Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"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 appetite," 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. Sex 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 andI'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 space. 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

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I took the paperwork from Rhona,

"She won't listen to me." I insisted. "I'm just a