tara had signed it and done a smiley face. I felt a stab of jealousy that Tara had gotten to sign it before me. I’d been so busy with my own stuff I hadn’t even thought about signing.