Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

"His fever has broken," he announced happily. "And he's having much less difficulty breathing. He is going to be all right."

I was so relieved, I started to cry. He and the doctor looked at each other and laughed, and then Tony embraced me.

"Thank you, Leigh," he whispered, "for caring about him so much." He kissed me on the forehead and I looked up and into his warm blue eyes, my mind reeling in confusion. I had inherited an entirely new family so quickly. It was difficult to sort out my emotions. Whenever I felt good, especially about Tony, I felt I was betraying Daddy, and yet, Tony seemed loving, concerned and caring. He and I had been thrown together by Momma's whim and maybe he, as much as I, was trying to adjust and sort out his feelings. I relaxed in his embrace and lay my head against his shoulder. I can't hate him, I thought. Forgive me, Daddy, but I can't hate him.

"Do you want to look in on him, Leigh?" Tony asked. "He's not awake, but you can stand in the doorway for a few moments."

"Yes. Thank you."

Tony opened the door and I gazed in at little Troy, who looked even smaller than he had looked this morning. The hospital bed, the oxygen and the I.V. tube made him look so tiny, so fragile. My heart cried out for him. I couldn't hold back the tears that had gathered again in the corners of ray eyes. Tony took out his handkerchief and wiped them away.

"He's going to be all right," he said reassuringly and held me again. I nodded. "Let's go home," he said. This time when we passed through Farthy's great gate, Tony's words rang true: "Let's go home."

I was home, for home was not just a building or a house or a place on some street; it was where you had love and warmth awaiting and where people you loved lived. I loved Daddy, but he was on a ship on the ocean and no one lived in our home in Boston now. I loved Momma despite all her lies and selfish ways, and I knew I loved little Troy, and they lived here at Farthy.

I wondered if I would ever come to love Tony Tatterton. The way he held my hand as we walked up the steps to the front door made me think he was more than positive I would.

> Momma had finally woken. Tony and I found her sitting at her vanity table brushing her hair. She had just gotten out of bed and was dressed only in a long, evergreen silk robe, one of the things she had bought in Europe.

"Leigh, I called for you at least an hour ago. Where have you been?" she asked. Tony stopped behind me in the doorway and we exchanged a look of disappointment.

"I've been to the hospital with Tony, Momma, to see about Troy."

"I asked you not to expose yourself to the illness. You can see how it will be bringing up a teenage girl, Tony," she snapped. "They're just like wild horses, stubborn and unpredictable."

"She wasn't exposed, Jillian," Tony said. "She was kept a proper distance away, and I thought it was wonderful of her to want to come."

"You could have called. How could you two leave me here not knowing what was happening . . . where everyone was . . ."

"I did call," Tony protested, "but the servants told me you left word not to be disturbed."

"Well, you of all people should have known how exhausted I was. Anyway, you're here now, so tell me, how is he?" she asked turning back to the mirror to straighten a strand of hair.

"His fever has broken. He's on the mend."

"There, you see," she said pointedly to me. "There wasn't anything we could do once he was in the hospital. Once he's there, it's up to good doctors and nurses and the miracles of medicine," she sang as if this had all been a little bedtime story.

"He's still a very sick little boy," Tony said, "but the crisis has ended."

"Well, thank goodness. Are we having dinner now? I've woken up famished."

Tony and I looked quickly at each other again. Momma caught our glance.

"What?"

"I took Leigh to Leone's while we waited for news about Troy," Tony confessed.

"You two ate? And without me?" she cried.

"Well, you were home and . ."

"That's fine," she said suddenly, her look of disappointment disappearing. "Just have the servants bring up something light," she sang, her mood changing so fast it made my head spin. "I'm not really up to going down and sitting at the table anyway. It will take me at least another day to get back to myself," she said, sounding as if she had been the one in the hospital, instead of someone who had just returned from a wonderful honeymoon in Europe.

"Fine," Tony said. He stepped forward and leaned over to kiss her, but she leaned away as if he were going to mess up her hair. It was something she often did when Daddy tried to kiss her. Tony looked embarrassed.

"I'm still very tired," she offered as an excuse. He nodded and left quickly.

The moment he was out the door, Momma beckoned me closer, her eyes wide with emphasis.