Jeff said, touching Bonnie’s shoulder as they followed Marsha toward the sliding door. Marsha gestured for him to go ahead, and he did, wondering if coming here had been a mistake. He felt strange accepting an invitation to his brother’s cottage without his brother being there. He’d always been fond of Marsha. They had a great bond when Don was alive, and he always found her attractive and charming, but now things had changed. He had changed. They had changed. Bonnie bounded down the deck stairs, her towel once again sweeping along the sand. He let the matter go. Instead, he studied Bonnie, pondering Marsha’s comment at Daddy Frank’s earlier that day. He gave a shudder. Bonnie was no longer a little girl. Her behavior seemed to have stood still, but her body had turned into a young woman’s. The situation scared him. How could he explain life to her as her body matured but her behavior didn’t? How could he be both father and mother to a teenage daughter?
