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cross-examining hostile—”
    “It’s not about that.” Erin knew her husband had impenetrable focus, that once he started on something he never let up until it was complete. But sometimes she wanted to shake him for his difficulty breaking free of his own single-minded vision. “It’s something else. I’m worried—I don’t know—it’s probably not a big deal but—”
    Seth’s arm immediately grew tense under her hand, as if he recognized the shift in her voice. “What is it? Is Mackenzie all right?”
    For some reason, Erin snapped. She jerked her hand away from her husband and glared as she bit out, “Mackenzie’s just fine. She’s not your only daughter, you know.”
    Seth froze, staring at her blankly.
    Erin felt an immediate rush of guilt. She knew better than anyone else the way Seth’s mind worked. And right now he was thinking about Mackenzie. She couldn’t expect him to read her thoughts. It didn’t mean he loved Anna any less.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t mean it to sound like that.”
    Seth’s features were so still they looked like marble, but something panicked had flared up in his eyes. “What’s wrong with Anna?”
    Erin took a deep breath and massaged the tense muscles of Seth’s neck with her fingers. She was suddenly terrified to tell him, terrified of how he was going to react. “She’s all right. I mean, it isn’t an emergency or anything. But I think we need to pay her some more attention now. She’s having a hard time comparing herself to Mackenzie.”
    Four lines appeared between Seth’s brows. “What do you mean? She’s nothing like Mackenzie.”
    “That’s the problem. She sees how pretty and stylish and popular Mackenzie is. And now Mackenzie is starting to date.” Erin studied Seth’s face carefully, looking for any signs of reaction.
    Seth just frowned. “But Anna is more popular than Mackenzie is. She’s always surrounded by friends.”
    “But they’re just friends. She wants attention of the male variety and right now she’s not getting it.”
    “She better not be getting it,” Seth gritted out through a clenched jaw.
    Erin had to smother an involuntary laugh by pretending to clear her throat, but the flash of humor disappeared almost immediately. “That’s not the point. Girls her age tend to be insecure about their ability to attract guys. And I guess we just didn’t realize before that Anna had developed some of those insecurities. She feels like plenty of people like her. But that she’s not pretty enough for anyone to like her.” Her voice cracked on the last sentence. Erin could feel so deeply for what Anna was going through that it was like she was going through it herself.
    Seth’s lips parted slightly as he shook his head in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. Anna is even prettier than Mackenzie. She looks like…” He broke off his words, as if he’d changed his mind about saying them.
    But Erin knew with a swell of tenderness exactly what he’d been going to say.
    Anna looked like her—like Erin .
    And Seth genuinely believed she was as beautiful as a woman could be.
    “Oh God, Seth,” she said hoarsely, pulling him down into a hug. “I love you.”
    Seth returned her hug for a minute but then pulled away looking confused. “Thank you. But what about Anna?”
    Pulling herself together, Erin focused once more on priorities. “She doesn’t think she’s as pretty as Mackenzie. And this is affirmed by the fact that no guys seem to be interested in her. It was just like that for me in high school.”
    Seth stared at her for a long time, his quick, precise mind processing all of these pieces of information. “So what needs to be done?”
    “We can’t change some of it,” Erin said, her heart starting to hammer as she finally got to the worst part of this conversation. “Some girls just aren’t appreciated in high school. That might be the case