"No," I said, laughing, happy she had an appet.i.te. "The doctor would be furious and he was right there in the hallway when we arrived."

"Fiddlesticks. Eating this food is making me sicker than anything you would have brought me from home. Taste this soup. I swear they use it as dishwater."

"There's probably not a grain of salt in it," I said.

"I never worried about what I ate and I made it this far in good health." She pouted a moment and then smiled at Echo. "How's my doll?" she asked her.

Echo rushed to her for a hug. She held on to her just a little too long.

Mrs. Westington looked at me sharply. "What happened at my home last night?"

I shook my head.

"You want me to get it out of the child? I can do that," she threatened.

"Mrs. Westington, are you going to do everything you can to keep yourself sick and in this place? I need you to get well and get home. Echo needs you. Even Trevor needs you. Why can't you just be a cooperative patient for just a short while, long enough for the doctor to get you stabilized and on your way home? What sort of an example are you setting for Echo? You'll only make all this harder on everyone." I lectured, I held my breath. Was she going to fly off the bed at me, tell me to mind my own business, tell me to get out of her house? She nodded slowly and leaned back on her pillow.

"Well, now. I see you're no longer the little girl full of self-pity who first arrived on my doorstep.

Where did you get all this?"

"I got it from you," I said. "So don't make it a wasted gift."

She laughed. "So you're telling me you and Trevor have things under control?"

"We do." I said firmly. "Echo's fine, too."

"I see. Where is that daughter of mine? I half expected her to be standing here at the bedside with a pen and paper for me to write out my last will and testament when I opened my eyes this morning,"

"Give her time," I said, and she laughed again.

"I'm afraid she's going to be in for a shock. I called my attorney, Randy Wright, yesterday and he's overhauling my papers. Most everything I have is in Echo's name and a trust has been established with a trustee. There's something in there for Trevor, of course, and a little something for you."

"Me?"

"Just in case. Everyone needs a little boost"

"What about Rhona?"

"What about her? You heard her and that Skeeter threatened me with lawsuits and the like. I thought I'd better start taking defensive actions as soon as I could. and I wasn't going to let a little thing like this hospital stay prevent it."

"Doctor Battie will be upset you're doing all this."

"Oh, it's nothing. A lawyer does the work. I read it and sin it. For now. however. I think it would be best if we kept this to ourselves," she said.

We heard a knock and I turned to see Trevor.

"How we loin' today?" he asked.

"How does it look like we're doing? I'm still chained to this bed, aren't I? I'm still here. Where have you been? Like I have to ask." she added. "Delivering cases of wine. I imagine."

"You imagine correctly," he said. "And your grapes are still the most cherished in the valley."

"They're not my grapes. My grapes died years ago on the vine, along with a lot of other things," she said. 'How's my house?"

He glanced at me.

"Don't wait to see what she told me and didn't tell me! Is it still in one piece?"

"Everything's just fine. Mrs. Westington,"

Trevor said. She looked from him to me and back to him.

"Look at the two of you, with faces that could be billboards advertising terrible liars."

Trevor laughed and Echo, even though she didn't follow most of what had been said, laughed as well. Before we could talk about it anymore, there was another knock on Mrs. Westington's door and my jaw unhinged at the sight of Tyler Monahan. He had a bouquet of red roses in his hand. Echo's face lit up like a neon sign. Even Trevor, who I knew distrusted him from the start. smiled.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Tyler said. "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, Mrs.

Westington."

"Interrupting? What could you be interrupting?

Nothing's doing here. I'm practically in solitary confinement. In the soup as they say. I really should say dishwater,"

"These are for you," he said. approaching. "To cheer up the room."

"Thank you. Tyler. Lord knows, this room could use a ton of roses to cheer it up. Trevor, please take those dead weeds out of the vase on the windowsill and put these in, would you?"

"Right," Trevor said, and went to work on it.

Tyler glanced at me and then back at Mrs.

Westington. "So how are you doing? How long will you be in here?"

"Until h.e.l.l freezes over, it seems. My doctor is rolling the dice with different medications to see which one sticks. If I survive it, he'll let me out" she replied.

"That's not the way it is. Mrs. Westington, and you know it," I said.

Echo was signing to Tyler, trying to get his full attention, asking him when he was coming back.

"What she should do with the work he had given her?" "How would she know what to study next?" He gave her a quick. "We'll worry about it later. After your grandmother is well," reply, and her arms floated down like two small kites that had lost their lift of wind.

"What I really stopped in to say. Mrs, Westington. is I would be glad to help you with the arrangements for Echo while you're stuck in here. I thought about it and realized I could be of a.s.sistance in that regard."

"Oh, that's kindly of you. Tyler. but I think I'll wait on that until I'm out. It's not going to be easy for her and I'd like to be right there with her."

He nodded, "I understand. I just wanted you to know I would be glad to do whatever else I can. I a.s.sume you've been told that I have to end my tutoring." he added, glancing at me.

"No. No one bothered telling me. but I'm not surprised at all this secrecy."

"Things have become harder for my mother at the store and the plant. I must devote more time to it."

"I see." she said. "Well, then we'll make enrolling Echo in that school a priority as soon as I'm out."

"Good. I really can't stay long. I'm just on my way to do some errands for my mother and took a detour to see you."

"Thank you for coming and for the flowers.

Tyler."

"You're welcome. Mrs. Westington. I always liked working for you and being in your home."

"And you're welcome back anytime." she said.

He looked at me again, but all I did was glare at him. I didn't care how uncomfortable it made him. He nodded, said goodbye to Echo, telling her to be a good girl, and then hurried out.

"Well now," Mrs. Westington said as soon as he was gone. "What other bad news are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing," I said quickly. "I didn't think it mattered to tell you that right away."

"At least the boy has a conscience."

"The jury's still out on that," I muttered, and she looked at me. Trevor laughed and then she did. too.

To my surprise. Rhona did not come to the hospital all day. Trevor left to return to his deliveries.

Echo dozed off out of boredom a few times, as did Mrs. Westington. It took me a while to get over Tyler's unexpected appearance. but I finally calmed myself and went down to the hospital store to buy magazines for Echo and myself. We had lunch with Mrs. Westington and then she insisted we go home.

"This is no place to keep her anyway," she told me. "Just let her go home and stay busy and keep her away from her mother as much as possible."

"I will,"," I promised. I signed to Echo that we'd return in the morning and to say good-bye for now. She did and we left.

I knew where the school was that Echo would attend. I thought it might be beneficial to show it to her. She didn't mind the riding around with me anyway. I knew she wasn't anxious to return to the house. Her mother's behavior the night before had disturbed and frightened her. Being out and about with me made her feel older, more mature as well. I didn't tell her we were going to the school or mention it until we drew close to it.

From the outside, it looked like any other public high school. It was a long, rust-colored brick building with a decent-sized front lawn and a parking lot off to the right. At first Echo didn't think anything of it. Then we both caught sight of a young woman using sign language with a girl about Echo's age. The other girl signed back and they continued to stroll around the north side of the building.

Echo turned to me and asked about it. I explained that it was a special school for kids her age who had hearing and seeing disabilities. Behind the school itself was a dormitory for the students.

"You mean you sleep here, too?" she asked.

I nodded and she looked at it again. I didn't think it would be harmful to drive in and look around, but when I did, she immediately asked me why I was doing it.

"Wouldn't you like to go to school here?" I asked her. "You could be with other young people your age."

She stared out at the buildings for a moment.

The way her eyes narrowed and widened told me she was thinking deeply about it all. Suddenly, she turned and just stared at me.

"What?" I asked her. smiling.

"My grandmother is not coming home?" she asked.

I nodded. emphatically. "Yes, she is."

I saw she didn't believe me. I never thought that bringing her here might make her think that. I should have waited before doing this. I should have waited for Mrs. Westington to explain it first.

"You're just... older." I signed "bigger" and she smirked and looked at the building, sadness seeping into her face from every angle.

I can't do anything right. I thought. Why don't I just do what Tyler said and leave?

A side door opened and two boys stepped out, both signing to each other. One, who looked to me to be maybe sixteen, had meticulously styled ebony hair.

He had a lean, swimmer's build and even from across the parking lot looked handsome. He was about to turn toward the rear of the building with his friend when he saw us and stopped. Echo was staring at him and he realized it. I saw him smile and sign h.e.l.lo. She gasped and sat back like someone discovered peeping.

He laughed and then joined his friend.

"Who was that?" she wanted to know, I shrugged, "A boy who goes to school here," I said.

She strained to look around the building and follow the two boys, but they were gone.

"Let's get home," I said. "I have to make dinner."

She nodded, but she nearly twisted her head fully around to look back as we drove down the drive and turned right to head back home. Maybe I didn't do such a bad thing, I thought, rather hoped.

The dirty old van was parked in front. so I knew Skeeter and Rhona were there. I wondered why she hadn't gone to the hospital to at least make a show of caring about her mother's health. The two of them were in the living room watching television. Skeeter had a can of beer in hand. Rhona was smoking a cigarette. They both looked up when we entered.

"The doctor would like you to call him," I said immediately. "His name is Doctor Battie and the number is in the kitchen pinned to the wall by the phone."

"How is she?" Skeeter asked.

"Just call the doctor:. I said.

Rhona looked at us as if she was contemplating how she would perform the murder. Echo started signing, but Rhona turned away without acknowledging her.

"You're out of my room. Whatever you had in it has been moved to the guest room," Rhona said. And then as nonchalantly as she had said that, she added.

"I've decided you can stay awhile longer. I'm going to need your a.s.sistance with my mother after all."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Skeeter smiled at her and looked at the television set.

"We had a phone call while you were at the hospital," she said. I didn't like the way she was smiling at me with such gleeful confidence. Echo had stopped frying to get her to respond and stood by, confused about being ignored. I instinctively put my arm around her shoulders.

"Look at that. Skeeter," she said, nudging him, and he turned back to us. "Can't keep her hands off her."

He laughed.