Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

mistakes she might have made bringing her up and

declared that she bore some responsibility for her

whether or not she liked to admit it. In the end she

decided to pay for an attorney, not to get Rhona off

scot-free as much as to provide for her having some

hope somewhere down the line,

"It's throwing good money after bad." she told

me. "but I can't help it. You'll discover that you do many things you don't want to do because of your

parental obligations sometimes. April."

Who said I would ever be a parent? I thought.

She saw the doubt in my face.

"Don't count yourself out of anything, girl.

You're too young to come to any of those kinds of

conclusions," she advised.

Maybe she was right. I decided.

When Mrs. Westington was strong enough, we

all went to the school Echo would attend to meet with

the headmaster and some of her prospective teachers.

We were shown the dormitories as well. I watched

Mrs. Westington's face the whole time. I could see the

battle going on in her mind. She was impressed with

the facilities, the achievements of the students and

their interaction, but she also saw her granddaughter

drifting away from her. The ties that had bound them

together were snapping loose. She was wise enough to

recognize that some of those ties kept Echo far too

constricted and trapped her in a little girl's world

when she should be expanding, growing, maturing,

and becoming independent.

"Funny." she said as Trevor drove us home that