Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"Yes. but she will," he said confidently. "It's

easier for a child to run away than for a mother to turn

her out or him out, for that matter."

He was probably right. That inevitable outcome

depressed me. but I didn't see as I could do much

about it.

"Why didn't you at least wave to us in the mall today?" I asked, returning to the reason for his

appearance. "And don't claim you didn't see us." "I saw you." "So?"

"I've already told you how upset my mother's

been at how much time I spend here, spend on Echo.

She doesn't know anything about you and what work

I've been doing with you."

"So? I still don't really understand why she's so

upset about your working with Echo. You're doing

what you were trained to do, what you were educated

to do. Isn't she proud of that?"

"She would rather I help out in our business

right now. She thinks Mrs. Westington should be

sending Echo to a special school and I shouldn't be

taking on all this responsibility. She thinks I'm too

involved with their family matters."

"Well. Mrs. Westington will send her to a

school. eventually." I raised my hands and smirked.

"This is your excuse for not saying hello, for ignoring

us?"

"I just didn't want to create any more tension. It

wasn't the right time to introduce you and Echo to her.

She thinks Echo was brought to the mall deliberately

to see me. She thought you were all following me.' "What? That's ridiculous. How would we know you were there? As I recall, you said you had to work in the store and you wouldn't have time for us on the

weekend."