this . . . this imperfection. She should be made to
expect no favors and she certainly shouldn't be
babied. Only then will she have the strength to stand
up to her deformity."
"It's not a deformity," I insisted. "And May is
smart and strong enough to live a good life with her
handicap."
"I didn't bring you out here to waste time on
this topic, Laura. I brought you out here to give you
the benefit of my years of wisdom and my sense of
family responsibility. Unfortunately;i am the one who
has to have all the strength in this family. Your
grandfather is becoming more and more forgetful. I'm
afraid he's falling into his dotage and will end up in a
rest home sooner rather than later."
"Grandpa? He looks wonderful."
"You don't live with him," she replied dryly.
"Anyway, I hope you have heard some of what I have
said and will behave properly, doing the right thing." "I like Robert Royce, Grandma. I'm not going
to hurt him by telling him he's not good enough for
the Logans," said softly, but firmly.
She stared at me a moment and then slowly
shook her head.
"I expected more from you, Laura. You leave
me no choice but to speak to your father about this." I felt the tears come to my eyes.
"Daddy likes Robert, too," I said, but I knew
how strong my mother's influence was on my father.
Usually, her words were like Gospel. "Please don't
say anything bad about him."
"If I have your word that you will not do