I followed Mrs. Westington into the kitchen and began to get the place mats, silverware, and dishes to set out for lunch. I saw how she kept looking out the window toward the winery. I knew she wanted Trevor to join us. She would fill his ears with what had happened. He was, after all, her most trusted companion. I wondered why she wasn't close to any relative, but then again, neither was I. I had already learned why she didn't have much contact with her brother-in-law. Arliss.

"I hated to give them any money," she muttered as she worked on the salad. She was twisting and turning and knotting herself up in an argument with herself. "It's as good as opening the window and throwing it into the wind, but when it's raining and pouring, sometimes you have to do something to get yourself out from under. It's not like me to do that, to act out of desperation. but I don't like that man and I don't like what Rhona's becoming by being with him, not that I expected her to turn up here wearing wings.

"I shouldn't have done it," she suddenly decided, and slapped the counter. "What's wrong with me, knuckling under like that? I should have just thrown them out. Lawyers don't scare me. I got lawyers, too, and where are they going to get the money for lawyers anyway? Lawyers cost plenty."

"Don't run yourself down so. Mrs. Westington,"

I told her. "You'll just make yourself sick over it."

"Yeah, well. I really am sick over it. You know how it is with that sort. You give them an inch and they'll take a foot. As soon as we finish lunch. I want you or Trevor to drive me to see my attorney.

Randolph Wright. There's a good name for an attorney. He's always right," she said. "He'd better be when I pay him. Where's that Trevor gone?" she asked, gazing out of the window again. "The man lollygags whenever he goes to one of those huge lumber or hardware stores. To him the place is a gigantic toy store. I never could understand how or why he saw so much pleasure in screws and bolts, hammers and drills. Can't give him a better birthday present than a new power drill Or a hammer. Men never grow up. They just get bigger toys. Don't know why I depend on him.

"Oh, look at me. I haven't done anything here.

Cut up those tomatoes for me, would you, April?"

She sighed and shook her head. taking deeper and deeper breaths.

"Did you hear how they threatened me? All of a sudden she's worrying about bad influences on Echo.

too. Was she here when the girl got measles or was she here to nurse her through coughs and colds and rashes? No. Ma'am, she wasn't.

"Now she comes waltzing in and waves the flag of motherhood as if she was the first to discover what it means. Imagine telling that Skeeter fellow that I was unfair to her while she was growing up. Truth is I would have been harder on her if my husband wasn't such a sapless tree when it came to her. He pushed all the unpleasantness and difficult parental decisions off on me. I had to be the mean one. You ever hear that expression. 'let George do it'? Well that was my husband's motto when it came to disciplining Rhona.

She knew how to charm him. Men are fools. You'll see," she said, her hands fluttering about.

She didn't realize it, but she was signing some to me as well as talking. This was the angriest and most worked up I had seen her. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at the food. "Where was I?"

She spun around and went to the refrigerator to get some lettuce, celery, and olives. I cut up the tomatoes and said nothing. I felt too terrible for her and I was afraid she would hear it in my voice and feel even more terrible for herself. She took out the chicken she had in the stove and then she turned and headed for the pantry.

"I have some peas in here. Echo just loves peas.

Where are those darn peas?" I heard her say. "I know they're here. I know. Oh," I heard a few moments later.

A shelf rattled and some cans fell.

"Mrs. Westington? Are you all right? What happened?' I cried, and hurried to the pantry.

There she was, sprawled on the floor, her body twisted so awkwardly that her right foot was turned in far enoug,h for me to think her ankle was broken.

"Mrs. Westington!" I screamed. "TYLER!" I shouted. "COME QUICKLY!"

I kneeled down beside her and shook her shoulder. Her eyelids fluttered and then opened.

Tyler came charging into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Mrs. Westington fainted," I called back to him.

He came into the pantry.

"I'm... fine...," she said, and struggled to straighten herself.

I put my hand under her left arm and Tyler got down to get his hand under her right. We started to lift her to her feet. She didn't put any weight on her legs.

They dangled.

"I just need to sit for a while." she said.

The two of us literally carried her to the chair in the kitchen. I hurried to get her a gla.s.s of cold water.

Echo was standing in the doorway looking in, her body and her face locked in fear.

Mrs. Westington's face was as white as an eggsh.e.l.l. There was no color in her lips and her eyes were gla.s.sy. She leaned back and took the water from me, sipping it slowly. Finally some color returned to her cheeks.

"I in all right. Just a little dizzy spell. It's too d.a.m.n hot in here. Open a window," she ordered.

"They are open." I told her.

She looked at them and shook her head. "No breeze at all today. One of those days my husband calls dead air days. Called. I mean," she quickly corrected. "'Cut that chicken up for us, will you.

April?"

Echo was signing at her now, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm fine, child. It's nothing. Don't be upset."

she signed. "Go back to your work. Go on. April and I will finish preparing the lunch. Thank you. Tyler. I'm finer"

He glanced at me with concern, nodded, and left the kitchen. Echo lingered a moment until Mrs.

Westington waved at her.

"Go on. Don't make me look like a fool. You'd think no one had ever had a dizzy spell," she muttered.

"Are you sure you're okay. Mrs. Westington?" I asked.

"In the pink," she said. "Give me another moment and we'll forget it. Go on, finish working up the salad. Oh. I found the can of peas. They're on the floor in the pantry. Please get them and heat them up.

She loves them warm."

I nodded and did what she asked, keeping my eyes on her constantly. When she didn't think I was looking, she took deep breaths and rubbed her temples. I have to tell Tyler. I thought. She has to go to a doctor right away. She will surely fight it, but with his help, we'll make her do it.

I went to the door of the office and signaled him. Looking annoyed, he rose and walked over to me.

"What now?"

"We've got to get her to go to a doctor. What do you think happened to her?"

He thought a moment. "Probably a small cerebral sfroke. My father started having those before his heart attack."

"Stroke? Oh no. Tyler."

"Look, it's none of my business," he said. "I told you my mother thinks I'm too involved with this family as it is. I can't go telling Mrs. Westington what she should and shouldn't do about her own health.

She's certainly old enough to know what she should do."

"That's cruel. Tyler. I can't believe you're saying these things. You certainly didn't talk this way last night. What's happened to you?"

"I don't have time for this sort of hysteria.

April. I've got to finish up with Echo. She needs to master a few more things before she enters the school and is placed in the correct grade level."

"This sort of hysteria? What are you talking about? Mrs. Westington could die!"

"Of course sh.e.l.l die. We'll all die someday." he said, and returned to the desk. Echo was leaning over her work and didn't watch us talking. I glared at him a moment, but he didn't look back at me. I returned to the kitchen. I don't need his help. I thought. I know what has to be done.

Mrs. Westington was sitting back with her eyes closed. "You've got to go to your doctor immediately." I said firmly. She opened her eyes and started to protest.

"Don't argue. Mrs. Westington, If you don't take care of yourself. Echo will be at the mercy of Rhona. You said so yourself. And you've preached to me many times about not putting my head in the sand.

That's exactly what you're doing right now. Well?"

She nodded. "You're right, of course. Let's just give them lunch. I'll call my doctor."

"Let's do it right now," I insisted. "They can wait a few more minutes for lunch."

She smiled at me. "You're better than a conscience. All right. His name and number is in the file by the phone under B for Battie."

I quickly looked it up and called before she could come up with any other reason for delaying it.

When the receptionist answered. I told her I was calling for Mrs. Westington, who had had a serious dizzy spell and fainted. Even though Mrs. Westington would deny it. I told the receptionist she was in some pain as well. She wanted me to take her to the hospital emergency room. When I mentioned that. Mrs.

Westing-ton shook her head so vehemently. I thought she would fall into another faint.

"No, please." I pleaded. "She's okay at the moment. We just want her examined and she'll be more comfortable with the doctor."

The receptionist squeezed us into an afternoon appointment between two-thirty and three. We had to tell Echo, of course, but to ease her fears. Mrs.

Westington deliberately did more than she should at lunch. The entire time Tyler behaved the way he had when I first met him. He was aloof. disinterested, and only involved with Echo and her lessons. Watching-him, you'd think nothing at all ever happened between us since that first day we had met and nothing had happened to Mrs. Westington right before his eyes.

"Since you're leaving for the doctor and you won't be back before the lesson normally ends," he told Mrs. Westington. "I'll cut today's work short. I'm sure you'll want to bring Echo along and not leave her here."

"Yes," Mrs. Westington told him. "That's true.

although Trevor might be back by then." She thought a moment. "But I guess we should bring the child."

After I helped clear the table and cleaned the dishes and silverware to be placed in the dishwasher. I put the leftovers away and then went out to the winery because I saw the truck parked in front and realized Trevor had finally returned. He was busy replacing a small electric pump on one of his machines when I found him.

"Mrs. Westington fainted," I blurted. "'She's all right now. but I'm taking her to her doctor in about an hour. She's still dizzy and I know she's having some pain."

He put his tools down and stood. "'Something happened with Rhona?"

"She demanded money. There was a big argument," I said. "Mrs. Westington gave them five thousand dollars and they left, but they'll be back."

"I knew it. A bird flew in here this morning.

Not a good sign, not good," he said, shaking his head.

"Tyler thinks she might have had a slight stroke."

"Very likely, very likely. She needs to do less, have less to worry about. too."

"She's agreed to place Echo in the special school. I'm going to help her with that and with the things she wants to do with her lawyer, "That's good. I guess it was a lucky thing, your showing up here,' he said, nodding at me.

"I'm not so sure of that, Trevor. The jury's still out on that one."

He smiled. "I'll clean up and come along."

"I'm sure that will make her angry. She'll say we're making too much of it and she might not go."

"Yeah, that's her, all right. You picked up on stuff fast. Okay, so if she wants me along, I'm going.

You let me know."

"I will," I said.

He nodded and returned to his pump.

When I mentioned he was back and maybe we should bring him along. Mrs. Westington had the reaction I expected.

"You make a big thing of this and it becomes a big thing," she said. "The child's terrified enough.

We're just taking a ride to my doctor's office."

"Okay," I agreed quickly.

Tyler poked his head in the living room doorway and wished her good luck with the doctor.

"I'll call later about tomorrow," he said, which sounded ominous to me.

Mrs. Westington thanked him. He avoided my eyes and left without saying good-bye to me. Mrs.

Westington noticed, but she said nothing about it. A short while later, the three of us tot into her station wagon and I drove us to Healdsburg, where her doctor's office was located.

Despite how often we rea.s.sured Echo, she still sat in the car like someone frozen, her eyes revealing the panic in her heart. Mrs. Westington had been a spine of strength for her family. She had always been independent and dependable. Living so closely with her and being so dependent upon her had created a lifeline between Echo and her grandmother. I had come here feeling so sorry for myself and in a short time found myself feeling sorrier for them. It wasn't that discovering someone worse off than you made you feel any better: it just kept you from bemoaning your own troubles and fate.

We were fortunate in that we didn't have to wait long for Mrs. Westington to be seen by the doctor, despite his crowded patient schedule. She introduced me as her houseguest. He was Echo's doctor, too. and I could see she liked him very much. He had a good bedside manner about him. Mrs, Westington wouldn't permit me to go into the examination room with her.