"Look what you're doing to her." I said.

"Not me, honey. you. If you had cooked that steak right, this wouldn't have happened, so don't blame me. Blame yourself. Go on. I'm not waiting forever."

Echo couldn't eat after that. I saw she was having trouble swallowing anything she put in her mouth.

"You could wait until my meat is cooked.

Skeeter," Rhona cried.

He paused and looked at me. I hurried back into the kitchen and took out another steak. Cooking them right from the freezer usually made them tougher, but what choice did I have? I couldn't marinate it as my mother had taught me. I waited and continually tested it.

"What's taking so long?" Rhona cried. "You're not overcooking it again, are you?"

"No. I'm watching it." I told her. Echo was just sitting there staring down at her plate.

"What's wrong with her? Why isn't she finishing her food?"

"You frightened her," I said.

"Oh, what a sensitive baby. If that frightened her, she had better not set foot out of this house.

There's a lot more frightening stuff going on out there."

I wanted to say I had been out there and there was nothing more frightening than her. but I bit my lower lip and returned to the stove. When I thought it was medium. I brought it in and stood by while she cut it and considered it.

"That's more like it," she said.

I noticed that Skeeter had taken my steak. I didn't care. Like Echo. I had lost my appet.i.te as well.

See. I told myself, even in this there's a silver lining.

The longer you're around Rhona, the more weight you'll lose. I signed to Echo that if she wanted to leave, she could. She nodded and started to LFet up.

"Where does she think she's going? I'm not finished eating. Tell her to stay until everyone is done.

That's impolite," Rhona said. "Tell her!"

I did and Echo sank back into her chair, only glancing at her mother. Skeeter was eating like it was truly going to be his last meal on earth.

"You're such a slob. Skeeter." Rhona told him.

He grinned from ear to ear, his lips greasy and some meat on his chin. "I lost my appet.i.te," Rhona said, shoving the plate away from her. He eyed her meat.

"You're not going to eat that, too, are you?"

He shrugged.

"See what a pig I'm with?" she told me. "Clean up. I want you off to the hospital with the paperwork in twenty minutes,'" she said. "Tell her she can leave the table, too. She's making me nervous sitting there like that."

I started to sign., but Echo picked up on Rhona's lips and was up and out of her chair before I finished, She ran upstairs to her room.

"My mother's done some terrible job with her,"

Rhona quipped. "She doesn't belong here. but I don't see why she has to go to one of those very expensive places. They can do just so much for her and after a while, it doesn't matter where she is."

"How do you know that?" I asked, She spun around on me. "Don't you get snotty with me or I won't even give you a chance to get out of here gracefully. Just be grateful I am and do what I tell you," she said.

Skeeter burped and pushed himself back.

"Are you finally finished?" she asked him.

"For now," he said, and looked at me. "What's for dessert?"

"There's a piece of apple pie left over."

"Just bring it out before you go," he said. "I'm a little full at the moment."

"You're such a slob." she told him again, and he laughed.

"Don't let that fool you," he said to me. "You saw how she loves me. I have the scratch marks on my rear end to prove it." I felt heat move into my face, picked up dishes, turned, and hurried into the kitchen with his laughter resounding. s.e.x had been turned into a weapon they could use freely against me.

Before I left for the hospital. I made sure Echo was all right. She was lying on her bed. embracing Mr. Panda. Of course, she wanted to know why her mother was being so mean and why she had thrown her steak at me.

I told her Rhona had drunk too much whiskey and was drunk and not to worry about it.

"Just stay away from her tonight," I said. "She'll be better tomorrow."

"No. she won't," she replied. "She'll never be better."

I couldn't disagree and Rhona was shouting for me below, "I'll be right back." I told her. "I need to do some errands. Just do your work and I'll look it over and help you with anything you get wrong."

"Why? Ty isn't coming back?"

"He'll come back." I said, but she simply waved off my signing as would someone wave off annoying flies and then turned away from me.

I was crying inside for her, but I couldn't stay any longer and help her feel better. Her world was in chaos and I was sure she felt she was spinning like a top in outer s.p.a.ce. There was nothing to stop it.

I turned and walked to the door. Just before I left. I noticed something was different. What? I wondered, and then my gaze fell on the pile of torn picture pieces.

She had torn up the old picture of Rhona, the mother she had once known and had lost forever.

12.

Bats in the Belfry .

I took the paperwork from Rhona, "She won't listen to me." I insisted. "I'm just a guest here. I don't have a right to tell her what to do with her money.'

"She'll listen if you tell her we're promising to leave. I saw the way she looks at you. You're mare than just a guest here. You've become her daughter.

You've replaced me. I'm not jealous or upset about it.

Better you than me be stuck here. Just do it and do it well, sweetie, or you know what news bulletins will be released,'" she threatened.

I left the house and walked to my car. Trevor must have been watching the front door all evening, I thought, because the moment I appeared, he came hurrying out of the winery to meet me.

"What's happening? Is everything all right?

Where are you going? Where's Echo?" He fired his questions at me without taking a breath.

"I'm going to see Mrs. Westington. Echo's up in her room."

"And?" he said, seeing the papers in my hand.

"What's all that?"

"Rhona believes Mrs. Westington will listen to me and sign this power of attorney giving her rights to money."

"Why doesn't she go to see her mother herself and ask?"

"Mrs. Westington has already told her no.

Actually, she's already called her attorney to prevent Rhona from doing anything. but Rhona doesn't know that yet."

"You shouldn't have agreed to show those papers to her he said.

"I was going to see her anyway. I'm just humoring Rhona. Like you said, sometimes it's better to go around a fire and let it burn itself out."

"Yeah, but I don't like it," he said, looking at the house. "She's a lot different, meaner. sneakier. I can't even imagine the places she's been and the things she's done. Sending you to do this makes me suspicious."

"Don't worry. Trevor. When they finally realize they won't get anything more, they'll leave," I told him.

He looked at me, thought a moment, and then shook his head. "I don't like it," he said, and walked back to the winery.

How I wished I could tell him the real reason I was doing all this. how Rhona was blackmailing me.

how Tyler had made it all possible for her. but I was afraid of seeing it all blow up into a bigger mess that would hurt all of us. especially Echo. Swallowing back the truth. I got into my car and drove to the hospital.

When I arrived, Mrs. Westington was making a scene with the nurse, complaining about the food and demanding they send the cook up to her so she could instruct him or her in how to prepare chicken so it tasted like something other than cardboard. The nurse was just trying to get her to calm down. She looked to me for help.

"Please stop this." I said. "Immediately."

Mrs. Westington widened her eyes, blew air through her lips, and fell back on her pillow with her arms folded under her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, pouting like a child.

Uncle Palaver told me when people get older, they act more and more like children. He called it the second childhood. That was what I thought I was witnessing at the moment.

The nurse thanked me and left, "You know they make you sicker in hospitals, don't you?" Mrs. Westington quickly began in her own defense before I could say another word. "They feed you slop. They wake you at all hours of the night to see if you're alive or give you some pill. They don't want me walking about either. They've turned me into an invalid."

"You promised you would behave. All you're doing is prolonging everything."

I shook my head and she looked away a moment and then sat back.

"Where's Echo?"

"She was tired and I thought you were right about this not being a good place for her. She's in her room, doing her lessons."

She looked at me askance, her eyes two slits of suspicion. "What's that in your hands?" she asked, "Your daughter asked me to bring this to you to consider. She and Skeeter promise they'll be leaving immediately if you do this." I said. "I didn't tell them anything about what you've been doing with your attorney."

"What is it exactly?"

"A power of attorney doc.u.ment so they can get money."

"You know where you can put that," she said.

Then she stared a moment and added. "How did they get you to bring that to me? They threatened you?"

"No, they just asked me to be their spokesman,"

I lied.

"Spokesman? That girl's got bats in the belfry.

She could send the governor here to see me and I wouldn't change my mind. What made her think you could do it for her? How come she's not comin g here herself?"

I thought I would try the same logic on Mrs.

Westington that I used with Trevor.

"I think they're getting bored and want to leave." I said. "All Skeeter is doing is eating and drinking and watching television. Rhona is getting tired of it,"

"Very, likely. She had the attention span of a four-year-old when she left. I don't imagine it's improved."

She leaned over to her side table, opened a drawer, and took out a pen. "Hand those papers to me," she said.

Was she going to sign? I gave them to her and she wrote a tremendous "NO" over each sheet.

"There. Even Rhona might understand that response. You let me know immediately if she gives you any trouble. April. I'm depending on you," she said, which only made me feel worse. "How did dinner go?"

I sat and described what I had made and how Skeeter had attacked the food. That amused her at least. Of course. I left out anything about Rhona throwing the steak, complaining, and frightening Echo.

"I'm truly sorry about Tyler Monahan leaving us, leaving you before you took your test," she said when I finished describing the evening.

"I think I'll do all right on the test when I take it anyway," I said.