Her Father's Daughter — Ethel M. Comins

The secret her mother had kept from her so long wasn't half as important to Fran as the one she learned for herself when she met Austin: that to truly love, a woman must live her own life.

Country Girl...

For a girl who had always lived in the city, it was odd that Fran Bolton had such a deep longing for the country. She wondered if she might not have inherited it from the father she had never known -- the father her mother, Marci, who hated country living, refused to talk about. A help wanted ad for an English teacher in the upstate New York river village of St. Orr's offered Fran a chance to satisfy her mysterious yen. Marci tried to talk her out of going, but Fran was determined...and bewildered by the fear in her mother's eyes. Caught up in the school routine, busy making new friends -- her roommate, art teacher Lu Scott; attractive young science teacher, Austin Frazer -- Fran forgot her concern for Marci until the day the village "psychic," Aunt Mary, brought it back. Her mother, she told Fran, was hiding a secret from her, a secret she would discover if she stayed in St. Orr's. But...did Fran really want to know what it was?

Revelation...

Fran glanced at Aunt Mary in alarm. She was leaning back in her chair, eyes closed as if she were sleeping. Fran quickly felt her pulse.
Without changing expression, Aunt Mary said, "What is it?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Ask me anything. I want to help."
She's faking, Fran thought. "What's my mother's name?"
"M--Mar--Marci--Marcia."
Fran's own pulse quickened. There was no way Aunt Mary could have known that. "Is she angry with me?"
"No, not angry...just afraid you'll find out."
"Find out what?"
"The secret...the secret she's kept from you..."

Hero: Austin Frazer
Heroine: Fran Bolton