“Hmmm.” He sipped some more tea and ate. “Do you like this home-schooling thing, Sam?”
“It’s okay for now, but I do miss being with other kids my age.”
“Yes, I would think you would. To be frank, Sam, I don’t understand why my brother agreed to such an arrangement. Did you want this?”
“I did for a while. It was going to be difficult at school for us.”
“I’m even more surprised that your scholar sister took this hiatus, but then again, there’s little Cassie does that doesn’t surprise me. I guess she’s good for my brother right now. I have to admit, she’s everywhere in the offices and the stores. I never thought she would take to it. She was never very excited about the stores, the merchandise, customers. But everyone responds differently to personal tragedy. This might just be her reaction. Perhaps it won’t last, and she’ll return to being the Cassie we know, huh?”
“I don’t think so,” I said, and he raised his eyebrows.
“Oh?”
“That would be like admitting she had been doing something wrong, and Cassie never does anything wrong.”
Uncle Perry roared with laughter.“I always wondered how you two came from the same parents. I still do,” he said.
After lunch, we took a walk around the property, and he told me he thought he hoped I was not going to continue the home-schooling much longer.
“You do need to be with young people, Sam. I know you do a lot here, but you need a normal life as soon as possible. Your father should hire some household help, too. I’ll bug him about it.”
“Please don’t, Uncle Perry.”
“Why not?”
“Cassie would think I put you up to it.”
He stopped and stared at me.“You shouldn’t be so intimidated by her, Semantha. I think she bullies you too much. From what I’ve seen, at least.”
“She only means well, Uncle Perry. She’s very worried about Daddy.”
“Um. So am I. So am I,” he said.
At his car, he hugged me and took my hand in his.
“You’re weathering a terrible time quite well, Sam. I can see how much you’ve grown, how it’s rushed you out of your adolescence. I’m sorry about that, but I’m proud of you, proud of what a support you are for your father, too.”
“Thank you, Uncle Perry.”
“I’ll call you soon,” he promised. “Thank you for a wonderful lunch.”
I watched him drive away. As his car disappeared around the turn at the base of the driveway, an overwhelming sadness rushed over me, and I just started sobbing. I cried so hard my chest ached. Never had our house and our property looked so empty, so depressing, even in the sunlight. It was as if Mother’s death had hollowed out the heart of what it had been. There’s a third hole, Cassie, I thought, and it’s in my heart and goes right into my very soul.
After I cleaned up the kitchen, I went up to my room to read and, perhaps because of my emotional stress, fell asleep. The next thing I knew, Cassie was shaking me to wake me up.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you sleeping now? Don’t you realize what time it is? You should be thinking about dinner.”
I sat up, still groggy. She stood back with her arms across her breasts. Her blouse was unbuttoned down to her cleavage, and for the first time, I saw she was wearing Mother’s special locket, the one with her and Daddy’s pictures in it, pictures from when they were both very young.
“I was reading and just fell asleep.”
“How was your lunch with Uncle Perry?”
“Very nice. He wants to take me to dinner one night.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath. Your father and I had a big lunch, so just do the light chicken salad,” she said. “We had a very busy day. I made some suggestions for changes at the Lexington store, changes your uncle Perry won’t like, but they’ll save money.”
“Why won’t he like them?”