Ties That Bind by Kathryn Shay Page A

play. Her mother used to scream like a banshee cheering him on.
    Sofie smiled softly at her father, the man who loved her unconditionally. Always had. “Be right back.” She didn’t even glance at her mother.
    Inside the john, Sofie sank onto the toilet and buried her face in her hands. She hated seeing her mother. Already, Sofie was looking for some summer program up here so she didn’t have to go home and live with her. Or with her dad and his bimbo. Jesus, wasn’t he too old to be thinking with his dick? She glanced at the sink. Behind its pipes was her stash of uppers. She considered taking one. But she hated to compete when she was on anything. It didn’t seem fair. And she was still hung over from trying some blow with Jax last night. Oh, just wait until her mother got a look at her new boyfriend. Would she freak. As Sofie dressed in her track clothes, she remembered her mother’s advice on guys: Don’t fall for any sweet words, honey. Guys will have them all…First find out what kind of person he is…When the time’s right, you’ll know.
    Did you with Daddy? Sofie had asked.
    Uh-huh. I knew he was the one for me before we made love.
    How’d you know, Mama?
    I just did. You will, too. When you meet a wonderful man like your dad.
    Ha! Sofie tied the laces of her track shoes. Her mother had been lying through her teeth. Not long after, they had another conversation.
    Sofie, your father and I are separating…We have some things we can’t work out…No, it’s nothing we care to discuss with you…People grow apart…they lose the feelings they have for each other…
    Sofie had known her mother wasn’t telling the whole story. So she’d gone to her dad…
    We can’t live together anymore, princess. We don’t agree on so many things…
    Later, when she remembered the fights she wasn’t supposed to hear, she started piecing it together, and realized her dad wanted another kid and her mother didn’t. It was then that the thought took hold, and like the evil monsters from her childhood story books, got their talons in her. If Kaitlyn Renado had really liked being a mother, she would have had another baby. Especially since her dad had wanted one. Ergo, he loved Sofie with his whole heart and her mother didn’t.
    That was why Sofie forced herself to start hating her mother. When she got a new boyfriend, and her dad had gotten a girlfriend, Sofie had realized there was no room in either of their lives for her, and insisted on going away to school.
    She came out of the bathroom to find them talking softly. “This is new.”
    “New?” her mother asked from where she sat at the desk.
    “Usually you two are yelling at each other when you’re within fifty feet.”
    “We’re trying to do better with that, honey,” her mother said.
    “Yeah, sure.”
    “We are, baby.” Her dad stood. “We’ll show you today. We’re all going out after the meet.”
    “Terrific.” Sofie crossed to the mirror and pinned up her straw-colored hair. Now that had gotten a reaction out of both of them when they first saw it at Christmas…Oh, Sofie, what did you do to your pretty dark hair? Her mother had unconsciously touched her own. Why wouldn’t she? Sofie’s had been the exact texture and color of hers. Even her dad had commented…Oh, baby, it just doesn’t look like you.
    They made small talk on the trek to the fields. Sofie asked about Emily and the boys, whom she loved like brothers. At least she still got to see them. Her parents made up questions to keep the conversation going, and Sofie was glad when they reached the track so she could get away from them. She bounded toward the teammates without a word. She heard her father call good luck after her, but didn’t turn around. She kept on running, like she had since they got their divorce. Too bad she couldn’t cut them out of her life like they cut out each other.
    o0o
    “I SHOULDN’T HAVE come,” Kate said as she walked toward the stands with Reese. Her