Barrier Islands Page 23

23

  “You caused this!” Onion screamed the next morning.

  “Caused what?”

  “You know damn well what I’m talking about!”

  “If you mean Daphne running away, I had no idea. I was just as shocked as everyone else.”

  “Filling her head with crazy ideas. Telling her she should go to college and helping her fill out the application!”

  “She’s a bright girl, Onion. What was she supposed to do—stay here and stock shelves the rest of her life? Wait tables?”

  “Tend her family—same as her momma and grandma.”

  “Same as me and Jodie?”

  Onion almost said something but swallowed his words. “You put her up to this. You might as well have packed her bags and bought her crossing ticket.”

  “I gave her choices. If she’d wanted to take a job here and settle with a local guy, I’d have been behind her all the way. But she’s smart, Onion. She needed to stretch her wings. All I did was support what she was already saying and doing. That’s what friends are supposed to do. That’s what family is supposed to do.”

  “And look what came of it!”

  “Maybe if you’d given her a little more space to grow, she wouldn’t have needed to act so—.” Brooke paused before adding, “Dramatically.”

  “Is that what you call screwing your teacher and running off with him?”

  “If you’d given her more space, she might have gone to college, got her degree, met a guy, and brought him back here to raise a family. A little outside blood would be good for your family and the island.”

  “Like you? We see how well that’s turned out.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You showed up and now Daffy’s gone. You figure it out. You’re a smart girl.” He turned and left.